By NICOLE WINFIELD, HELENA ALVES and RENATA BRITO Associated Press
Pope Leo XIV has traveled to the Canary Islands, an epicenter of the European migration debate. He challenged countries to uphold migrants' rights while shaming those leaders, including Christians, who turn them away with indifference. Leo issued an impassioned plea to recognize the dignity of migrants from the port of Arguineguin. In 2020, the port earned the name "dock of shame" because of the squalid conditions migrants were forced to live in during a spike in arrivals. The pope heard testimonies from rescue workers and addressed women who have been trafficked and forced into prostitution.
By NICOLE WINFIELD and JOSEPH WILSON Associated Press
Pope Leo XIV is presiding over a youth rally in Barcelona. It's notable for its frank discussion of depression, domestic violence and "toxic" family relationships. The American pope is urging young people to persevere in their faith when times are dark. The event featured several nods to Catalan culture, including a demonstration of the region's famed human tower acrobats, known as castellers. Leo also spoke in Catalan, more than initially foreseen.
By SUMAN NAISHADHAM and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press
The Vatican says that Pope Leo XIV has met with six survivors of clergy sexual abuse in Madrid and vowed to consider their suggestions for how the Catholic Church can improve its response to the crisis. The meeting on Monday, which followed in the tradition of popes meeting with abuse survivors during their foreign trips, lasted about an hour and took place at the Vatican Embassy in Madrid, the Vatican said in a statement. Spain's Catholic hierarchy has only recently begun reckoning with its legacy of abuse and cover-up after long dismissing the severity of the scandal that came to light thanks to reporting by the newpaper El PaÃs.
On May 8, 1945, President Harry S. Truman announced in a radio address that Nazi Germany's forces had surrendered, stating that "the flags of freedom fly all over Europe" on V-E (Victory in Europe) Day.
Pope Leo XIV is encouraging young people in Cameroon to resist the temptation to migrate and to stay at home and fight corruption. Leo delivered the twin messages during a meeting with students at the Catholic University of Central Africa. They're themes Leo has highlighted during his visit to Cameroon, the second leg of his four-nation African trip. He leaves Saturday for Angola, another country blessed with oil and other natural resources, but where a third of the population lives on less than $2.15 a day.
By NICOLE WINFIELD and NALOVA AKUA Associated Press
Pope Leo XIV has condemned the "handful of tyrants" exploiting Earth through war and greed. He delivered a peace message in Bamenda, Cameroon, amid a long-standing separatist conflict. Cameroonians celebrated his visit, hoping it will draw global attention to the violence affecting the region. Leo led a peace meeting with religious leaders, emphasizing the importance of interfaith efforts to end the conflict. He warned against using religion for military and economic gain, calling for a shift away from exploitation. The conflict has deep colonial roots, with thousands killed and displaced. Despite a temporary pause in fighting, peace talks remain stalled.
Pope Leo XIV is again emphasizing the need for peace and dialogue despite criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump. Leo spoke to journalists on a flight to Cameroon on Wednesday as he continues his Africa visit. Trump has criticized Leo for his stance on the Iran war. Trump has also posted and then deleted an AI-generated image of himself as Christ. Leo stressed the importance of unity and respect among different beliefs. He emphasized his visit to the Great Mosque of Algiers on the first stop of his tour as a symbol of peaceful coexistence.
Pope Leo XIV, a studious and soft-spoken cleric, and Donald Trump, an unapologetically bellicose politician, have long been on a rhetorical collision course. Now their disagreement over the war in Iran has escalated in unusual fashion. On social media, Trump said Leo was "Weak" and captive to the "Radical Left," even suggesting that Leo somehow owed his position to Trump. The pope has declared Trump's threats toward Iran "truly unacceptable" and pointed his flock to biblical text and church doctrine on war and peace. It's a spectacle involving the world's two biggest megaphones.
By WILL WEISSERT, JOSH BOAK and NICOLE WINFIELD Associated Press
President Donald Trump is refusing to apologize to Pope Leo XIV after criticizing the pontiff's opposition to the war in Iran. Trump told reporters Monday that he wasn't sorry for responding to Leo's public comments. Trump lashed out at the pope on Sunday night in both a social media post and to reporters after disembarking Air Force One. Leo responded by saying that the Vatican's appeals for peace and reconciliation are rooted in the Gospel and that he doesn't fear the Trump administration. On Monday, Trump also sought to explain away a now-deleted social media post depicting himself as Jesus by saying he thought it showed him as a doctor.
Donald Trump is accustomed to criticism from coast to coast — Democrats, disaffected Republicans, late-night comedians, protesters. Yet Trump's most influential American critic doesn't live in the country but at the Vatican. The first American pope has directly assailed the American president over the war in Iran. Pope Leo XIV declared that Trump's belligerence was "truly unacceptable." Never before has the relationship between Washington and the Vatican revolved around two Americans — a 79-year-old politician from Queens and a 70-year-old pontiff from Chicago. They come from the same generation and share some common cultural roots yet bring jarringly distinct approaches to their positions of vast power. And the relationship comes with risks for both sides.
