Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, seated in places of honor usually reserved for heads of state, meet with Pope Leo XIV in the papal library on May 19, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, May 19, 2025 / 06:52 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV held a private meeting with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the papal library on Monday morning.

Details of the meeting were not released, but the Americans later spoke with a top Vatican diplomat about U.S. and international issues. 

The 45-minute papal audience began with a one-on-one between Vance and the pope, with Rubio joining afterward. Second Lady Usha Vance, Rubio’s wife Jeanette Dousdebes Rubio, and the larger U.S. delegation joined for the final part of the meeting, which included the customary exchange of gifts.

In a photo of the encounter released by the Vatican, Vance appears to have given the pontiff a Chicago Bears jersey with “Pope Leo XIV” printed on the back.

Other photos show Vance and Rubio smiling, seated in places of honor across the papal desk from Leo, a position usually reserved for heads of state.

A Vatican spokesperson did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the seating arrangement.

Following the papal audience, Vance and Rubio met with Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Rubio’s Vatican counterpart. They discussed collaboration between Church and state and issues relevant to ecclesial life and religious freedom, according to the Vatican.

The brief communication on the meeting from the Vatican also appeared to reference disagreements — “an exchange of views” — between the Vatican and the U.S. administration on “some current international issues.”

During the meeting, there was a call for “respect for humanitarian law and international law in areas of conflict and for a negotiated solution between the parties involved,” the Vatican’s statement said.

In the 10 days since his election May 8, Leo has appeared to take a more pro-Ukraine line in the Russia-Ukraine conflict than his immediate predecessor, first by speaking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky by phone in the first hours of his papacy, then meeting the leader for a private audience the same day of his inaugural Mass.

Leo also called for negotiations for a “just and lasting peace” in Ukraine in his first two Regina Caeli messages on May 11 and 18, and one of his early audiences was with the head of the Greek Ukrainian Catholic Church, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk.

As a bishop in Peru in 2022, then-Bishop Prevost also made explicit reference to Russia’s invasion, calling it “imperialist in nature,” while Francis avoided such language in his peace appeals, and had even called for Ukraine to raise the white flag.

On the conflict in Gaza, Leo, like Francis, has called for ceasefire and the return of Israeli hostages.

Vance, Rubio, and Zelensky also met together in Rome, after they both attended Pope Leo’s inaugural Mass on May 18.

According to a post on X from Vance’s office, the leaders discussed “updates on the ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire and lasting peace.”

Zelensky called the encounter a “good meeting” in his own post on X, and said he “reaffirmed that Ukraine is ready to be engaged in real diplomacy.”

The Ukrainian president also said he spoke about the need for pressure and sanctions against Russia, as well as “defense cooperation.”

Archbishop Charles C. Thompson elevates the Eucharist during the Opening Mass at St. John the Evangelist Church in Indianapolis, marking the official launch of the St. Katharine Drexel Route. May 18, 2025. / Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

CNA Newsroom, May 18, 2025 / 18:00 pm (CNA).

The 2025 National Eucharistic Pilgrimage kicked off Sunday, May 18, with an opening Mass in downtown Indianapolis where an estimated 1,000 people, including many young families, joined Archbishop Charles C. Thompson to officially launch this year’s pilgrimage.

“Our faith is not something to be lived just within the walls of the Church. The Mass ends with being sent out,” the archbishop told EWTN News before the Mass began at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church. “The Eucharist is transforming. And it transforms us, and through us it transforms others.” 

The 2025 pilgrimage is a continuation of last year’s four simultaneous Eucharistic pilgrimages, which converged in Indianapolis for the National Eucharistic Congress in July 2024. The pilgrimages are part of the National Eucharistic Revival, a multi-year plan launched by the U.S. bishops to strengthen faith in Jesus Christ and the Eucharist. 

Eight young adult pilgrims called “Perpetual Pilgrims” will accompany the Blessed Sacrament for the 3,300-mile mile trek this year named for St. Katharine Drexel (1858–1955), which will culminate on Corpus Christi Sunday, June 22, in Los Angeles. 

At the opening Mass was Matthew Heidenreich, a 2024 Marian Route pilgrim, who said he wanted to come out and support this year’s pilgrims. “Something like this, a pilgrimage that goes across the country, the Lord just uses that to create powerful, powerful moments that will ultimately bring so many people to him, and to the Church,” he told EWTN News.

The University of Alabama student from Columbus, Ohio, also shared how his life has changed since making last year’s pilgrimage. 

“My relationship and the way that I walk with the Lord has completely changed,” he said. “Just like experiencing that day to day walk with him, and realizing how much he wants to enter into every part of my life, it transforms the way you view every moment, and the way you enter into life. Because you just know the Lord is with you, he’s walking with you, he wants to be there.”

The Drexel route will process through 10 states — including California and Texas — as well as through 20 Catholic dioceses and four Eastern Catholic eparchies. Along the way will be opportunities to encounter Jesus including daily Mass, Eucharistic adoration, Eucharistic processions, witness talks, and fellowship meals with the Perpetual Pilgrims. 

In keeping with the ongoing Jubilee Year of Hope in the Catholic Church, the focus of the Drexel Route is on “hope and healing,” with visits planned not only to churches but also to prisons and nursing homes. 

“[The Eucharistic pilgrimage] is bringing a Christ centered focus to a world that is in desperate need of meaning and purpose and healing,” said Archbishop Thompson. “That’s what this procession is all about — Jesus Christ, the way the truth and the life, being proclaimed, being adored, being worshipped. The one who leads us and unites us.”

Pope Leo XIV acknowledged divisions among the faithful with a call for fraternal communion and unity in the homily at his inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Square on May 18, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, May 18, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV delivered the following homily at the Mass for the Initiation of the Petrine Ministry in St. Peter's Square on Sunday, May 18, after being elected the 266th successor of St. Peter on May 8.

Dear Brother Cardinals,

Brother Bishops and Priests,

Distinguished Authorities and Members of the Diplomatic Corps,

Greetings to the pilgrims who came on the occasion of the Jubilee of the Confraternities!

Brothers and Sisters, I greet all of you with a heart full of gratitude at the beginning of the ministry that has been entrusted to me. St. Augustine wrote: “Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you” (Confessions, I: 1,1).

In these days, we have experienced intense emotions. The death of Pope Francis filled our hearts with sadness. In those difficult hours, we felt like the crowds that the Gospel says were “like sheep without a shepherd” (Mt 9:36). Yet on Easter Sunday, we received his final blessing and, in the light of the Resurrection, we experienced the days that followed in the certainty that the Lord never abandons his people but gathers them when they are scattered and guards them “as a shepherd guards his flock” (Jer 31:10).

In this spirit of faith, the College of Cardinals met for the conclave. Coming from different backgrounds and experiences, we placed in God’s hands our desire to elect the new successor of Peter, the bishop of Rome, a shepherd capable of preserving the rich heritage of the Christian faith and, at the same time, looking to the future, in order to confront the questions, concerns, and challenges of today’s world. Accompanied by your prayers, we could feel the working of the Holy Spirit, who was able to bring us into harmony, like musical instruments, so that our heartstrings could vibrate in a single melody.

I was chosen, without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for he wants us all to be united in one family.

Love and unity: These are the two dimensions of the mission entrusted to Peter by Jesus.

We see this in today’s Gospel, which takes us to the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus began the mission he received from the Father: to be a “fisher” of humanity in order to draw it up from the waters of evil and death. Walking along the shore, he had called Peter and the other first disciples to be, like him, “fishers of men.” Now, after the Resurrection, it is up to them to carry on this mission, to cast their nets again and again, to bring the hope of the Gospel into the “waters” of the world, to sail the seas of life so that all may experience God’s embrace.

How can Peter carry out this task? The Gospel tells us that it is possible only because his own life was touched by the infinite and unconditional love of God, even in the hour of his failure and denial. For this reason, when Jesus addresses Peter, the Gospel uses the Greek verb “agapáo,” which refers to the love that God has for us, to the offering of himself without reserve and without calculation. Whereas the verb used in Peter’s response describes the love of friendship that we have for one another.

Consequently, when Jesus asks Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” (Jn 21:16), he is referring to the love of the Father. It is as if Jesus said to him, “Only if you have known and experienced this love of God, which never fails, will you be able to feed my lambs. Only in the love of God the Father will you be able to love your brothers and sisters with that same ‘more,’ that is, by offering your life for your brothers and sisters.”

Peter is thus entrusted with the task of “loving more” and giving his life for the flock. The ministry of Peter is distinguished precisely by this self-sacrificing love, because the Church of Rome presides in charity and its true authority is the charity of Christ. It is never a question of capturing others by force, by religious propaganda, or by means of power. Instead, it is always and only a question of loving as Jesus did.

The Apostle Peter himself tells us that Jesus “is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, and has become the cornerstone” (Acts 4:11). Moreover, if the rock is Christ, Peter must shepherd the flock without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat, lording it over those entrusted to him (cf. 1 Pt 5:3). On the contrary, he is called to serve the faith of his brothers and sisters, and to walk alongside them, for all of us are “living stones” (1 Pet 2:5), called through our baptism to build God’s house in fraternal communion, in the harmony of the Spirit, in the coexistence of diversity. In the words of St. Augustine: “The Church consists of all those who are in harmony with their brothers and sisters and who love their neighbor” (Serm. 359,9).

Brothers and sisters, I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.

In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest. For our part, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion, and fraternity within the world. We want to say to the world, with humility and joy: Look to Christ! Come closer to him! Welcome his word that enlightens and consoles! Listen to his offer of love and become his one family: in the one Christ, we are one. This is the path to follow together, among ourselves but also with our sister Christian churches, with those who follow other religious paths, with those who are searching for God, with all women and men of goodwill, in order to build a new world where peace reigns!

This is the missionary spirit that must animate us; not closing ourselves off in our small groups, nor feeling superior to the world. We are called to offer God’s love to everyone, in order to achieve that unity which does not cancel out differences but values the personal history of each person and the social and religious culture of every people.

Brothers and sisters, this is the hour for love! The heart of the Gospel is the love of God that makes us brothers and sisters. With my predecessor Leo XIII, we can ask ourselves today: If this criterion “were to prevail in the world, would not every conflict cease and peace return?” (Rerum Novarum, 21).

With the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit, let us build a Church founded on God’s love, a sign of unity, a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the word, allows itself to be made “restless” by history, and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity.

Together, as one people, as brothers and sisters, let us walk toward God and love one another.

Photograph of Pope Leo XIV released by the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

CNA Newsroom, May 18, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).

Follow our live coverage as Pope Leo XIV, first U.S.-born pope in history, begins his pontificate: Experience history in the making with former Cardinal Robert Prevost.

Pope Leo XIV waves during the inaugural Mass of his pontificate, held in St. Peter’s Square on May 18, 2025. He stands in front of a Flemish tapestry depicting the dialogue between Jesus and Peter after the miraculous catch of fish. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, May 18, 2025 / 06:58 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday formally began his ministry as head of the 1.4 billion members of the universal Catholic Church, acknowledging divisions among the faithful with a call for fraternal communion and unity at his inaugural Mass.

Addressing an estimated 150,000 people crowded into St. Peter’s Square and the surrounding streets, the 69-year-old pope, elected May 8, said: “I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.”

Under Pope Francis, the Church experienced internal division over issues of liturgy and moral doctrine on sexuality and the family, including the approval of the blessing of same-sex couples.

At the Mass, concelebrated with the members of the College of Cardinals, Leo expressed his intention to “come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for he wants us all to be united in one family.”

Leo XIV has indicated his desire for collegiality from his first moment as pope, when he spoke about walking together as a united Church in his opening words to the world on May 8, following the announcement of his election. He also held an early meeting with cardinals where they were invited to speak up on whatever issue concerned them, something that had not happened under Francis since 2014.

Reflecting on the qualities expected in the successor of St. Peter, he said: “If the rock is Christ, Peter must shepherd the flock without ever yielding to the temptation to be an autocrat, lording it over those entrusted to him.”

Hundreds of religious and international leaders and dignitaries, representing nearly 200 foreign delegations, attended the Mass for the Beginning of the Petrine Ministry of the Bishop of Rome on May 18, including U.S. Vice President JD Vance and U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. 

In his homily, Leo spoke about the conclave that chose him to be the Church’s 267th pope: “Coming from different backgrounds and experiences, we [the cardinal electors] placed in God’s hands our desire to elect the new successor of Peter, the bishop of Rome, a shepherd capable of preserving the rich heritage of the Christian faith and, at the same time, looking to the future, in order to confront the questions, concerns, and challenges of today’s world.”

“Love and unity: These are the two dimensions of the mission entrusted to Peter by Jesus,” the pontiff added.

Quoting St. Augustine — who inspired the religious Order of St. Augustine, to which he belongs — Pope Leo XIV said: “The Church consists of all those who are in harmony with their brothers and sisters and who love their neighbor.”

The pope lamented the discord and wounds of our time: “For our part, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion, and fraternity within the world.”

Before delivering his homily, Leo received the symbols of the papacy, the pallium and the fisherman’s ring, in a richly-symbolic rite including an act of obedience and fidelity from representatives of the College of Cardinals and “the people of God.”

The pallium, a narrow band made of white lamb’s wool, was draped over his shoulders. The pallium, which has two black flaps and three pins representing the nails of Christ’s cross, symbolizes the bishop as the good shepherd and Christ the Lamb crucified for the salvation of the human race.

The gold fisherman’s ring, a part of the papal insignia since the first millennium, has the image of St. Peter with the keys and fisherman’s net, a symbol of authority and the duty entrusted to St. Peter by Jesus to be “a fisher of men.”

After the sung proclamation of the Gospel in Latin and Greek — the passage from the Gospel of John, when Jesus asks Peter “do you love me?” and commands him to “feed my lambs” and “tend my sheep” — Cardinal Dominique Mamberti placed the pallium around Leo’s shoulders and Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, OFM Cap, recited a prayer.

With visible emotion, Leo received the fisherman’s ring from Cardinal Luis Tagle, looking at the ring and then lifting his face in prayer.

His papal name and elements from his coat of arms — the fleur-de-lis, a symbol of purity and the Virgin Mary, and a pierced heart, the traditional symbol of the Augustinian order — are engraved on the inside of the ring.

Before the Mass, Pope Leo XIV took his first ride in the popemobile, standing and waving to the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square and Via Conciliazione, the main thoroughfare to the Vatican basilica.

The rite for the beginning of the pontificate started with Leo praying at the tomb of St. Peter together with the cardinals, who then walk in solemn procession together through St. Peter’s Basilica to St. Peter’s Square. 

An image of our Mother of Good Counsel from the Italian Sanctuary of Genazzano, which Leo visited on May 10 in one of his first acts as pope, was placed to the left of the altar.

“This is the hour for love!” Pope Leo said in his homily. “The heart of the Gospel is the love of God that makes us brothers and sisters. With my predecessor Leo XIII, we can ask ourselves today: If this criterion ‘were to prevail in the world, would not every conflict cease and peace return?’ (Rerum Novarum, 21).”

“With the light and the strength of the Holy Spirit, let us build a Church founded on God’s love,” he continued, “a sign of unity, a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the word, allows itself to be made ‘restless’ by history, and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity.”

At the end of Mass, Leo appealed for “a just and lasting peace” around the world, especially in Gaza, Myanmar, and Ukraine, and sang the Regina Caeli, a Marian antiphon for the Easter season.

In addition to international leaders and dignitaries, a large number of religious representatives attended the first papal Mass, including members of the Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Zoroastrianism, and Jainism religions.

Around 36 different Christian churches or organizations were also represented, with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople and Patriarch Theophilos III of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem in attendance.

Jewish leaders from Italy, Israel, and the United States also came to the Mass, including the head rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni.

Melanie McClanahan, a Rosary Team volunteer, with a resident. / Credit: Mike Jensen

CNA Staff, May 18, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Teresa Rodriguez was working as a hospice nurse, seeing patients at a memory care facility, when she realized that her patients were not being offered any spiritual services. While speaking with a patient and the patient’s husband one day, the idea was proposed of organizing a time to pray the rosary. Rodriguez immediately decided to make that happen.

“That day I talked to the activities director … and she was thrilled. [She was] so excited that we would even consider coming in and praying with the residents,” Rodriguez told CNA in an interview. 

At the time, Rodriguez was leading a Bible study at her parish, Sacred Heart of Mary in Boulder, Colorado. She asked the women in her Bible study if anyone would be willing to volunteer to pray the rosary with patients at a memory care facility. Two of them volunteered to go with her. 

The event was quickly a success. What started as a once-a-week event quickly became twice a week, and then three times. Rodriguez placed bulletin announcements in the surrounding parishes and was able to gather more volunteers. This marked the beginning of what is now known as the Rosary Team, which started in 2019 and today is made up of over 500 volunteers in 18 states.

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rosary Team held Zoom rosaries that were broadcast throughout the facilities. Once they began to reopen, Rodriguez reached back out to facilities to see if they could hold in-person rosaries again and, much to her surprise, there was even more excitement about having individuals come in to pray the rosary with the residents. 

Over the years, Rodriguez has had a plethora of moving experiences with residents at the memory care facilities. 

“One that really got to me was I was praying with one resident and she said to me after we were done praying, ‘That’s the first Hail Mary I’ve prayed in 45 years,’” Rodriguez recalled. 

She added that at times they encounter residents who can’t speak or can only say very few words, “then, all of the sudden, we start praying the rosary with them and they say out loud the prayers of the rosary.”

Melanie McClanahan, a Rosary Team volunteer, said her time volunteering with the ministry “has been a miracle in my life and I see how it is a miracle in the lives of others. I have watched people heal, including myself; I have seen family members come together, and I have watched people who weren’t sure about their beliefs grow in their love of Jesus and their devotion to our Blessed Mother.”

When asked why it’s so important to do work like this with the elderly and memory-impaired, Rodriguez said: “The elderly are quiet and we don’t see them a lot — due to their health issues and their mobility — and they can be easily forgotten, especially when they’re in facilities, when they’re not out at our parishes, not in our neighborhoods, or in the grocery stores. They’re such an easy group to forget and we don’t want to forget them.”

“This is a pro-life issue in pro-life ministry, that we need to take care of people from conception to natural death, and this is a part of caring for them and, you know, acknowledging them, and giving them love,” she added.

Rodriguez said she hopes that both volunteers and residents are being impacted by this ministry and that “the faith and love for God grows through the Rosary Team, and through the volunteers and the residents praying together.”

The Blessed Sacrament is held aloft during a Eucharistic procession through Washington, D.C., Saturday, May 17, 2025. / Credit: Tessa Gervasini/CNA

Washington D.C., May 17, 2025 / 17:30 pm (CNA).

The Catholic Information Center (CIC) on Saturday held its third annual Eucharistic procession through Washington, D.C., in which more than 1,000 participants processed through the downtown area with the Blessed Sacrament. 

Father Charles Trullols, the director of the CIC, told CNA the day was “perfect.”

The event kicked off with a Mass at CIC’s chapel. The group of attendees was so large that it could not fit inside the chapel itself, sending people to watch the Mass on a screen outside where they were eventually brought Communion. 

The procession began after Mass and was led by the crossbearer, candle-bearers, religious sisters, and young children who recently received their first holy Communion and who laid rose petals ahead of the Eucharist.

Trullols carried the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance and held it high for the crowd to witness and follow. A choir, priests, and laypeople followed behind through the downtown area.

As the group walked, attendees said prayers and sang hymns. Some bystanders joined in and others kneeled as the procession passed by.

Gerard McNair-Lewis, a development associate at CIC, noted that the event is held during May, “the month of Mary.” 

“What better way to celebrate Mary than to honor her son’s Eucharistic presence?” he said.

The group processed down K Street. The Eucharist in the procession was “the closest tabernacle to the White House,” McNair-Lewis said. It’s “a great testament that religious things happen in our nation’s capital.”

Throughout the procession the group stopped at different locations to kneel before the Blessed Sacrament and hear the Gospel. At one stop, Monsignor Charles Pope spoke outside the Veterans Affairs office.

Pope praised veterans and the military, pointing out that “many put their lives on the line so that others can live in greater security and freedom.” He said these individuals “imitate Jesus, who lays down his life so we can live eternally.”

Krista Anderson, an attendee from Virgina, told CNA that her husband Michael Simpson was a staff sergeant for the United States Army who was killed in Afghanistan. 

She felt the moment to honor veterans was a message from God.

Craig Carter flew into Washington for a work trip and “happened to see [the procession].” 

A Protestant, Carter said God “wanted me to come to D.C. early just to pray.” He joined the procession, he said, because God “has been working on [his] heart.” 

Lydia Vaccaro, a young attendee from Virgina, told CNA that “adoration has always been super special to me in my Catholic faith. So, it brought me here.”

“It’s a beautiful witness,” attendee Hannah Hermann said.

“I like being in front of processions like this, where you’re out and people see,” Hermann said. “I’ve heard conversion stories from people who witness a procession."

“The procession was beautiful,” Trullols told CNA after the event concluded. “Every year it is getting better.”

“We know how to do it better and it’s growing — the quantity of people, the attention, and also the way we organize the liturgy and the music,” Trullols said.

Marchers participate in the grand procession of the Jubilee of Confraternities in Rome, Saturday, May 17, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

CNA Staff, May 17, 2025 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

Thousands of the faithful took to the streets of Rome on Saturday to take part in elaborate and beautiful processions by members of Catholic confraternities from around the world who gathered in the Eternal City as part of the 2025 Jubilee festivities.

A confraternity is a voluntary association of the faithful devoted to special works of Christian charity. Many date back hundreds of years.

The Saturday processions were held to mark the Jubilee of Confraternities. Two processions total marched through the Roman streets and ended at the Circus Maximus.

Vice President JD Vance shares a moment of laughter with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, during their meeting at the Vatican on Holy Saturday, April 19, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media/screenshot

Vatican City, May 17, 2025 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are among numerous international leaders and dignitaries, representing approximately 200 foreign delegations, who will attend Pope Leo XIV’s inaugural Mass at the Vatican on Sunday, May 18. 

The global leaders and representatives who will be present in St. Peter’s Square for the 10 a.m. Sunday Mass include: 

Americas

JD Vance, vice president of the United States

Marco Rubio, U.S. secretary of state of the United States

Mark Carney, prime minister of Canada

Rodney Williams, governor general of Antigua and Barbuda

Teresa Susana Subieta Serrano, ambassador of Bolivia to the Holy See

Javier Milei, president of Argentina

Joseph Curry, ambassador of the Bahamas to the Holy See

Milton Inniss, ambassador of Barbados to the Holy See

Geraldo Alckmin, vice president of Brazil 

Manuel José Ossandón, president of the senate of Chile

Gustavo Petro, president of Colombia

Arnoldo André Tinoco, minister for foreign affairs and worship of Costa Rica

Salvador Valdés Mesa, vice president of Cuba

Raquel Peña Rodríguez, vice president of the Dominican Republic

Félix Ulloa, vice president of El Salvador

Daniel Noboa, president of Ecuador

Alrich Nicolas, representative of Haiti

Alfredo Vásquez Rivera, ambassador of Guatemala to the Holy See

Rebeca Ráquel Obando, president of the supreme court of justice of Honduras

Rosa Icela Rodríguez Velázquez, interior minister of Mexico

Maurizio Gelli, concurrent ambassador of Nicaragua to the United Kingdom

Javier Martínez-Acha, minister of foreign affairs of Panama

Santiago Peña, president of Paraguay

Dina Boluarte, president of Peru

Matteo Forconi, honorary consul of St. Kitts and Nevis in Florence

Gilbert Chaguory, ambassador of St. Lucia to the Holy See

Ruediger Ackermann, honorary consul of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to Germany

Colin Connelly, ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago to Belgium and the European Union  

Ricardo Duarte Vargas, charge d'affaires of Uruguay to the Holy See

Carmen Meléndez Rivas, mayor of Caracas, Venezuela

Europe

Bajram Begaj, president of Albania

Patrice Faure, representative of the Co-Prince of Andorra Emmanuel Macron 

Xavier Zamora, prime minister of Andorra

Vahagn Khachaturyan, president of Armenia

Christian Stocker, chancellor of Austria

Sahiba Gafarova, president speaker of Azerbaijan

Ihar Sierhiejenka, president speaker of Belarus

King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium

Borjana Krišto, chairwoman of the council of ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Rosen Zhelyazkov, prime minister of Bulgaria

Andrej Plenković, prime minister of Croatia

Constantinos Kombos, minister of foreign affairs of Cyprus

Marek Výborný, minister of agriculture of the Czech Republic

Susanne Shine, ambassador of Denmark to Belgium, Luxembourg and Vatican State 

Lauri Hussar, president speaker of Estonia

Anders Adlercreutz, minister of education of Finland

François Bayrou, prime minister of France

Mikheil Kavelashvili, president of Georgia

Friedrich Merz, federal chancellor of Germany

Julia Klöckner, president of the Bundestag, Germany

Sofia Zacharaki, minister of education and religious affairs of Greece

Tamás Sulyok, president of Hungary

Einar Gunnarsson, ambassador and permanent representative of Iceland in Geneva

Michael Higgins, president of Ireland

Vjosa Osmani, president of Kosovo 

Evika Siliņa, prime minister of Latvia

Prince Alois of Liechtenstein 

Brigitte Haas, prime minister of Liechtenstein

Gitanas Nausėda, president of Lithuania

Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa of Luxembourg 

Luc Frieden, prime minister of Luxembourg

Robert Abela, prime minister of Malta

Prince Albert II of Monaco

Milojko Spajić, prime minister of Montenegro

Queen Máxima of the Netherlands 

Dick Schoof, prime minister of the Netherlands

Kjersti Rødsmoen, ambassador of Norway to Holy See

Andrzej Duda, president of Poland

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, president of Portugal

Mircea Abrudean, acting president of the senate of Romania

Olga Lyubimova, minister of culture of Russia

Denise Bronzetti, captain regent of San Marino

Đuro Macut, prime minister of Serbia

Peter Pellegrini, president of Slovakia

Robert Golob, prime minister of Slovenia

King Filipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain

María Jesús Montero, vice president of Spain 

Princess Victoria of Sweden

Jakob Forssmed, minister for health and social affairs of Sweden

Karin Keller-Sutter, president of Switzerland

Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, to represent King Charles of the United Kingdom

Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister of the United Kingdom

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, president of Ukraine

Nuriddin Ismoilov, president speaker of Uzbekistan  

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission

Middle East and North Africa

Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, prime minister of Bahrain

Ahmed Fouad Hano, minister of culture of Egypt

Reza Salehi-Amiri, minister of cultural heritage, tourism and handicrafts of Iran

Saywan Barzani, ambassador of Iraq to Italy

Isaac Herzog, president of Israel

Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad of Jordan

Nasser Sanhat Alqahtani, ambassador of Kuwait to Italy

Joseph Aoun, president of Lebanon

Aziz Akhannouch, prime minister of Morocco

Benvinda Levy, prime minister of Mozambique

Sayyid Nazar Al Julanda Majid Alsaid, ambassador of Oman to Italy  

Mahmood bin Hamad Al Hasani, ambassador of Oman to the Holy See

Ramzi Khoury, minister of religious affairs of Palestine

Varsen Aghabekian, minister of state for foreign affairs of Palestine

Issa Kassissieh, ambassador of Palestine to the Holy See

Asma Naji Al-Amri, ambassador of Qatar to the Holy See

Prince Faisal bin Sattam bin Abdulaziz, ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Italy

Adel al-Jubeir, minister of state for foreign affairs of Saudi Arabia

Louay Fallouh, ambassador of Syria to the Holy See

Mehmet Nuri Ersoy, minister of culture and tourism of Turkey

Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, United Arab Emirates

Africa

Barthélémy Kéré, president of the constitutional council of Burkina Faso 

Prosper Bazombanza, vice president of Burundi 

Paul Atanga Nji, minister of territorial administration of Cameroon

Janine Lélis, minister of defence of Cape Verde

Ahmad Makaila, ambassador of Chad to the Holy See

Rrigobert Itoua, ambassador of Congo to the Holy See

Patrick Jérôme Achi, minister of state of Côte d'Ivoire

Joaquín Mbana Nchama, ambassador of Equatorial Guinea to the Holy See

Russell Dlamini, prime minister of Eswatini

Brice Oligui Nguema, president of Gabon

Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, member of the parliament of Ghana

Yvette Sylla, ambassador of Madagascar to United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Patrick Gervais Assirvaden, minister of energy and public utilities of Mauritius 

Betty Cherwon, ambassador of Kenya to France, Portugal, Serbia, Holy See and Monaco

Lucia Witbooi, vice president of Namibia

Bola Tinubu, president of Nigeria

Jean-Baptiste Tine, interior minister of Senegal

Sylvestre Radegonde, minister for foreign affairs of Seychelles

Nosipho Nausca-Jean Jezile ambassador of South Africa to Italy

Monday Semaya Kumba, minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation of South Sudan

Salah Mohamed Ishag Rahama, charge d'affaires of Sudan to the Holy See

Hassani Iddi Mwamweta, ambassador of Tanzania to the Holy See

Faure Gnassingbé, president of the council of ministers of Togo

Thomas Tayebwa, deputy speaker of parliament of Uganda

Macenje Mazoka, ambassador of Zambia to the Holy See

Simon Muzenda, vice president of Zimbabwe

Asia-Pacific 

Anthony Albanese, prime minister of Australia 

Tareq Md Ariful Islam, ambassador of Bangladesh to the United Nations

Harivansh Narayan Singh, deputy chairman of upper house of parliament of India

Muhaimin Iskandar, minister of community empowerment of Indonesia

Tarō Asō, member of the house of representatives of Japan

Hendy Anak Assan, ambassador of Malaysia to the Holy See

Gerelmaa Davaasuren, ambassador of Mongolia to the Holy See

Hmway Hmway Khyne, ambassador of Myanmar to Italy

Tara Morton, ambassador of New Zealand to Andorra, Malta, Morocco and the Holy See

Yusuf Raza Gilani, chairman of the senate of Pakistan

Myla Grace Ragenia Macahilig, ambassador of the Philippines to the Holy See

Edwin Tong, minister for culture, community and youth of Singapore

Yoo In-chon, minister of culture, sports and tourism of South Korea

Oh Hyun-joo, ambassador of South Korea to the Holy See 

Chen Chien-jen, former vice president and ex-premier of Taiwan, to represent president Lai Ching-te of Taiwan (China)

Theerarat Samrejvanich, deputy minister of interior of Thailand

Maria Fernanda Lay, member of the national parliament of Timor-Leste

Bernard Leclerc, ambassador of Vanuatu to Israel and Russia

Duong Hai Hung, ambassador of Vietnam to Italy

Young students cheer during an assembly at Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington, Virginia, Saturday, May 10, 2025. / Credit: EWTN News

CNA Staff, May 17, 2025 / 11:00 am (CNA).

For Catholic students in the United States, the election of Pope Leo XIV as the first American pope on May 8 filled them with excitement and hope.

Or, as one student put it: “Everyone just freaked out.”

Students shared memories of the day with Roselle Reyes, news correspondent for “EWTN News In Depth,” on Friday.

Bahkita Karenge, a Catholic school student in the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, remembered the excitement of finding out during the school day. Students were “screaming,” “jumping and laughing,” and giving hugs.  

“It was so beautiful because at that moment, it didn’t really matter which sport you played or which friend group you were in or which trend you were following,” Karenge reflected.

“Everyone was just a young Catholic kid, and everyone was excited that we have a new leader.”

Karenge remembered how “everyone joined in” singing the national anthem together after they found out. 

“America represents a lot of different people coming together, so I think [Pope Leo XIV will] really try to make everyone’s voice across the world feel heard, and I think that’s good as a new pope,” Karenge added.

Hopes for ‘revival’ 

Students shared their hopes for what Pope Leo XIV will bring to the world. 

Arlington Catholic student Benjamin Lee observed that Leo is known “from a lot of places around the world” and said he hopes this will “attract” more people to Catholicism. 

The pope grew up in Chicago and spent about a dozen years as a missionary in Peru and has dual citizenship. 

“I hope that more people will become Catholic through that, knowing that he is the first American pope,” Lee said. 

“He’s also Peruvian,” said Catholic student Alison de River. “I’m Peruvian, too, so it makes me really happy.” 

Another student, Andreas Millradt, said he hopes Pope Leo XIV will bring about a “revival.” 

“I hope Pope Leo XIV will bring a new revival to the U.S. to help everyone come to Jesus, learn who he is and what he can do for us,” Millradt said. 

One Catholic school student, Patrick Aogauer, expressed hope that an American pope will show the universality of the Church. 

“I really hope that his new papacy will expand the Catholic Church and show Americans that, yes, it’s universal,” he said. 

‘A frenzy’

Students recounted how special it was to experience such a historical moment with their classmates. 

Millradt remembered that “everyone just freaked out” when they learned the new pope was Cardinal Robert Prevost from the U.S.  

“Everyone went into a frenzy,” Millradt said. “It was incredible.”

“I feel really proud that we have our first American pope, and that it feels like we’re all united,” Millradt continued.

As they were watching the conclave, Millradt said his classmates discussed how they’ve never had an American pope.

“I feel like it was such a blessing being able to see this, such a historical moment and share it with all my schoolmates,” he added. 

Jennifer Meszaros, a local Catholic who attends Our Lady of the Blue Ridge Parish, reflected on how Pope Leo gives young Catholics a deeper connection to the Vatican. 

“I think it brings the Vatican closer to these kids, gives them something tangible, and they can relate to,” Meszaros said. 

“Chicago, they know that,” she continued. “He plays tennis, they play tennis.”

For her part, Meszaros said she hopes the new pope will bring “youth movement back to the Church, which we desperately need for the future of our Church.” 

Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, reflected on the “enthusiasm” from young people reacting to the new announcement. 

“There is a real excitement because it represents that the Lord has spoken to us,” Burbidge said. 

He “gave us a new shepherd,” Burbidge continued. “I think young people are responding well to that.”