The surprising election of the first American pope felt fraught and disorienting to Roman Catholics around the world, who had considered such an outcome unlikely and perhaps unwelcome — until Pope Leo XIV stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and chose to speak a few sentences in Spanish. In an instant, the new…
The spark for the latest conflict between India and Pakistan, the most expansive fighting between the two countries in decades, was a terrorist attack on civilians in Kashmir last month. The Indian government had been projecting calm on its side of the disputed Kashmir region. A group of militants managed to puncture that image. They…
In his first formal address to Roman Catholic cardinals, Pope Leo XIV on Saturday said he would continue the work of Pope Francis in steering the church in a more missionary direction, with greater cooperation among church leaders and a closeness to the marginalized. Leo said he was committed to following a path of modernization…
The military conflict between India and Pakistan expanded in the days after the first airstrikes that followed a deadly terrorist attack last month on the Indian-controlled side of the disputed Kashmir region. The confrontation was the latest escalation of a decades-long conflict over Kashmir, a scenic valley in the Himalayas that is wedged between the…
The military conflict between India and Pakistan expanded in the days after the first airstrikes that followed a deadly terrorist attack last month on the Indian-controlled side of the disputed Kashmir region. The confrontation was the latest escalation of a decades-long conflict over Kashmir, a scenic valley in the Himalayas that is wedged between the…
When Pope Leo XIV emerged on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as the new head of the Catholic Church on Thursday, the Rev. Lawrence Ndlovu of Johannesburg could not help but wonder at the shade of his skin. “‘You’re not the classical white sort of person,’” Father Ndlovu said he had been thinking while…
The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland arrived together in Kyiv on Saturday for their first-ever joint visit to Ukraine, pledging to intensify pressure on Russia until it agreed to a full, unconditional 30-day cease-fire. Ukraine’s foreign minister, Andrii Sybiha, released a photograph of President Volodymyr Zelensky and the four other European leaders huddled…
He hugged a North Korean general. He squired China’s leader around with special care. He spoke of the sacrifices of soldiers. And he paraded Russian-made drones for the first time across Red Square. President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia drew attention to the very factors that have enabled him to wage war against Ukraine into…
In the fall of 2024, the cardinal who is now Pope Leo XIV sat at a large round table inside the Vatican, discussing the challenges that face the Roman Catholic Church with a cardinal from Ethiopia, archbishops from Cameroon and Kenya, a cardinal posted to Mongolia, and bishops from Texas and Liberia. Joining them at…
The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland made their first-ever joint visit to Kyiv on Saturday, in an effort to underscore their support for Ukraine and reinforce calls for Russia to agree to a 30-day cease-fire. During a trip intended to showcase European unity, France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, the new German chancellor, Friedrich Merz,…
