Pope

Voices from the Arab press: Pope Leo and the Shi'ites

A weekly selection of opinions and analyses from the Arab media around the world.

|ByTHE MEDIA LINE
Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rai receives a chalice from Pope Leo XIV (R) at a Holy Mass during the pope’s first apostolic journey, in Beirut, on December 2.
Pope Leo XIV addresses the crowd during a meeting with bishpops, priests consacrated persons and personal workers at the shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa, northeast of the capital Beirut, on December 1, 2025.

'A just and lasting peace': Pope Leo calls for dialogue after meeting Ukraine's Zelensky

The pope's comments echo Zelensky's frequent demands for a "just" peace as the Ukrainian leader tries to ensure that any agreement to end Russia's war in Ukraine is balanced.

|ByREUTERS
Pope Leo XIV holds a Jubilee audience on the occasion of the Jubilee of Sport, at St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican June 14, 2025.

Pope Leo scraps Francis’s Vatican fundraising panel amid budget shift

Pope Leo has dissolved the Vatican's fundraising panel, created in Francis’s final months, and ordered a review of future efforts.

|ByREUTERS
Pope Leo XIV disembarks the papal plane upon arrival at Rafic Hariri International Airport, during his first apostolic journey, in Beirut, Lebanon, November 30, 2025.

Pope Leo XIV lands in Beirut during first Middle East visit

Pope Leo XIV begins a three-day visit to Lebanon, meeting leaders, touring five cities, and honoring victims of the 2020 Beirut port explosion.

|ByREUTERS

Pope to Portugal for bittersweet 'Catholic Woodstock'

The Vatican said about 330,000 young people have registered for an event in Portugal dubbed "the Catholic Woodstock."

JULY 31, 2023ByREUTERS
People participate in a vigil in support of the 4,815 children that were sexually abused by members of the Portuguese Catholic Church, according to the commission investigating the issue, in Lisbon, Portugal, February 22, 2023.

Pope approves Shanghai bishop as Vatican chides China for lack of consultation

The pope had decided to approve Shen "for the greater good" of the Shanghai diocese and because Shen was an "esteemed pastor."

JULY 15, 2023ByREUTERS
Pope Francis attends the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 29, 2023.

Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem to be made cardinal in September

The new cardinals will come from countries including the United States, Italy, the pope's native Argentina, Hong Kong, and several others. 

JULY 9, 2023ByJERUSALEM POST STAFF, REUTERS
The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa arrives to the Church of the Nativity in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, on the eve of the Christmas holiday December 24, 2022.

Pope Francis orders former Benedict aide to leave Vatican

A Vatican statement put an end speculation about what role Gaenswein, a powerful figure in the Vatican for more than a decade before Francis sidelined him after a personal falling out, would have.

JUNE 15, 2023ByREUTERS
Pope Francis holds the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 8, 2023.

Pope 'progressively improving' after surgery

Francis, 86, underwent a three-hour operation on Wednesday to repair an abdominal hernia

JUNE 9, 2023ByREUTERS
Pope Francis leads a mass to open the synod of bishops in Vatican City, October 10, 2021.

Pope Francis to have abdominal surgery on Wednesday - Vatican

Pope Francis will have his operation under general anesthetic.

JUNE 7, 2023ByREUTERS
Pope Francis leads the Angelus prayer from a window of the Apostolic Palace at Saint Peter's Square, at the Vatican, February 27, 2022.

Pope, in interview, skirts issue of return of occupied parts of Ukraine

Francis did not take a position on the return of territories as a fundamental condition for peace, something on which Ukraine and many of its Western backers insist.

MAY 26, 2023ByREUTERS
Pope Francis attends the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 29, 2023.

Message of support issued to Ukraine's Zelensky from pope, Italy

Francis has pleaded for peace practically on a weekly basis, and has repeatedly expressed a wish to act as a broker between Kyiv and Moscow. His offer has so far failed to produce any breakthrough.

MAY 13, 2023ByREUTERS
UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT Volodymyr Zelensky attends the European Leaders Summit in Brussels last month.

Sexual abusers are disgusting 'enemies' but still should be loved, pope says

Abuse scandals have shredded the Church's reputation and have been a major challenge for the pope.

MAY 9, 2023ByREUTERS
Pope Francis attends the weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 29, 2023.

Pope allows women to vote at bishops meeting for first time

In the past, women were allowed to attend the synods, a papal advisory body, as auditors but with no right to vote.

APRIL 26, 2023ByREUTERS
Sister Nathalie Becquart, co-undersecretary with voting rights in the Vatican Synod of Bishops, greets Pope Francis at the opening of the Synodal Path at the Vatican October 9, 2021.