Born in the U.S., forged in Peru, chosen in Rome, Leo XIV will helm a church facing debt, division and decline

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has held his first conversation with Pope Leo XIV, discussing the ceasefire situation, negotiations with Russia and extending an invitation to the pontiff to visit Ukraine.

Pope Leo XIV may visit Ukraine on his first foreign trip - Türkiye and Peru are also under consideration, La Repubblica reports. Visit to Ukraine According to the media outlet, one of the potential countries for the Pope's first visit could be Ukraine,

Pope Leo XIV is vowing to actively promote and protect the spirituality and traditions of the eastern rite churches, those Catholic communities with origins in the Middle East and North Africa that ha

Leo, who was born in Chicago, signed a baseball that someone held out to him. A woman in the line asked him for a selfie — a situation few of his predecessors would have faced in their first media outing. He politely declined, shook her hand and moved on.

From left, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz make a call to U.S. President Donald Trump from Kyiv, Ukraine, on Saturday, May 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

How surprising the election of the new Pope Leo XIV was, expectations of him, the role of the Pope in the modern Catholic Church, and the attitude of the late Pope Francis to Ukraine and the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church are discussed in the interview with the Apostolic Nuncio to Ukraine,