Abuse watchdog groups have expressed concern, but Leo has been lauded by other survivors for his handling of abuse.

Robert Prevost, a missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and took over the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first pope from the United States in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.

The elevation of Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost to pope earlier this month has been a point of pride for Chicagoland parishes, including in the north suburbs of Morton Grove, Park Ridge,

The new pope said he would be guided by a key document that his predecessor wrote listing the church’s priorities, including a “loving care for the least and the rejected.”

The 73-year-old Florida man appears to be a staunch Trump supporter who uses his Facebook account to go on the attack.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV on Monday called for the release of imprisoned journalists and affirmed the “precious gift of free speech and the press” in an audience with some of the 6,000 journalists who descended on Rome to cover his election as the first American pontiff.

Pope Leo XIV has told the world's Jewish communities he wants to strengthen the Roman Catholic Church’s dialogue with them, in a message coming after a souring of relations between the Vatican and Israel over the war in Gaza.