Pope Leo XIV has spoken publicly about his childhood in Chicago for the first time as pontiff. Leo recalled Thursday that from the age of six he used to get up early to serve as an altar boy at the 6:30 a.m. Mass before going to school. Leo shared the memories during an unscripted visit with the children of Vatican employees who are attending the Holy See's summer camp. The visit, which was not announced in advance, took place in the Vatican's main audience hall, which was decked out with huge inflatable bouncy castles.
Pope Leo XIV has affirmed that priests must be celibate. And he has insisted that bishops take "firm and decisive" action to deal with sex abusers. Leo met Wednesday in St. Peter's Basilica with about 400 bishops and cardinals from 38 countries attending this week's special Holy Year celebrations for clergy. He gave them marching orders on what bishops must do to lead their flocks. It's an issue the former Cardinal Robert Prevost would have long pondered given his role as the prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops. In that job from 2023 until his election in May, Prevost vetted bishop nominations for Pope Francis, identifying the type of leader who would further Francis' view of a church where all are welcome and dialogue is the decisive form of governance.
Pope Leo XIV has affirmed core Catholic teaching on marriage and the unborn in his first meeting with the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See. He said Friday the family is founded on the "stable union between a man and a woman" and that the unborn and elderly enjoy dignity as God's creatures. Leo also called for reviving multilateral diplomacy and promoting dialogue between religions in the search for peace. The encounter with the Vatican diplomatic corps is one of the protocol requirements after a conclave, allowing a new pope to greet representatives of world governments ahead of his formal installation Mass this Sunday.
All Vatican personnel involved in supporting the upcoming papal conclave must take an oath of secrecy — under penalty of automatic excommunication. The ceremony on Monday, mandated by Vatican law and revised by Pope Benedict XVI, includes clerics and lay staff alike: cooks, cleaners, doctors, nurses and security officials. Nearly 135 cardinal electors will gather in the Sistine Chapel, beginning on Wednesday, to vote in secret for Pope Francis's successor. The oath, which explicitly forbids recording or disclosing anything from within the conclave, underscores the Church's insistence on confidentiality. Cardinals are bound by their own rules of secrecy. They will take their oaths on Wednesday.
Pope Francis has fallen and hurt his right arm. It's the second time in a month that Francis has injured himself after an apparent fall resulted in a bad bruise on his chin. The Vatican spokesman said in a statement Thursday that the pope didn't break his arm but that a sling was put on as a precaution. Francis whacked his chin on his nightstand on Dec. 7 in an apparent fall that resulted in a bad bruise. The 88-year-old pope has battled health problems and often has to use a wheelchair.
