News that the global Catholic church would get its first-ever U.S.-born pope was welcomed by Catholics across the ideological spectrum in Pope Leo XIV ’s homeland, raising the question of whether he might be able to ease some of the deep divisions within its ranks.

For years before becoming Pope Leo XIV — as a parish priest and then bishop in Peru — Robert Prevost built ties with interfaith environmental networks and Indigenous organizations to place forest prot

Worshippers in Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo, home to Africa's biggest Catholic populations, on Friday voiced joy over the new pope's election and hopes he would carry on the legacy of his liberal predecessor.