Letters from Leo — the American Pope & US Politics

Letters from Leo — the American Pope & US Politics

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Leo’s Chicago “Trifecta”: Cupich Protégé Tapped to Lead New York
Pope Leo XIV is set to appoint Bishop Ronald A. Hicks — a protégé of Chicago’s progressive Cardinal Blase Cupich — as the 11th Archbishop of New York…
 • Christopher Hale
“I’d Like to Go.” Pope Leo Floats a Ukraine Trip
The first American pope calls on governments to reduce overcrowding, expand rehabilitation, and use pardons for nonviolent offenders.
 • Christopher Hale
This Upside-Down Kingdom Outlasts Every Empire
Christmas isn’t comfort for the powerful — it’s God siding with the poor, the forgotten, and the cast aside.
 • Christopher Hale
Trump’s Casual Cruelty and Advent’s Hard Question
Are we willing to step out of the center so God can take our place?
 • Christopher Hale
“Let No One Be Lost” — Pope Leo Urges Clemency as Prisons Overflow
The first American pope calls on governments to reduce overcrowding, expand rehabilitation, and use pardons for nonviolent offenders.
 • Christopher Hale

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The Darkness Will Be My Light
Rejoicing doesn’t mean denial. It means learning to listen — especially when the world is loud and cruel.
 • Christopher Hale
Rachel Maddow, Openly Gay MSNBC Anchor, Returns to the Catholic Church
After years away, Maddow says she considers herself Catholic again. She believes Pope Leo can both “soften hearts and sharpen minds” during his…
 • Christopher Hale
The Holy Child of Aleppo and the Prophets We Keep Ignoring
From Elijah to John the Baptist to a wounded child of war, God keeps speaking — and we keep missing him. Advent gives us the chance to listen again.
 • Christopher Hale
Villanova Days: How College Shaped Pope Leo XIV
Before he was the pope railing against a “throwaway culture,” he was Bob Prevost, a quiet and nerdy math major at Villanova University with a passion…
 • Christopher Hale
Pope Leo to World Leaders: Reject Lies, Hatred, Division — and Welcome the Stranger
In a soaring Our Lady of Guadalupe homily, the first American pope calls out hatred, falsehood, and domination — and demands nations become places of…
 • Christopher Hale
Why Mary of Nazareth Still Terrifies Despots
Our Lady of Guadalupe reveals the Mary who crushes serpents, topples empires, and remakes Advent.
 • Christopher Hale
Trump-Vance White House Targets Beloved Nun in Texas, Retaliates Against Catholic Charities
Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley — praised by Pope Leo as an “agent of hope” — now faces a six-year federal funding ban. Church leaders say…
 • Christopher Hale
Prophets Get Killed: The Dangerous Truth of Advent
John the Baptist and even Jesus himself were met with violence by worldly powers who feared their message. Prophecy has a price — yet its truth outlives…
 • Christopher Hale

Pope Leo's Life & Formation

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Villanova Days: How College Shaped Pope Leo XIV
Before he was the pope railing against a “throwaway culture,” he was Bob Prevost, a quiet and nerdy math major at Villanova University with a passion…
 • Christopher Hale
The Pope’s Closest Aide Is a Millennial from Peru
The charismatic young priest’s close bond with Leo — from the villages of Peru to the halls of the Vatican — has already won him a following among the…
 • Christopher Hale
How Peru Made Pope Leo XIV
New revelations from Pope Leo XIV’s years in South America show why his gentle style hides a radical vision for the Church and the world.
How Pope Leo Faced Corrupt Politicians and Economic Collapse in Peru — and Built Hope Instead
Long before he was Pope Leo XIV, Fr. Roberto Prevost learned what real power in the fact looks like: presence, patience, and courage.
Pope Leo's Hidden Years in Trujillo: The Theology of Friendship in the Making the First American Pope
In this two part series, we'll explore a new book that gives us the deepest insight ever to the young Fr. Robert Prevost's time as a missionary priest…
 • Christopher Hale
“He Corrects Me When I'm Wrong” — Pope Leo’s MAGA Brother Breaks Silence
It’s the first interview Pope Leo’s outspoken brother has given since a flurry of media appearances right after Leo’s election. Louis Prevost, a proud…
 • Christopher Hale
The Pope of “New Things”: Leo XIII’s Legacy in Pope Leo XIV’s Vision
From Rerum Novarum to the age of artificial intelligence: Pope Leo XIV says he chose his name to carry forward Leo XIII’s mission of confronting the…
 • Christopher Hale
Pope Leo vs. the Empire of Lies: The Long Game to Defeat Trumpism
He’s already rebuked immigration crackdowns and blasted the “logic of exclusion” fueling rising nationalism. Now, as the youngest pope in 35 years, Leo…
 • Christopher Hale
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