https://www.scmp.com/rss/299076/feed Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in December 1936 as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis is pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of the Vatican City State. He was elected by a papal conclave on March 13, 2013 following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on February 28, 2013. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Associated Press Associated Press Pope Leo will inaugurate the soaring central tower of Barcelona’s famed Sagrada Familia basilica when he visits Spain next month in a week-long trip that will also take him to a migrant reception centre in the Canary Islands, the Vatican said on Wednesday. The June 6-12 visit will first bring Leo to Madrid for meetings with the government, parliament and King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia. He will also preside over a prayer vigil with young people that will recall the last time a pope visited... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3352659/pope-inaugurate-barcelonas-sagrada-familia-june-trip-spain?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3352659/pope-inaugurate-barcelonas-sagrada-familia-june-trip-spain?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 May 2026 14:09:11 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US President Donald Trump has renewed his criticism of Pope Leo, potentially complicating a fence-mending visit that Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to make to the Vatican on Thursday. In an interview with conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, Trump said the first American-born pontiff was helping Iran and also making the world less safe with his comments about the importance of not treating immigrants with disrespect. “The pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s OK for Iran to have... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3352541/trump-renews-attacks-pope-leo-just-days-rubios-vatican-trip?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3352541/trump-renews-attacks-pope-leo-just-days-rubios-vatican-trip?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 May 2026 18:55:14 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet Pope Leo on a trip to Rome this week, in the wake of the pontiff’s clash with US President Donald Trump, a Vatican source said on Sunday. The source confirmed Italian media reports about the meeting, which newspapers said would take place on Thursday in an attempt to “thaw” relations. It comes just weeks after Trump’s extraordinary criticism of Pope Leo over the Catholic leader’s anti-war rhetoric. The private visit with the top US diplomat, who is a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3352292/rubio-visit-rome-meet-pope-leo-after-trump-row-attempt-thaw-relations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3352292/rubio-visit-rome-meet-pope-leo-after-trump-row-attempt-thaw-relations?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 03 May 2026 18:14:18 +0000 dpa dpa Pope Leo has called for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty on Saturday, a day after the US administration mulled expanding the penalty. “The dignity of the person is not lost even after very serious crimes are committed,” Leo said in a video message marking the 15th anniversary of the abolition of the death penalty in his home state of Illinois. “The Catholic Church has consistently taught that each human life, from the moment of conception until natural death, is sacred and deserves... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3351441/pope-leo-urges-worldwide-abolition-death-penalty?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3351441/pope-leo-urges-worldwide-abolition-death-penalty?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 25 Apr 2026 15:51:23 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Pope Leo on Tuesday used the fourth and final leg of his Africa tour in Equatorial Guinea to denounce the “colonisation” of Africa’s minerals and the “lust for power” in a country whose president has been in office since 1979. Adoring crowds in the largely Catholic country lined the road from the airport into the administrative capital, Malabo, cheering the first pope to visit since St John Paul II in 1982. Wearing his formal red mozzetta cape, Leo thrilled the flag-waving masses by arriving at... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3350961/pope-leo-denounces-colonisation-minerals-final-leg-africa-tour?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3350961/pope-leo-denounces-colonisation-minerals-final-leg-africa-tour?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 22 Apr 2026 04:54:01 +0000 Reuters Reuters Pope Leo lamented during an event in Angola on Monday that many people in the world were being “exploited by authoritarians and defrauded by the rich”, the latest example of a forceful new speaking style he has adopted on his ‌four-nation Africa tour. The first US pope, who has drawn the ire of President Donald Trump with his more outspoken comments, told worshippers at a Mass in Saurimo, near the Democratic Republic of Congo border, that violence and oppression went against the Christian... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3350762/pope-leo-criticises-exploitation-worlds-authoritarians-during-angola-trip?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3350762/pope-leo-criticises-exploitation-worlds-authoritarians-during-angola-trip?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 Apr 2026 11:55:07 +0000 Reuters Reuters Pope Leo sought ⁠to downplay his feud ⁠with US President Donald Trump on Saturday, ⁠saying reporting about comments he has made so far during his Africa tour “has not been accurate in all its aspects”. Speaking to reporters in English aboard his flight to Angola for the third leg of his ambitious 10-day Africa tour, the first US pope said comments ‌he made two days earlier in Cameroon decrying that the world was being “ravaged by a handful of tyrants” were not aimed at Trump. That speech, said... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3350604/pope-leo-seeks-defuse-tensions-trump-says-not-trying-debate-him?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3350604/pope-leo-seeks-defuse-tensions-trump-says-not-trying-debate-him?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 19 Apr 2026 03:32:39 +0000 Reuters Reuters Pope Leo called on Cameroonians on Friday to reject violence and be generous with their neighbours during an event billed as the biggest of his four-nation Africa tour, with roughly 120,000 people flocking to a mass he led in the port city of Douala. Amid heavy security, some believers had made their way on Thursday to the city’s Japoma ‌Stadium, venue of the mass, and slept overnight outside on mats to hear Friday’s address from the pontiff, who has become outspoken on war and inequality and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3350542/pope-urges-cameroon-reject-violence-mass-draws-120000-people?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3350542/pope-urges-cameroon-reject-violence-mass-draws-120000-people?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Apr 2026 17:15:32 +0000 Reuters Reuters Pope Leo blasted leaders who spend billions on wars and said the world was “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants”, in unusually forceful remarks in Cameroon on Thursday after US President Donald Trump attacked him again on social media. Leo, the first US pope, also decried leaders who used religious language to justify wars and urged a “decisive change of course” in a meeting in the biggest city ‌in Cameroon’s anglophone regions, where a simmering conflict going back nearly a decade has left... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3350355/cameroon-pope-leo-assails-tyrants-ravaging-world-amid-trump-row?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3350355/cameroon-pope-leo-assails-tyrants-ravaging-world-amid-trump-row?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Apr 2026 12:50:09 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President Donald Trump posted an image of Jesus embracing him on Wednesday, as a war of words between his administration and the pope showed little sign of abating. The image, reposted to Trump’s Truth Social account, shows Trump with his eyes closed, touching temple-to-temple with a similarly posed Jesus. Trump is standing behind a microphone, and behind him is an American flag. The original post ‌had a caption that included the words: “God might be playing his Trump card!” Trump’s repost... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3350224/trump-posts-image-jesus-hugging-him-amid-row-pope-over-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3350224/trump-posts-image-jesus-hugging-him-amid-row-pope-over-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Apr 2026 16:44:40 +0000 Reuters Reuters Pope Leo has said the world needs to hear a message of peace and coexistence, after US President Donald Trump attacked him for a second time this week on social media. Speaking on Wednesday during his flight from Algeria to Cameroon for the second leg of a whirlwind 10-day ‌Africa tour, the first US pontiff urged respect for all people and said his travels so far had shown the importance of pursuing dialogue between different communities. “Although we have different beliefs, we have different... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3350217/pope-leo-stresses-message-peace-and-unity-despite-another-trump-attack?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3350217/pope-leo-stresses-message-peace-and-unity-despite-another-trump-attack?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:15:08 +0000 Gloria Tso Gloria Tso Yves Saint Laurent famously once said that fashion fades, but style is eternal. For designer Filippo Sorcinelli, who fashions garments for one of the world’s most revered religious figures, that statement carries even greater weight. Having dressed three popes – Benedict, Francis and now Leo – for some of their most notable appearances for the better part of two decades, Sorcinelli, 50, is now affectionately known as the pope’s tailor, his intricately embroidered liturgical vestments akin to the... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/icons-influencers/article/3349975/designer-filippo-sorcinelli-dressing-last-three-popes-interview?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/people/icons-influencers/article/3349975/designer-filippo-sorcinelli-dressing-last-three-popes-interview?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:00:09 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US President Donald Trump delivered an extraordinary broadside against Pope Leo on Sunday night, saying he did not think the US-born global leader of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church was “doing a very good job” and that “he’s a very liberal person”, while also suggesting the pontiff should “stop catering to the Radical Left”. Flying back to Washington from Florida, Trump used a lengthy social media post to sharply criticise Leo, then kept it up after disembarking, in comments on the tarmac... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3349830/trump-attacks-pope-leo-calling-him-weak-crime-and-terrible-foreign-policy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3349830/trump-attacks-pope-leo-calling-him-weak-crime-and-terrible-foreign-policy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 13 Apr 2026 02:02:15 +0000 Reuters Reuters Wrapped in bloodied bandages, seven-year-old Aline Saeed barely survived the Israeli strike on her home in south Lebanon last week. She was there to bury her father as hopes of a truce spread across the region, but a new strike killed her infant sister and other relatives. The strike on the Saeed family home in the village of Srifa took place on Wednesday, the first day ‌of a US-Iran ceasefire that many in Lebanon hoped would apply to their country, too. Instead, Israeli strikes killed more than... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349814/israeli-bombardment-kills-infant-lebanon-during-fathers-funeral?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349814/israeli-bombardment-kills-infant-lebanon-during-fathers-funeral?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Apr 2026 13:41:20 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The president who yearned for a Nobel Peace Prize and once revelled in the appearance of solving conflicts turned to the language of annihilation as he struggled to find a resolution to his war of choice in Iran. US President Donald Trump’s latest threat over the Iran war hit a new extreme on Tuesday as he warned “A whole civilisation will die tonight, never to be brought back again”, if Iran failed to make a deal that included reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz. The Republican president’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3349340/madness-or-bluster-trumps-apocalyptic-language-raises-key-questions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3349340/madness-or-bluster-trumps-apocalyptic-language-raises-key-questions?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Apr 2026 05:50:11 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Pope Leo celebrated his first Easter Mass as pontiff with a call on Sunday to lay down arms and seek peace to global conflicts through dialogue, but he departed from a tradition of listing the world’s woes by name in the Urbi et Orbi blessing from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica. Leo, the first US-born pope, emphasised Easter’s message of hope as a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection after being crucified, in both the blessing and his homily. “Let us allow our hearts to be transformed by his... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3349090/pope-leo-calls-peace-dialogue-amid-ukraine-iran-wars-easter-mass?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3349090/pope-leo-calls-peace-dialogue-amid-ukraine-iran-wars-easter-mass?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 05 Apr 2026 11:35:27 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Pope Leo lifted a wooden cross and held it aloft from his waist at the start of the 14 stations of the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on his first Good Friday as pontiff, marking the first time in decades that a pope has set out to carry the cross to every station. “I think it will be an important sign because of what the pope represents, a spiritual leader in the world today, and for this voice, that everyone wants to hear, that says Christ still suffers,” Leo told reporters this week... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3349008/pope-leo-carries-cross-full-good-friday-procession-first-do-so-decades?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3349008/pope-leo-carries-cross-full-good-friday-procession-first-do-so-decades?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Apr 2026 20:50:00 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Pope Leo on Saturday denounced the widening gap between the haves and have-nots as he visited Monaco, a millionaires’ playground that is the surprise pick for the first Western European trip of his papacy. Arriving by helicopter from Rome, the Pope was greeted by Monaco’s ruler Prince Albert II and his wife Princess Charlene at Monte Carlo’s heliport under radiant sunshine. Just after his arrival at the tiny principality on the French Riviera, Leo condemned what he termed the widening “chasms... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3348236/pope-leo-heads-swanky-monaco-pro-poor-message?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3348236/pope-leo-heads-swanky-monaco-pro-poor-message?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Mar 2026 06:05:08 +0000 Reuters Reuters Pope Leo lamented ⁠a world “in flames” ⁠due to wars and ⁠the destruction of the environment during an Ash Wednesday Mass, opening the season of Lent for the world’s Christians. Before sprinkling ashes on the heads of participants, a sign of mortality, ‌the pope said the ashes could represent “the weight of a world that is ablaze, of entire cities destroyed by war”. He also told participants the ashes could signify “the ashes of international law and justice among peoples, [and] the ashes of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3343941/pope-leo-laments-world-flames-ash-wednesday-service?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3343941/pope-leo-laments-world-flames-ash-wednesday-service?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Feb 2026 19:06:25 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Britain’s King Charles called for “compassion and reconciliation” at a time of “division” across the world in his Christmas Day message on Thursday. The 77-year-old monarch said he found it “enormously encouraging” how people of different faiths had a “shared longing for peace”. Charles praised individuals who risked their lives to save others in situations of violence, including those caught up in the killings at a Jewish event at Bondi Beach in Australia this month. “Individuals and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3337748/king-charles-calls-reconciliation-christmas-speech?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3337748/king-charles-calls-reconciliation-christmas-speech?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Dec 2025 23:05:05 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse In an appeal on Thursday during a message and blessing given at Christmas and Easter, Pope Leo called for an end to all global wars. Speaking from the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to thousands of people in the square below, he lamented conflicts, political, ‌social or military, in Ukraine, Sudan, Mali, Myanmar, ‌and Thailand and Cambodia, among others. Leo said people in Ukraine, where Russian troops are threatening cities critical to the country’s eastern defences, have been... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3337672/pope-leo-celebrates-first-christmas-pontiff?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3337672/pope-leo-celebrates-first-christmas-pontiff?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 24 Dec 2025 23:56:39 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The “Architects of AI” were named Time magazine’s person of the year for 2025 on Thursday. The magazine cited 2025 as the year when the potential of artificial intelligence “roared into view”, with no turning back. “For delivering the age of thinking machines, for wowing and worrying humanity, for transforming the present and transcending the possible, the Architects of AI are TIME’s 2025 Person of the Year,” Time said in a social media post. The magazine was deliberate in selecting people – the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3336114/time-names-architects-ai-person-year-2025?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3336114/time-names-architects-ai-person-year-2025?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 11 Dec 2025 13:56:09 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The Vatican on Saturday returned 62 artefacts to indigenous peoples from Canada as part of the Catholic Church’s reckoning with its role in helping suppress indigenous culture in the Americas. Pope Leo gave the artefacts, including an iconic Inuit kayak, and supporting documentation to a delegation of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops during an audience. According to a joint statement from the Vatican and Canadian church, the pieces were a gift and a “concrete sign of dialogue, respect... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3332938/vatican-returns-62-artefacts-connected-indigenous-peoples-canada?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3332938/vatican-returns-62-artefacts-connected-indigenous-peoples-canada?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Nov 2025 12:11:00 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Arm in arm, young people of different faiths perform the dabke, an Arabic folk dance, in the Italian port of Ostia, elated by a visit from Pope Leo. Behind them is the Bel Espoir, a schooner vessel on which the young people – whether from Libya and Egypt or France and Bosnia – have been sailing the Mediterranean to promote peace. “For me especially, it means a lot that the pope believes in the project and he wants to come and meet us,” said Jesus Marro, a 30-year-old Spaniard. “He believes in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3329519/pope-leo-visits-ship-sailing-mediterranean-peace-mission?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3329519/pope-leo-visits-ship-sailing-mediterranean-peace-mission?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 18 Oct 2025 10:11:18 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The Catholic Church and Church of England, divided for centuries over issues that now include the ordination of female priests, will take a historic step on the path to unity next week when Britain’s King Charles and Pope Leo pray together in the Sistine Chapel, officials said Friday. The October 23 ecumenical prayer service, drawing on the shared concern for care of God’s creation, marks the first time since the Reformation that the heads of the two Christian churches pray together. Buckingham... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3329478/king-charles-be-first-uk-monarch-pray-pope-centuries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3329478/king-charles-be-first-uk-monarch-pray-pope-centuries?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Oct 2025 17:11:05 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Artificial intelligence, the technology upending nearly every corner of society, is creeping into religion, serving up virtual Jesuses and automated sermons – a change drawing mixed reviews from the faithful. Religious chatbots and other faith-based digital tools are growing in number, offering counsel, comfort and spiritual guidance during an age of rapidly transforming socialisation and engagement. One app, called Text With Jesus, has thousands of paying subscribers. It lets people ostensibly... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3328080/ai-chatbots-religious-apps-offer-spiritual-guidance-posing-jesus-and-other-figures?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3328080/ai-chatbots-religious-apps-offer-spiritual-guidance-posing-jesus-and-other-figures?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Oct 2025 04:38:48 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Pope Leo XIV declared a 15-year-old computer whiz the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint on Sunday, giving the next generation of Catholics a relatable role model who used technology to spread the faith and earn the nickname “God’s influencer”. Leo canonised Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006, during an open-air Mass in St Peter’s Square before an estimated 80,000 people, many of them millennials and couples with young children. During the first saint-making Mass of his pontificate, Leo also... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324672/pope-leo-declares-teenage-computer-whiz-carlo-acutis-first-millennial-saint?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324672/pope-leo-declares-teenage-computer-whiz-carlo-acutis-first-millennial-saint?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Sep 2025 18:50:05 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Hundreds of LGBTQ Catholics and their families took part in a Holy Year pilgrimage to Rome on Saturday, celebrating a new level of acceptance in the Catholic Church after long feeling shunned and crediting Pope Francis with the change. The vice-president of the Italian bishops conference, Bishop Francesco Savino, celebrated Mass for the pilgrims in a packed Chiesa del Gesu, the main Jesuit church in Rome. He received a sustained standing ovation in the middle of his homily when he recalled that... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324617/lgbtq-catholics-celebrate-new-sense-acceptance-holy-year-pilgrimage-rome?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3324617/lgbtq-catholics-celebrate-new-sense-acceptance-holy-year-pilgrimage-rome?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Sep 2025 14:08:49 +0000 Roberto Coloma Roberto Coloma It began as a settlement for Chinese converts to Catholicism. Four centuries later, the world’s oldest Chinatown is a living reminder of how migration can shape a nation. At its height, Binondo was the Philippines’ commercial capital. From here, Tsinoy merchants – “Tsinoy” being a blend of the words Tsina (Chinese) and Pinoy (Filipino) – built their fortunes in banking, retail and trade. Some of the country’s richest families can trace their roots to this single square kilometre of Manila: five... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3324545/binondo-400-year-old-heart-filipino-chinese-heritage-manila?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3324545/binondo-400-year-old-heart-filipino-chinese-heritage-manila?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Sep 2025 04:00:14 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial Stability is the foundation for progress in the world of diplomacy. Newly elected Pope Leo XIV has raised hopes for the constructive development of Beijing-Vatican ties, after he affirmed the importance of maintaining communication with the mainland Chinese authorities and pledged to follow the direction set by the late Pope Francis. Even though a substantive breakthrough in ties might take time, hopefully the continuity can strengthen mutual respect and goodwill. The Holy See’s commitment was... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3324433/cardinals-meeting-pope-good-sign-sino-vatican-relations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3324433/cardinals-meeting-pope-good-sign-sino-vatican-relations?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Sep 2025 23:15:07 +0000 Edith Lin,Willa Wu Edith Lin,Willa Wu Newly elected Pope Leo XIV has recognised the importance of maintaining communication with mainland Chinese authorities and will follow the course set by his predecessor regarding Beijing-Vatican ties, Hong Kong’s Catholic bishop has revealed. Cardinal Stephen Chow Sau-yan disclosed the details in an article published in Catholic newspaper the Sunday Examiner on Thursday, two days after his first significant meeting with the new pontiff since taking part in the conclave in May. The meeting, held... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3324272/pope-leo-xiv-pledges-commitment-beijing-vatican-ties-hong-kong-cardinal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3324272/pope-leo-xiv-pledges-commitment-beijing-vatican-ties-hong-kong-cardinal?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 04 Sep 2025 03:21:53 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed regret after Israeli tank fire killed three people at a Catholic church in Gaza on Thursday, blaming a “stray” round for the deaths after a phone call with US President Donald Trump. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said 10 others were also wounded in the attack on the Holy Family Church in Gaza City – the territory’s only Catholic house of worship – including parish priest Father Gabriel Romanelli. Witnesses and the Latin Patriarch said a tank... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3318657/israel-voices-regret-deadly-strike-gaza-church-after-trump-call?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3318657/israel-voices-regret-deadly-strike-gaza-church-after-trump-call?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 18 Jul 2025 00:04:36 +0000 Reuters Reuters An apparent Israeli strike on Gaza’s sole Catholic church killed two people and injured several others, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said on Thursday. “Two persons were killed as a result of an apparent strike by the Israeli army that hit the Holy Family Compound this morning,” the Patriarchate said in a statement. Earlier, there were conflicting reports about whether the attack had caused deaths. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said it was “aware of reports regarding damage caused to... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3318628/israeli-strike-gazas-only-catholic-church-kills-2-cathedral-official-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3318628/israeli-strike-gazas-only-catholic-church-kills-2-cathedral-official-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 17 Jul 2025 11:47:12 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The Vatican on Sunday is beatifying a Congolese customs worker who was killed for resisting a bribe, giving young people in a place with endemic corruption a new model of holiness: someone who refused to allow spoiled rice to be distributed to poor people. The head of the Vatican’s saint-making office, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, is presiding over the beatification ceremony on Sunday at one of the pontifical basilicas in Rome, St. Paul Outside the Walls. The event is drawing Congolese pilgrims... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3314515/vatican-beatifies-congo-customs-worker-resisting-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3314515/vatican-beatifies-congo-customs-worker-resisting-corruption?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Jun 2025 09:32:24 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Pope Leo asked on Sunday for prayers for China’s Catholics to be in communion with the Holy See, as he made his first public remarks about one of the thorniest foreign policy issues facing his new pontificate. History’s first American pope recalled that on Saturday the Catholic Church marked a special feast day to pray for the church in China. Pope Benedict XVI had initiated the feast day as part of his efforts to unify China’s estimated 12 million Catholics who were divided between an official,... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3311757/pope-leo-prays-chinese-catholics-be-communion-rome?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3311757/pope-leo-prays-chinese-catholics-be-communion-rome?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 May 2025 20:21:04 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US Vice-President J.D. Vance extended an invitation to Pope Leo XIV to visit the United States during a meeting at the Vatican on Monday ahead of a flurry of US-led diplomatic efforts to make progress on a ceasefire in Russia’s war in Ukraine. Vance gave the first American pope a letter from US President Donald Trump and the first lady inviting him. The Chicago-born pope took the letter and put it on his desk and was heard saying “at some point”, in the video footage of the meeting provided by... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3310977/vance-gives-pope-leo-invitation-trump-visit-white-house?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3310977/vance-gives-pope-leo-invitation-trump-visit-white-house?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 May 2025 16:53:15 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Pope Leo XIV set the tone for his papacy with a call to stop exploiting nature and marginalising the poor at his inaugural mass on Sunday attended by dignitaries including Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and US Vice-President J.D. Vance. Ten days after he became the first American head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, some 200,000 people gathered to see Leo’s inaugural mass in St Peter’s Square, according to the Vatican. Before it started, the Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3310837/inaugural-mass-pope-leo-warns-against-exploiting-nature-marginalising-poor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3310837/inaugural-mass-pope-leo-warns-against-exploiting-nature-marginalising-poor?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 May 2025 16:55:25 +0000 Peter T. C. Chang Peter T. C. Chang As an American pontiff with deep ties to the Global South, Pope Leo XIV represents a powerful counterbalance to US President Donald Trump’s world view. The pope’s dedication to the marginalised and support for diversity could inspire and help lead to a more equitable and inclusive world order. Given the United States’ status as a global superpower, the idea of an American pontiff has often been met with reservation. Leading up to the conclave to choose the next pope after the death of Pope... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3310259/pope-leo-stands-counterpoint-trumps-polarising-leadership?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3310259/pope-leo-stands-counterpoint-trumps-polarising-leadership?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 18 May 2025 01:30:08 +0000 Wee Kek Koon Wee Kek Koon The 1.3 billion Catholic Christians around the world welcomed Leo XIV as their new leader this month following the death of the widely loved Pope Francis. It was in the middle of the last century that new popes began to choose papal names that communicate the aim of their papacy. The new pope said he had selected his name partly to honour Leo XIII, who was pope from 1878 to 1903, for his dedication to social issues and workers’ rights. In the choice of his name, Leo XIV may be signalling the... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3310409/why-were-chinese-emperors-names-taboo-popes-their-titles-reflected-their-legacy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/chinese-culture/article/3310409/why-were-chinese-emperors-names-taboo-popes-their-titles-reflected-their-legacy?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 May 2025 00:15:08 +0000 Reuters Reuters US Vice-President J.D. Vance will lead a US delegation to attend the inaugural Mass on Sunday of Pope Leo, the first US pontiff, who was critical of President Donald Trump and Vance before taking leadership of the global Roman Catholic Church. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who like Vance is Catholic, will join Vance, the vice-president’s office said in a statement on Thursday. Cardinal Robert Prevost, a Chicago native, was elected by Catholic cardinals a week ago to succeed Pope Francis, who... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3310536/jd-vance-marco-rubio-attend-pope-leos-inaugural-mass?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3310536/jd-vance-marco-rubio-attend-pope-leos-inaugural-mass?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 15 May 2025 15:54:11 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Pope Leo on Wednesday offered to mediate between leaders of countries at war, saying that he himself “will make every effort so that this peace may prevail”. The new US pontiff, who became head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics last week, also called on Christians living in the Middle East not to abandon their homes, in a speech to members of the Eastern Catholic Churches. “Who, better than you, can sing a song of hope even amid the abyss of violence?” he told the packed Paul VI hall at the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3310305/pope-leo-offers-mediate-between-world-leaders-end-wars?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3310305/pope-leo-offers-mediate-between-world-leaders-end-wars?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 May 2025 09:03:55 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Pope Leo XIV called on Monday for the release of jailed journalists and urged reporters against using words that fan hatred, as Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky invited him to the war-torn country. Leo, the first US leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, held his introductory audience with journalists at the Vatican four days after being elected pope by cardinals. After using his first address last Thursday to call for peace around the world, Leo returned to the theme on Monday, saying peace... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3310033/pope-leo-urges-release-reporters-held-seeking-truth-asks-media-choose-peace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3310033/pope-leo-urges-release-reporters-held-seeking-truth-asks-media-choose-peace?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 May 2025 10:21:22 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Pope Leo XIV called for a genuine and just peace in Ukraine and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, in his first Sunday noon blessing as pontiff that featured some symbolic gestures suggesting a message of unity in a polarised Catholic Church. “I, too, address the world’s great powers by repeating the ever-present call ‘never again war’,” Leo said from the loggia of St Peter’s Basilica to an estimated 100,000 people below. It was the first time that Leo had returned to the loggia since he first... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3309936/pope-calls-peace-ukraine-gaza-symbolically-rich-blessing-mothers-day?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3309936/pope-calls-peace-ukraine-gaza-symbolically-rich-blessing-mothers-day?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 May 2025 22:49:59 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Thousands of Catholics gathered on Saturday for an outdoor mass in the Peruvian city of Chiclayo to celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV, who for years lived, ate and prayed among them. The first American head of the Catholic Church spent nine years in the commercial hub along the Pacific coast, where he is claimed as one of their own. Chiclayo “is a simple town that he loved deeply and that he continues to carry in his heart,” Chiclayo Bishop Edinson Farfan told a packed congregation at St... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3309919/peruvians-celebrate-new-pope-adoptive-city-praise-his-big-heart?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/americas/article/3309919/peruvians-celebrate-new-pope-adoptive-city-praise-his-big-heart?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 11 May 2025 12:40:04 +0000 SCMP Editorial SCMP Editorial There was a moment of surprised silence before the crowd began cheering the Vatican announcement that Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was selected to be pope. Most of the people gathered at St Peter’s Square had never heard of the man now known as Leo XIV. Since Thursday, we have learned much more about the first US-born leader of 1.4 billion Catholics. The new pope’s first public words were “peace be with you”. There are growing hopes he can make a difference in a troubled world. Vatican... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3309878/new-pope-may-inspire-global-quest-peace?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/comment/article/3309878/new-pope-may-inspire-global-quest-peace?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 May 2025 22:30:09 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Pope Leo XIV laid out the vision of his papacy on Saturday, identifying artificial intelligence as one of the most critical matters facing humanity and vowing to continue with some of the core priorities of Pope Francis. The former cardinal Robert Prevost referred to AI in explaining his choice of the name “Leo”, as he presided over his first formal audience – with the cardinals who elected him. His namesake, Pope Leo XIII, was pontiff from 1878 to 1903, and was famously interested in workers’... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3309883/pope-leo-xiv-lays-out-vision-papacy-and-identifies-ai-main-challenge-humanity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3309883/pope-leo-xiv-lays-out-vision-papacy-and-identifies-ai-main-challenge-humanity?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 May 2025 19:24:42 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The idyllic campus of Villanova University is ecstatic since the election of American Robert Prevost to the highest seat of the Catholic Church. And for good reason. It is where “Father Bob” studied maths decades ago, before climbing the steps of the Vatican. In the verdant suburb of Philadelphia, locals, professors and students revelled as Cardinal Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV on Thursday. Not only is he the first American pope, he is the first from the Augustinian order, whose tenets are... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3309830/villanova-rejoices-alumnus-american-bob-becomes-pope-leo-xiv-first-us-pontiff?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3309830/villanova-rejoices-alumnus-american-bob-becomes-pope-leo-xiv-first-us-pontiff?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 May 2025 02:24:36 +0000 Agencies,William Yiu Agencies,William Yiu Pope Leo XIV, history’s first North American pope, celebrated his first mass as pontiff on Friday, with the world watching for signs of what kind of leader he would be. Leo, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, looked serene as he said the mass in the Sistine Chapel with the same cardinals who chose him to be the 267th pontiff and the successor to Pope Francis. Dressed in relatively simple white and gold vestments, Leo, who was born in Chicago but spent two decades as a missionary in Peru, said a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3309780/pope-leo-xiv-vows-bring-light-worlds-dark-nights-after-historic-election?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3309780/pope-leo-xiv-vows-bring-light-worlds-dark-nights-after-historic-election?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 May 2025 11:15:34 +0000 Reuters Reuters Before becoming pontiff, the first US-born pope was not shy about criticising President Donald Trump and Vice-President J.D. Vance - social media musings that pulled him into the maelstrom of divided US politics on Thursday as he took on leadership of the global Catholic Church. Pope Leo XIV, who was chosen by cardinals to succeed the late Pope Francis, has a handful of disapproving posts about the Republican leaders’ policies on the X account of Robert Prevost, his name before starting the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3309696/us-born-pope-leos-past-criticism-trump-and-vance-sparks-maga-backlash?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3309696/us-born-pope-leos-past-criticism-trump-and-vance-sparks-maga-backlash?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 May 2025 06:41:05 +0000 Reuters Reuters When Cardinal Dominique Mambertì appeared on the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica and uttered the fateful Latin phrase Habemus Papam (We have a pope), more than a hundred thousand people cheered. When he read out the new pope’s name in Latin – Robertum Franciscum Prevost (Robert Francis Prevost) – the crowd fell silent. Many had no clue that the first US pope in the history of the 2,000-year church had just been elected. In some cases, it was reporters who told people in the crowd who the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3309634/pope-who-election-first-us-pontiff-stuns-st-peters-crowd?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3309634/pope-who-election-first-us-pontiff-stuns-st-peters-crowd?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 May 2025 22:10:52 +0000