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Usha Vance has been seen wearing an elegant black ensemble paired with a traditional veil as she attended Pope Leo XIV's inauguration mass. The second lady - who is Hindu - stood dotingly beside her Catholic convert husband, Vice President JD Vance, as they returned to the Vatican on Sunday. Usha, 39, supported her husband and the new American pontiff by clasping her hands in prayer during the service despite not sharing the same faith. She also showed respect through her black mantilla, a traditional Spanish veil symbolizing reverence, modesty and piety. Pope Leo, 69, warmly took hold of Vance's...

Vice President J.D. Vance came face-to-face with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the first time since their Oval Office showdown earlier this year. The two attended Pope Leo XIV's first Sunday mass after being elected the new leader of the Catholic Church – and the first American to ever hold the top post in Vatican City. After the service, Secretary of State Marco Rubio joined Vance and Zelensky in Rome for talks aimed at advancing the goal of ending the war between Russia and Ukraine. 'The leaders discussed their shared goal of ending the bloodshed in Ukraine and provided updates...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will attend the inaugural mass of newly elected Pope Leo on May 18, along with many other world leaders, the Vatican said. The mass in St Peter’s Square will formally install Pope Leo, who was born in Chicago but lived for many years in Peru, as the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics. US Vice-President J.D. Vance, who clashed fiercely with Mr Zelensky in the White House in February, will lead the US delegation, which also includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday hailed Christian communities in the Middle East who “persevere and remain in their homelands, resisting the temptation to abandon them” despite war, marginalization or persecution. “Christians must be given the opportunity, and not just in words, to remain in their native lands with all the rights needed for a secure existence. Please, let us strive for this!” he told a meeting of Eastern Catholic Churches at the Vatican. On Sunday, the pontiff called for an "authentic and lasting peace" in Ukraine, a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all Israeli hostages held by militant group...

The newly elected Pope Leo XIV has suggested that the Vatican could host high-level negotiations between Ukraine and Russia, as Istanbul talks were watered down following Russian President Vladimir Putin's refusal to come face to face with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. According to Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin's statement on Friday, the supreme pontiff plans to "if necessary, provide the Vatican, the Holy See, as a direct meeting (place) between the two sides." Parolin has also expressed his disappointment with the talks in Turkey, which took place on Friday. "It's all tragic because we hoped that a...

In the five years since I began writing the Twilight Patriot Substack, I’ve had occasion to mention only one pope — and that was the medieval Pope Innocent III, who appears briefly in my essay on the Magna Carta.If you’re a Catholic and you believe that these men are chosen with the aid of the Holy Spirit, then the reason for refusing to put them in political boxes should be obvious. If, like me, you’re merely an astute observer of events, then just remember how John Paul II annoyed the traditionalists by kissing the Quran as a gesture of friendship...

In July of 2017 it was announced that Vatican police had broken up an allegedly drug-fuelled orgy in an apartment belonging to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. An aid to Cardinal Francesco Coccopalmerio was arrested; it was rumored that Pope Francis' reaction was outrage that the sovereignty of the Vatican State had been violated. This was far from the Papal posture in secular affiars, when Pope Pius XII was sponsor to the assassination plot against Hitler by Claus von Stauffenberg. The Pope Who Planned Three Hitler Assassination AttemptsThis fact is detailed in a National Geographic video special...

Can Elon Musk repair the Vatican's woeful fiscal state? I'll save my opinion on the selection of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as our new pontiff for another column, although his anti-Trump social media posts, his slams of Catholic Vice President JD Vance, and his stance favoring illegal aliens flooding the US. At the same time, the Vatican is safely protected by the Swiss Guard, which does not fill me with hope. AdvertisementThe cardinals did not read an earlier column I wrote advocating for either Cardinals Raymond Burke or Robert Sarah for the top job. (Okay, my own kids don't read...

For Catholics, the new pope’s disposition toward the Latin Mass will tell us far more about his pontificate than his views on immigration.It didn’t take long after Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, emerged onto the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday as the new leader of the Catholic Church for social media commentators on the right to begin decrying him as “Francis 2.0.”This snap judgment was based largely on his social media history of reposting criticisms of President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance on immigration policy, as well as a few reposts of left-wing claptrap...

SummaryUS Catholic church faces divisions over immigration, climate change and cultural issuesPope Leo faces early pushback from some conservative political leadersSome experts believe Leo could ultimately be a uniting forceMay 9 (Reuters) - As Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Mass as pontiff at the Sistine Chapel on Friday, he spoke a few words in English. It was a reminder - if anyone needed one - that a baseball fan who hails from Chicago was now leader of the Roman Catholic Church.For American Catholics, the elevation of Robert Prevost to the papacy was a shock, a cause for celebration and...

The newly elected Pope Robert Francis Prevost, who has since been renamed Pope Leo XIV, spent the last several years reposting criticisms of President Trump’s policies. Robert Francis Prevost spent the last several years retweeting posts on his official X account, @drprevost, dozens of articles and posts critical of President Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

Want to know how long the new pope has been active in pro-life? - Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was co-founder of the campus right-to-life organization “Villanovans for Life”—the oldest college pro-life club in the U.S. (he was Class of 1977)! @samuelhlee - @JennieMFL Love that our new Pope is a marcher for Life! 🎉🎈👏 - Robert Prevost @drprevost Marcha por la vida en Chiclayo. ¡Defendamos la vida humana en todo momento! - @CatHadro And in a sentence I never thought I would write - Pope Leo XIV once retweeted my husband’s news article. “Catholic group to Illinois...

Before Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost became pope, a social media account under his name shared criticisms of the Trump administration’s positions on immigration.Months before Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost became the first American pope, a social media account under his name expressed criticism of Vice President JD Vance, sharing an article that called the vice president’s interpretation of Christian doctrine “wrong.” The piece, published in The National Catholic Reporter, was a rebuttal to Mr. Vance’s interpretation of a Catholic teaching that he had used to defend the Trump administration’s deportation policies. The post on X, which the account shared in February,...

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church does not get paid what many consider a traditional salary. Instead, the Vatican provides for the pontiff's needs, from housing, food, transportation and other expenses in the form of stipends and allowances. The Vatican, referred to as "the world's smallest country," is sustained by "an economy that relies on a combination of donations, private enterprises, and investments to generate revenue," according to Investopedia. Pope Francis declined any sort of salary when he took office in 2013, The Economic Times reported back in February, adding that the pontiff at the time had a net...

White smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel chimney on Thursday, signaling that a new pope has been elected. The decision came as 133 cardinals gathered for a historic conclave at the Vatican. A two-thirds majority — at least 89 votes — was required to elect the new pope. The identity of the new pope has not yet been revealed, but he is expected to appear soon on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to offer his first blessing to the faithful gathered in the square.

How the Church’s Enemies Have Exploited Mistaken Views of Heresy to Essentially Guarantee Another Heretical Claimant to the PapacyDays away from the conclave to elect Francis’s successor, serious Catholics fear that it would take a miracle for the white smoke to signal the election of a pope who is Catholic. We offer our prayers and sacrifices for the most favorable outcome, but as we study the list of those cardinals most likely to receive serious consideration, it is evident that very few of them would have been recognized as Catholic by Pope Pius XII or any of his predecessors.Some sincere...

VATICAN CITY // The next pope will not be a “Francis II,” according to seasoned Vatican analyst Marco Politi, who shared his views in an interview with the French news agency AFP ahead of the conclave set to begin May 7. Politi, a prominent Italian journalist renowned for his progressive insights on Church affairs, responded to questions posed by AFP’s Vatican correspondent Clément Melki regarding the direction the cardinal electors may take. In his view, the successor to Pope Francis will mark a departure from the current pontificate’s distinctive approach. “We know there will be no Francis II,” he said,...

cis’ funeral in Rome, President Donald Trump revealed Tuesday evening what he and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy discussed during their viral meeting at the Vatican when both were in attendance for the late Pope Francis' funeral. "I was telling him that it's a very good thing if we can produce a deal, that you sign it, because Russia is much bigger and much stronger," Trump said Tuesday evening during a town hall hosted by NewsNation, which he participated in by phone. The pair met face-to-face for the first time since their contentious Oval Office meeting in February, while both attended...

Even as the universal Church grieves the death of Pope Francis and prepares for the conclave to elect his successor, Chinese authorities are moving forward with episcopal appointments, signaling their determination to operate independently of Rome. In the Diocese of Shanghai, Father Wu Jianlin was confirmed April 28 as auxiliary bishop, AsiaNews reported. The next day, officials in the Diocese of Xinxiang chose Father Li Janlin for the same role. Both selections were made through a state-managed process involving only a single candidate — an approach Beijing continues to use despite its 2018 agreement with the Vatican on episcopal appointments.The...

Rome is living these days in an atmosphere of unreality. The sentiment conveyed in the Eternal City, in the midst of the pre-conclave period, is a mixture of bewilderment, discretion, and silence. Francis was gone with a speed that no one expected - not even his own allies - and the sectors most in favor of his pontificate seem to have dissolved away without the capacity of reaction. There are no meetings, no strategy, no slogans. The pontificate is over and “Franciscanism”, if it ever existed as a solid body, has imploded. The College of Cardinals, for its part, presents...