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.

Pope Leo XIV has carried a wooden cross at the Colosseum to mark his first Good Friday as pontiff. This is the first time in decades a pope has carried the cross to every station of the Way of the Cross. Speaking earlier, Leo emphasized the importance of spiritual leadership and carrying the world's suffering in prayer. Thousands gathered to follow the stations recited over loudspeakers. The meditation, prepared for Leo's first Good Friday, highlighted the responsibility of those in power.

Defense lawyers in the Vatican's "trial of the century" have argued that Pope Francis violated the fundamental rights of their clients by issuing four secret decrees that gave prosecutors "surreal carte blanche" to investigate.The tone of argument in the frescoed Vatican tribunal was so charged Tuesday that at one point the tribunal president asked defense lawyers to refrain from citing Francis by name.The request by Archbishop Alejandro Arellano Cedillo underscored how Francis' problematic role in the financial trial poses something of an existential dilemma to the Holy See. On the one hand, popes can only be judged by God. On the other, Francis stands accused of violating the God-given rights of the defendants.

Pope Leo XIV is embarking on his first foreign trip. His pilgrimage to Turkey and Lebanon would be delicate under any circumstances but is even more fraught given Mideast tensions and the media glare that will document history's first American pope on the road. Leo is fulfilling a trip Pope Francis had planned to make. In Turkey, he'll mark an important anniversary with the Orthodox church. In Lebanon, he'll try to boost a long-suffering Christian community and country still demanding justice from the 2020 Beirut port blast. Leo, who spent 12 years as the global superior of his Augustinian religious order and two decades as a missionary in Peru, says he loves to travel. In recent weeks he has shown diplomatic dexterity in answering questions on the fly from reporters.

Pope Leo XIV has met with an organization of clergy abuse survivors and advocates for the first time. Participants on Monday said he agreed to maintain a permanent dialogue with them. The Ending Clergy Abuse group is pushing for a zero-tolerance policy for abuse in the Catholic Church. The policy would require the permanent removal of any priest who abuses a child. A co-founder of the group said Leo acknowledged resistance to a universal law but expressed willingness to work with them. Previous popes had met with individual victims but kept activist organizations at a distance.

The Vatican's child protection board says the Catholic Church has a moral duty to help victims of clergy sexual abuse heal. Financial reparations and sanctions for abusers and their enablers are seen as essential. The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors focused on reparations in its second annual report. It highlights the need for monetary settlements to provide victims with therapy and assistance. The report also calls for accountability, transparency, and effective prevention strategies. It emphasizes that the church must listen to victims, apologize, and implement concrete measures to prevent future abuse.

Pope Leo XIV has urged labor union leaders from Chicago to advocate for immigrants and welcome minorities into their ranks. Leo weighed in as the Trump administration crackdown on immigrants intensifies in the pontiff's hometown. The audience on Thursday was scheduled before the deployment of National Guard troops to protect federal property in the Chicago area. The sites include a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building that has been the site of occasional clashes between protesters and federal agents. Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich accompanied the labor leaders. Cupich said that Leo was well aware of the situation on the ground and has made clear that migrants and the poor must be treated in ways that respect their human dignity.

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.