ArcaMax

CHICAGO — Above the door of the church in the last blocks of Chicago, the Virgin Mary still stands with her arms wide open.

The double doors beneath the statue’s feet are shut, but a disintegrating wooden side door swings freely, leading to a set of stairs with chipped paint scattered on them. Above, a pool of blue light from a stained-...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — In the summer of 1973, the war was still raging in Vietnam, the Watergate scandal was unfolding in Washington, and protests roiled college campuses nationwide. But at leafy Villanova University just outside Philadelphia, trouble was on the home front.

The staid Catholic institution on the Main Line stood at a cultural ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — As Philadelphians and Catholics rejoiced at the announcement of the new pope, with his ties to Villanova University, among local Filipinos, there was some disappointment.

The election of Pope Leo XIV meant Filipino cardinals who had been front-runners in the papal process would not ascend to the Catholic Church’s highest post...Read more

From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Q: Travel is a big part of my work, but I’m growing weary of getting on airplanes because of the many troubles air travel has had in recent months. I have faith in God, but my faith isn’t quite so strong in the airline industry. People who know me keep telling me to have faith in God for protection...Read more

CHICAGO — Almost immediately after the Chicago Tribune published an article Thursday mentioning that the newly elected Pope Leo XIV had dined with old friends at Aurelio’s Pizza in Homewood months prior, Joe Aurelio said his friends, family — and what eventually felt like the whole country — started chiming in.

“The world’s calling...Read more

How the first American pope will interact with the president of his homeland remains to be seen, but a few posts on social media might provide a clue.

Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, is also known on the social media site X as @drprevost, where he has occasionally weighed in with reposts on issues of faith and politics — including ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — A more than century-old San Diego Jesuit parish has joined other churches and a farmworker organization across the country in a federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s willingness to bring its immigration crackdown into so-called “sensitive locations.”

“I feel like the only effective tool with this ...Read more

ROME — Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first mass as pontiff Friday after his historic appointment as the first American to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics.

His elevation puts another U.S. voice on the world stage, but the new pope’s relationship with his home country may not be simple. His past pronouncements as a cardinal and ...Read more

ROME — Pope Leo XIV celebrates his first mass as pontiff Friday after his historic appointment as the first American to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics.

His elevation puts another U.S. voice on the world stage, but the new pope’s relationship with his home country may not be simple. His past pronouncements as a cardinal and ...Read more

At the end of March, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case about religious freedom. In late April, it heard two more. By summer, the Court could decide to give religious employers another tax break, let religious parents excuse their children from classes that mention queer people, and give religious charter schools access to public ...Read more

From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham

Q: There’s a popular commercial running that asks people on the street, “How’s your heart?” The advertisement is about an app that digitally monitors the human heart. This registered with me after seeing another ad about a book written by a minister asking, “How’s Your Heart?” What ...Read more

On Thursday, Cardinal Robert F. Prevost was introduced to the world as the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church and the first American pope, taking the name Leo XIV.

For Catholic theologians, the significance of the name could not be more clear, with the new pope tying himself to one of the foundational figures of modern Catholic social ...Read more