Global Pulse

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  • Indonesia volcanic eruption kills three hikers: officials

    Indonesia volcanic eruption kills three hikers: officials

    A devastating volcanic eruption on Indonesia’s Halmahera Island has claimed three lives and left 10 hikers unaccounted for, local authorities confirmed Friday. Mount Dukono, one of the Southeast Asian nation’s nearly 130 active volcanoes, burst into activity early Friday, blasting a dense column of ash 10 kilometers into the sky.

    Among the three fatalities are two foreign hikers and one local resident from the nearby island of Ternate, North Halmahera Police Chief Erlichson Pasaribu told Indonesia’s Kompas TV. Seven hikers managed to descend the mountain safely, while five others suffered injuries in the blast, according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB).

    What makes this incident particularly sobering is that the entire area surrounding the volcano was officially designated off-limits to visitors last month, after vulcanologists detected a sharp uptick in volcanic activity. Pasaribu confirmed that the group of hikers deliberately ignored multiple warnings, including public appeals on social media and physical barricades posted at the trailhead. “Local residents understand the risk and avoid climbing,” he said. “Many of these hikers are foreign tourists looking to create social media content.”

    Joint rescue teams from the regional disaster management agency BPBD and the National Search and Rescue Agency Basarnas have been deployed to conduct search operations and evacuate stranded climbers, but the mission has faced significant challenges. The mountain’s rugged terrain is only accessible by vehicle for the lower portion of the climb, forcing rescuers to carry stretchers the rest of the way. Persistent volcanic rumbling and ongoing unstable activity have further slowed progress, Pasaribu added.

    Lana Saria, head of Indonesia’s government Geology Agency, noted that the early-morning eruption was accompanied by loud booming explosions, with ash drifting predominantly northward. She warned that nearby residential areas and the city of Tobelo must remain on high alert for falling volcanic ash, which poses risks to public health and can disrupt local air and ground transportation.

    Indonesia, an archipelagic nation spanning thousands of islands across Southeast Asia, sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, a geologically active zone where frequent collisions between tectonic plates create regular seismic and volcanic activity. Mount Dukono currently stands at level two on Indonesia’s four-tiered volcanic alert system. Since December, the Center for Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation (PVMBG) has maintained a mandatory exclusion zone banning all visitors within four kilometers of the volcano’s active Malupang Warirang Crater.

  • Caged and fed ‘cookies’: Rescuing Armenia’s captive bears

    Caged and fed ‘cookies’: Rescuing Armenia’s captive bears

    High in the misty Caucasus highlands of Armenia, three Syrian brown bears — Nairi, Aram, and their young cub Lola — now roam spacious, natural mountain enclosures, digging dens and foraging for fresh produce that mimics their wild diet. It is a stark contrast to the life they escaped just over a year ago: confined to a cramped three-meter cage in the heart of Armenia’s capital Yerevan, forced to sit in their own waste and fed a steady diet of sugary junk food. For these three bears, the rescue was a life-changing second chance, but conservationists warn that as many as 20 more bears remain trapped in inhumane captivity across the country, held as luxury status symbols by the nation’s wealthy elite.

    The problem of captive wild predators in Armenia is not a new one, rooted in long-standing patterns of illegal wildlife trafficking and elite trophy collecting that have persisted since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Strategically positioned at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, Armenia has become a key transit and destination hub for illegal wildlife trafficking, according to global crime research. A 2023 Global Organized Crime Index report identifies persistent demand for rare and dangerous wild animals among the country’s ultra-wealthy, where owning large predators has become a display of power and social status.

    High-profile cases have brought the issue into public view for decades. In 2015, an Armenian member of parliament drew widespread international criticism after publicly acknowledging he kept six endangered Siberian tigers on his private property. The crisis reached a breaking point in 2016, when a private zoo owned by a businessman in the northern city of Gyumri collapsed into insolvency, leaving dozens of caged animals — including lions and bears — to starve to death behind locked gates.

    Today, the Frontline for the rescue mission is run by the Foundation for the Preservation of Wildlife and Cultural Assets (FPWC), a local non-profit that operates Armenia’s only dedicated bear rehabilitation center on a remote mountainside an hour outside Yerevan. Rescuers have documented appalling conditions across the country’s unregulated captive sites: bears are confined to tiny concrete cages at hotels, private backyards, and even roadside petrol stations, denied access to natural sunlight and the ability to hibernate, a critical biological need for the species. Many suffer from severe health issues caused by inappropriate diets, with widespread rotting teeth resulting from being fed cookies, sugary snacks, and even Coca-Cola by their untrained owners.

    “It became clear the moment we mapped the scale of the crisis that we needed a dedicated rescue and rehabilitation space,” explained Tsovinar Hovhannisyan, FPWC’s conservation manager. The three bears Nairi, Aram and Lola were among the most high-profile rescue operations the group has ever completed. Their owner refused to hand the animals over, claiming the bears were “happy” living with him and accusing rescuers of threatening their lives. The team waited more than eight hours in heavy rain for a court order to enter the property and seize the animals. When they finally entered the cage, Hovhannisyan recalled, the space was caked in layers of filth and reeked of waste: “It was horrible, those are memories I will not forget.”

    Now, with Armenia scheduled to host a major UN COP summit on biodiversity this October, the FPWC team is racing against time to rescue the remaining 20 known captive bears across the country. But the mission faces a critical barrier: the rehabilitation center is already at maximum capacity, home to 32 bears that can never be released back into the wild after a lifetime of captivity left them unable to hunt. The organization is currently fundraising to expand its enclosures to accommodate more rescued animals.

    Wealthy owners often see large predators like bears as a bragging right, says FPWC communications manager Ani Poghosyan. “It is a status symbol for them. Something to brag about, especially owning a big predator — it is a way to prove their power and masculinity.” Even when owners initially agree to surrender the animals, many change their mind at the last minute, leaving rescuers empty-handed after traveling to remote properties.

    For the bears that do make it to the center, the team works to recreate as wild an environment as possible. Enclosures are large enough for the animals to roam, dig their own winter dens, and climb trees, and staff provide live prey to encourage natural foraging behaviors. After years trapped in tiny cages, many newly rescued bears are initially afraid to explore the full space of their new enclosures, used to being confined to a few square meters. But over time, most begin to exhibit natural behaviors, including hibernation, something they were never able to do in their former cages.

    While the bears will never be able to survive in the wild, the center’s mission is simple: give them the chance to live out the rest of their lives as bears. “They need to dig, they need to climb, they need to smell wild plants and feel free,” said Narine Piloyan, the center’s coordinator. “They need to feel that they are wild.”

  • Ethiopian woman’s joy at rare quintuplets after 12 years trying for a baby

    Ethiopian woman’s joy at rare quintuplets after 12 years trying for a baby

    After 12 years of hoping and praying for a child, a 35-year-old Ethiopian woman has made medical history with an extremely rare birth: a set of naturally conceived quintuplets, all born healthy in the country’s Harari Regional State.

    Bedriya Adem, a subsistence farmer from the region, described herself and her husband as overjoyed by the unexpected gift of five babies four boys and one girl at once. For more than a decade, Bedriya navigated the social stigma of infertility in her community, enduring years of emotional and psychological pain even as her husband reassured her that his child from a previous marriage was enough to complete their family. “Deep inside I was suffering, as the entire village questioned my inability to give birth,” she shared in an interview with the BBC. “I spent 12 years in pain, hiding myself, and praying constantly for children at last, my prayers were answered.”

    The historic delivery took place via Caesarean section on a Tuesday evening at Harari’s Hiwot Fana Specialised Hospital, where both mother and the newborns remain under routine observation for continued good health. Dr Mohammed Nur Abdulahi, the hospital’s medical director, confirmed that all five infants are in full health, weighing between 1.3 and 1.4 kilograms each. Medical guidelines note that newborns weighing more than one kilogram have a very high probability of surviving and growing into healthy children, a benchmark all five of Bedriya’s babies meet.

    What makes the birth even more extraordinary is that Bedriya conceived without any reproductive assistance like in vitro fertilization, a procedure not available at Hiwot Fana Specialised Hospital. IVF is widely known to increase the risk of multiple births when multiple embryos are transferred to the uterus, but naturally conceived quintuplets are a one-in-55-million event, according to global fertility data.

    In a surprising twist, Bedriya was only expecting four babies throughout her prenatal care, which she received consistently from the hospital’s medical team. It was only at the time of delivery that the medical team discovered a fifth baby the healthy little girl the couple have named Nazira, alongside her four brothers Naif, Ammar, Munzir, and Ansar. The couple have dubbed their five new arrivals the “five blessings”, a nod to their long wait and joyful surprise.

    While Bedriya acknowledges that her new role as a mother of five will bring financial challenges as a low-income subsistence farmer, she says she remains optimistic about the future. “I believe Allah will provide, through the support of my community and the government,” she said. For the first-time mother, the years of pain and stigma she endured now feel like a distant, unwanted memory, replaced by the overwhelming joy of welcoming the family she spent 12 years dreaming of.

  • Paraguay and Taiwan reaffirm ties after China sought to lure away another Taipei ally

    Paraguay and Taiwan reaffirm ties after China sought to lure away another Taipei ally

    TAIPEI, Taiwan — On a high-profile visit to the self-ruled island democracy of Taiwan, Paraguayan President Santiago Peña delivered a clear message of diplomatic solidarity Friday, one day after China issued a formal demand that the South American nation cut its official ties with Taipei. Currently, Paraguay stands as the only remaining South American country that recognizes Taiwan, making it one of just 13 UN-unrecognized states worldwide that maintain full diplomatic relations with the island. For decades, Beijing has claimed Taiwan as an inalienable part of its sovereign territory, and in recent years, it has intensified two parallel campaigns to isolate Taipei: ramping up military pressure through frequent air and sea incursions around the island, and actively courting Taiwan’s remaining diplomatic allies to switch recognition to Beijing.

    Speaking at a military honors reception outside Taiwan’s presidential office, Peña framed the event as a tangible symbol of the unshakable commitment between Taipei and Asunción to deepen their long-standing bilateral partnership. Through an interpreter, he noted that the two sides share core foundational values including democracy, personal freedom, and universal human rights, and reiterated that Paraguay would remain a steadfast international advocate for Taiwan. “Paraguay highly values this relationship,” Peña stated, later expanding on that commitment during closed bilateral talks with Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te. In that meeting, Peña issued a formal call to the global community: the people of Taiwan deserve the right to determine their own future in line with democratic and equitable principles. He also pushed back against Taipei’s exclusion from global bodies, arguing that barring Taiwan from the United Nations system is not only a fundamental injustice but also erodes the legitimacy of the UN as an institution that claims to represent democratic nations globally.

    Lai thanked Peña and the Paraguayan government for their public, unflinching support for Taiwan and its bid for meaningful international participation. “I believe the friendship between Taiwan and Paraguay will further deepen, and our cooperation will grow closer through this visit,” Lai said in his public remarks. Following their meeting, the two leaders oversaw the signing of several new bilateral agreements, highlighted by a memorandum of understanding focused on investment in an artificial intelligence computing center on Taiwan.

    This public reaffirmation of ties came just 24 hours after Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian urged Paraguayan officials to “come to the right side of history as soon as possible” and sever all diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Lin emphasized that the one-China principle is a widely accepted norm of international relations, noting that 183 countries around the world currently maintain official diplomatic ties with the People’s Republic of China.

    In comments to Taiwan’s Central News Agency ahead of his four-day visit, Peña revealed that he had met with Honduran President Nasry Asfura on the sidelines of a regional event earlier this year. While the pair did not directly discuss whether Honduras would reverse its 2023 decision to cut ties with Taiwan and establish relations with Beijing, Peña told Asfura that Paraguay has built a strong, mutually beneficial relationship with Taipei. Asfura, who was elected with open backing from former U.S. President Donald Trump, has already ordered a full review of all existing bilateral agreements between Honduras and China, stoking widespread speculation that Honduras could distance itself from Beijing as part of a broader Trump administration push to reduce Chinese economic and political influence across Latin America.

    Peña’s visit is the latest high-profile diplomatic engagement for Lai, who just completed a trip last week to Eswatini, Taiwan’s last remaining diplomatic ally in Africa. Lai was forced to postpone that trip earlier after multiple regional countries denied his aircraft overflight permission, a move widely attributed to diplomatic pressure from Beijing. Beijing never publicly confirmed or denied that it pressured those countries, but did express “high appreciation” for their adherence to the one-China principle.

    The cross-strait split dates back to 1949, when the Chinese Communist Party defeated the Nationalist Party in a brutal civil war and established the People’s Republic of China on the mainland. The defeated Nationalist forces retreated to Taiwan, which has since evolved from decades of martial law to a fully functional multi-party democracy. Today, the island maintains its own governance, military, and foreign policy, while Beijing continues to claim it as part of its territory.

  • Rebel Wilson accused of ‘complete revision of history’ as defamation case closes

    Rebel Wilson accused of ‘complete revision of history’ as defamation case closes

    A high-profile defamation case centered on Hollywood star Rebel Wilson has wrapped its closing arguments in an Australian court, with both sides trading starkly conflicting accounts of events that unfolded on Sydney’s Bondi Beach back in 2023. The lawsuit was filed by 2021 Western Australian acting academy graduate Charlotte MacInnes, a rising young performer who landed a lead role in Wilson’s directorial debut feature *The Deb*. MacInnes accuses Wilson of spreading false, reputation-ruining claims about her across two series of Instagram posts in 2024 and 2025, and is now seeking aggravated damages for the alleged harm. At the heart of the legal battle is a specific incident that took place in September 2023, when MacInnes joined *The Deb* producer Amanda Ghost for a daytime swim at the iconic coastal spot. Court testimony confirmed that Ghost suffered a sudden, severe allergic reaction to the cold ocean water, breaking out in painful red welts and experiencing uncontrollable shaking. To help her recover, the pair retreated to Ghost’s nearby luxury rental apartment to warm up. What followed is the subject of intense dispute: MacInnes ran a bath for the ailing producer, stepped into the tub herself to get warm while both women remained in their swimwear, and Ghost joined her shortly after. Ghost’s assistant even brought hot drinks to the pair and sat with them briefly, confirming no inappropriate behavior occurred in the moment, according to the plaintiff’s legal team. In a sworn affidavit, Wilson claimed that the day after the incident, MacInnes approached her saying Ghost had pressured her into joining the bath, which left her feeling sexually uncomfortable. Wilson stated that she was deeply troubled by the account and suspected a sexual advance had taken place. Two days later, Wilson followed up with MacInnes via phone, however a text message Wilson sent to Ghost immediately after that call, which was entered into court evidence, read: “Charlotte says all good. She just meant ‘it was a bizarre situation’ not that she felt personally uncomfortable x.” MacInnes’s legal team, led by senior barrister Sue Chrysanthou, has argued that Wilson’s entire narrative of the incident is a deliberate, malicious falsification. In closing statements, Chrysanthou slammed Wilson’s account as a “complete revision of history” that defies basic logic, pointing out that Ghost was experiencing a medical emergency at the time, making any coordinated sexual advance impossible. She went as far as labeling Wilson a “fantastical liar” who invented the “terrible” claims against MacInnes for personal gain during contract negotiations for *The Deb*, where Wilson was seeking a larger payout from producers. The plaintiff’s team also added accusations that Wilson engaged in a pattern of bullying against female crew and cast members on the set of the film, a claim Wilson has repeatedly dismissed as “absolute nonsense.” An additional allegation claims that Wilson commissioned a smear website to target Ghost, a charge she also firmly denies. On the defense side, Wilson’s lawyer Dauid Sibtain SC pushed back against MacInnes’s claims, arguing that the young actress has altered her account of the incident over time to secure professional benefits from the film’s production team. Sibtain told the court that MacInnes’s career has not suffered any harm from Wilson’s social media posts — in fact, he noted, her career has flourished in the years since the incident, with her landing a major record deal and multiple additional acting roles through connections to Ghost, as he alleged she was promised in exchange for retracting any claims of harassment. The case has now completed three weeks of testimony and closing submissions, with Justice Elizabeth Raper expected to reserve her decision on the case. This is not the only legal trouble Wilson is currently navigating: the actress is already facing two separate lawsuits from *The Deb* producers, including one filed in Australia and another in the United States, both originating from disputes tied to the production of the film.

  • The death toll from an explosion at a fireworks plant in China rises to 37

    The death toll from an explosion at a fireworks plant in China rises to 37

    BEIJING – In an updated official report released Friday by Chinese state media, the fatalities from a massive explosion at a central Chinese fireworks manufacturing facility earlier this week have climbed to 37. According to China’s national news agency Xinhua, local disaster response teams confirm one additional person is still unaccounted for following the blast, which took place Monday at a plant operated in Liuyang, a county-level city under the administration of Changsha, the capital of Hunan province.

    Initial emergency assessments put the number of injured survivors at more than 60, though no updated injury count has been released publicly as of Friday. Investigations into the root cause of the explosion remain ongoing, authorities confirmed, and a temporary moratorium on all fireworks production operations has been imposed across the surrounding region to allow for safety inspections.

    The affected facility is run by Huasheng Fireworks Manufacturing and Display Co., according to state-run newspaper China Daily. Liuyang, the location of the plant, is widely recognized as China’s leading fireworks production hub, with a centuries-long legacy tied to the industry. Historical records from Guinness World Records trace the earliest formally documented firework — the traditional Chinese firecracker — back to Li Tian, a Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE) monk who resided in the Liuyang area.

    Friday’s updated death toll marks the latest major deadly incident involving fireworks in China this year. Back in February, two separate fatal explosions at fireworks retail outlets occurred during the lead-up to the Lunar New Year holiday, a period when demand for celebratory fireworks typically surges across the country.

  • Third British national has suspected hantavirus infection, government says

    Third British national has suspected hantavirus infection, government says

    A major public health investigation is underway following an emerging hantavirus outbreak on the Dutch-operated expedition cruise ship MV Hondius, with British health authorities confirming a third UK national is now suspected to have contracted the virus. The newest suspected case remains on the remote South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, where the vessel made a scheduled port stop in mid-April.

    To date, five cases of hantavirus have been confirmed across passengers and crew on the ship, and one of those confirmed cases has resulted in death. Two British men have already received formal confirmed diagnoses: one, a retired 56-year-old British police officer and expedition guide named Martin Anstee, was medically evacuated to the Netherlands earlier this week alongside a Dutch crew member and a German passenger, and remains in stable condition. Speaking to the BBC after evacuation, Anstee reported that he is “fine”. The second confirmed British case, a 69-year-old man, was flown to South Africa for intensive care treatment at the end of April, and officials say his condition is improving.

    The MV Hondius is on track to dock in the Canary Islands this weekend, where British authorities have arranged a chartered evacuation flight to repatriate all remaining British passengers and crew back to the United Kingdom. While none of the remaining British travelers currently show signs of hantavirus infection, UK public health officials have confirmed that all returnees will be required to isolate for a 45-day period upon arrival in the UK, to prevent potential secondary spread.

    According to Oceanwide Expeditions, the operator of the MV Hondius, 30 passengers from 12 countries – including seven British citizens – disembarked the vessel at the South Atlantic island of St Helena on April 24, more than a week before the first confirmed case of hantavirus was reported on May 4. Two of the seven British travelers who disembarked at St Helena have already returned to the UK and are currently self-isolating voluntarily without exhibiting any symptoms. Four others remain on St Helena, where they are monitored regularly by local health authorities, with plans in place to send additional medical support to the remote island. As of Wednesday, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) officials confirmed the seventh British passenger who disembarked at St Helena has not yet been located for contact tracing.

    Contact tracing operations are currently active in more than half a dozen countries, tracking down dozens of passengers who left the cruise ship before the outbreak was formally identified, including contacts in Switzerland and the Netherlands. The origin of the outbreak remains unknown, and public health teams have not yet confirmed whether any people outside of the cruise ship’s passenger and crew cohort have been infected.

    World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus noted in a recent press briefing that the first two confirmed cases had completed a bird-watching expedition through Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay before boarding the MV Hondiques, a trip that included visits to areas populated by rat species known to carry hantavirus. To date, three deaths have been linked to the outbreak: the one confirmed hantavirus death was a 69-year-old Dutch woman who disembarked at St Helena on April 24, traveled to South Africa, and died two days later. Two other people – the Dutch woman’s husband, who died on board the ship on April 11, and a German woman who also died while on the vessel – have not been confirmed to have died from hantavirus infection.

    Hantavirus is most commonly transmitted to humans through contact with infected rodents such as mice and rats, but public health experts working on this outbreak suspect limited human-to-human transmission may have occurred among people in close, prolonged contact on the ship. UKHSA officials emphasized that the virus does not spread through casual everyday contact in public spaces, and person-to-person spread only occurs in rare cases involving extended close exposure. Common symptoms of hantavirus infection include fever, severe fatigue, abdominal pain, vomiting, and shortness of breath, which typically develop between two and four weeks after initial exposure.

    In a statement, the World Health Organization categorized the outbreak as a “serious incident” but stressed that the overall risk to the general global public remains low, and the event is not comparable to the widespread, easily transmissible Covid-19 pandemic.

  • Japan’s Sony reports declining profit but expects a record for this year

    Japan’s Sony reports declining profit but expects a record for this year

    TOKYO — Leading global electronics, entertainment and gaming conglomerate Sony Group Corporation has released its full fiscal year 2024 financial results, reporting a modest 3.4% decline in annual net profit while projecting a strong recovery to all-time record earnings for the ongoing 2025 fiscal year.

    For the 12-month period ending in March 2024, the Tokyo-based firm posted net profit of 1.03 trillion Japanese yen, equivalent to roughly $6.6 billion. That figure marks a pullback from the 1.07 trillion yen net profit the company recorded in the prior fiscal year.

    Two key headwinds dragged down the company’s bottom line over the past year, Sony executives confirmed: the termination of the joint electric vehicle development project with major Japanese automaker Honda Motor Co., and persistent elevated costs for semiconductors, a critical component for the company’s gaming, electronics and imaging product lines. Unlike many large technology and entertainment conglomerates, Sony operates a diversified business portfolio spanning film production, recorded music, video game development, consumer electronics and network services, meaning it faces overlapping cost pressures across multiple segments.

    Despite the annual profit dip, Sony achieved solid top-line growth over the past fiscal year: total annual sales climbed 3.7% year-over-year to hit nearly 12.5 trillion yen, or approximately $80 billion. Strong revenue growth was driven by blockbuster film releases including the newest installment of the *Demon Slayer* animated franchise and the Japanese drama *Kokuho*, paired with steady consumer demand for the company’s video game offerings and subscription-based network services.

    The company’s fourth-quarter results, however, showed a starker decline: net profit fell 63% to 83 billion yen ($529 million) compared to 224 billion yen in the same quarter last year. Quarterly sales still posted an 8% uptick to 3 trillion yen ($19 billion), with the company’s music segment, which represents top global artists including Bad Bunny and SZA, contributing consistent revenue to the quarter’s results.

    Looking ahead to the current 2025 fiscal year, Sony is projecting net profit will jump 13% from the past year to reach 1.16 trillion yen ($7.4 billion) — which would mark the highest annual profit in the company’s 78-year history. The conglomerate is banking on upcoming high-profile theatrical releases, including *Spider-Man: Brand New Day* and *Jumanji: Open World*, to drive ticket and merchandise sales that will lift full-year earnings.

    Alongside its financial projections, Sony announced Friday a major share repurchase program: the company will buy back up to 230 million of its outstanding shares, allocating up to 500 billion yen ($3.2 billion) for the initiative, a move designed to boost shareholder value. Following the announcement, Sony stock, which has traded around 3,000 yen ($19) per share in recent weeks, gained 1% on the Tokyo exchange Friday.

  • A year in, what’s on Pope Leo XIV’s to-do list? And what has he done so far?

    A year in, what’s on Pope Leo XIV’s to-do list? And what has he done so far?

    VATICAN CITY – When Pope Francis took the helm of the global Catholic Church, he launched his pontificate with an immediate flurry of institutional reforms, leadership reshuffles, and new governing structures that upended longstanding norms. In contrast, Pope Leo XIV has adopted a far more deliberate, methodical approach to his early tenure, prioritizing steady foundational work over rapid change as he charts a path for his papacy.

    As Leo settles into his role, he has already finalized several notable leadership and policy shifts, while a handful of high-stakes challenges loom on the horizon that will test his authority and vision for the church.

    ### Upcoming Key Appointments to Reshape Church Leadership
    A series of impending leadership vacancies in the United States and the Vatican will give Leo a unique opportunity to mold the church’s global hierarchy and central governance to align with his priorities.

    In Chicago, one of the most prominent U.S. archdioceses, Cardinal Blase Cupich turned 77 in March – two years past the standard mandatory retirement age for Catholic bishops, leaving the door open for Leo to appoint a new leader to his home country’s major see. By the end of December, Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez will reach the standard retirement age of 75, giving Leo the chance to name a new head of the largest archdiocese in the United States. He has already filled one top U.S. vacancy, appointing Archbishop Ronald Hicks to succeed retiring Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. According to Michael Moreland, a professor of law and religion at Villanova University – Leo’s alma mater – that appointment did not carry a strong ideological lean in either direction, reflecting the pope’s overall cautious, non-partisan approach to personnel decisions.

    At the Vatican level, several senior leadership roles will soon open up. British Cardinal Arthur Roche, 76, leads the Vatican’s liturgy office, which oversaw Pope Francis’ highly controversial restrictions on the traditional Latin Mass. The selection of Roche’s eventual successor will be closely watched for clues about how Leo plans to address this deeply divisive issue within the church. American Cardinal Kevin Farrell, 78, who is well past retirement age, still heads the Vatican’s department for family and laity, and holds two other high-stakes posts: camerlengo, the official who oversaw the conclave that elected Leo, and chair of the Holy See’s most sensitive committees overseeing financial investments and the Vatican City State’s highest court of appeal. Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, head of the Vatican’s office for migrants, environment and development, will turn 80 in July. Once he turns 80, he will be ineligible to vote in future papal conclaves, dropping the total number of voting-age cardinals to 117 – below the traditional 120-person cap. That shift paves the way for Leo to announce his first slate of new cardinals within the next year, expanding the college of electors who will one day choose his successor.

    ### Policy Shifts: Rolling Back and Revising Francis-Era Initiatives
    From the start of his pontificate, Francis encouraged young Catholics to disrupt diocesan institutions and “make a mess” to drive renewal. Leo has moved quickly to unwind and reorganize a number of these initiatives, addressing what he and other leaders see as unworkable structures born of Francis’ agenda.

    In April, the Vatican canceled the World Day of Children, a signature Francis initiative that had drawn ongoing questions about its core mission and purpose. The cancellation followed Leo’s formal disbanding of the ad hoc pontifical commission Francis created to organize the event in 2024. In December, Leo dissolved a Holy See fundraising commission that had been established under questionable circumstances in 2025, during the final weeks of Francis’ life when he was hospitalized. The commission was composed entirely of Italian members with no professional fundraising experience, and its president was a senior official from the Secretariat of State – the same Vatican department Francis stripped of asset management authority after it lost tens of millions of euros in the infamous London property investment scandal. After disbanding the flawed commission, Leo launched a new, reorganized committee to develop transparent, effective fundraising strategies and structures.

    Ward Fitzgerald, president of The Papal Foundation, a U.S.-based group of wealthy donors that funds papal charity projects across the developing world, noted: “The Holy Father was clearly paying attention. He realized that it was not going to be highly functional.”

    Beyond organizational overhauls, Leo has also revised Francis-era financial policy: he revoked a 2022 law that concentrated all Holy See financial power in the Vatican bank, issuing a new regulation that allows the Holy See’s investment committee to work with external banks when it delivers better financial outcomes. Leo has also broken new ground on the long-running clergy sexual abuse crisis, meeting with activist survivor groups who advocate for institutional reform. Survivors say the pope promised ongoing dialogue as they push the Vatican to adopt a binding global zero-tolerance policy for abuse. While Francis met regularly with individual abuse survivors, he largely kept organized activist advocacy groups at arm’s length.

    ### Private Audiences Reveal Openness to Diverse Perspectives
    Pope Leo’s closed-door private meetings with a range of stakeholders have offered insight into his priorities, showing he is willing to engage with groups across ideological divides even as he keeps his own final positions closely held. In mid-March, he met with Gareth Gore, author of a controversial book alleging widespread abuses within the influential conservative Catholic movement Opus Dei. In February, he held a private audience with a delegation from Courage International, a church-affiliated organization that supports people with same-sex attraction seeking to live in accordance with Catholic teaching on chastity. While critics have labeled the group anti-gay and accused it of promoting conversion therapy, the organization denies those claims. Earlier in March, he met with the authors of a new book on traditional Latin Mass Catholics in the U.S., who presented findings from their large-scale survey of the community. Leo has made clear he is well aware of the deep divisions sparked by Francis’ Latin Mass restrictions, and has expressed a desire to hear directly from traditionalist Catholics to better understand their perspectives as he works to heal rifts over the traditional liturgy.

    ### Two Major Looming Challenges
    The ongoing dispute over the traditional Latin Mass is on track to reach a critical turning point on July 1, when four new traditionalist bishops are set to be consecrated without Pope Leo’s formal approval. The bishops belong to the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), a breakaway traditionalist group, and an unsanctioned consecration would qualify as a schismatic act that automatically triggers excommunication for all involved. While the SSPX remains a fringe group within the broader traditionalist Catholic movement, traditionalists in full communion with the Holy See are closely watching how Leo responds to the provocation. On the opposite end of the ideological spectrum, the Vatican faces the threat of a major institutional split with the German Catholic Church over its years-long Synodal Path reform process. German leaders have proposed creating a permanent joint governing body made up of both bishops and lay Catholics to make collective decisions – a direct break from traditional Catholic ecclesiology, which reserves full governing authority for bishops. The Vatican has already publicly stated its opposition to this shared governance structure, and has also pushed back against German proposals to formalize public blessings for same-sex couples, a practice Francis only allowed on an informal, spontaneous basis. A direct confrontation is likely once the full German reform proposals are submitted to Rome for final approval.

    ### The Upcoming Landmark Encyclical on Artificial Intelligence
    While many outside observers frame the most pressing issue for Leo as his relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump and the prospect of a papal visit to the U.S. (currently, no visit is scheduled for 2025), the pope himself has signaled his top near-term priority is his first encyclical. The document, which is expected to be released in the coming weeks, focuses on artificial intelligence and broader questions of global peace and justice. Leo has already drawn a parallel between the AI revolution and the industrial upheaval of the late 19th century, which his namesake Pope Leo XIII addressed in his landmark 1891 encyclical *Rerum Novarum* on workers’ rights. “Like his namesake Leo XIII with the Industrial Revolution, Leo clearly sees the church as having something important to offer in an era of what may turn out to be epochal technological change,” said Dan Rober, associate professor of Catholic studies at Sacred Heart University.

    This reporting on religion was supported by a collaboration between the Associated Press and The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The Associated Press holds sole editorial responsibility for this content.

  • Pope Leo XIV sought a pastoral role in his first year, but verbal sparring with Trump intervened

    Pope Leo XIV sought a pastoral role in his first year, but verbal sparring with Trump intervened

    As Pope Leo XIV marked the first anniversary of his election to the papacy on Friday, the milestone was overshadowed by an escalating public feud with former president and current U.S. leader Donald Trump – a conflict that has dragged the soft-spoken, pastorally focused pontiff into the center of global geopolitical tensions.

    When Leo took office one year ago, he framed his papacy as centered on walking alongside the global Catholic flock, prioritizing pastoral care over high-profile political confrontation. The 70-year-old pontiff, a former Midwestern U.S. missionary and Augustinian priest, has always been known for his reserved, mild-mannered demeanor: he prefers solitary tennis matches, can quote 5th-century St. Augustine from memory, and frames his calls for global peace as simple, faithful readings of Christian scripture, not political posturing.

    But repeated public criticisms from Trump have forced Leo into the public fray, with the pontiff delivering increasingly sharp responses to the U.S. president’s attacks. The back-and-forth, which centers on competing stances on the ongoing Iran war, has strained diplomatic ties between the U.S. and the Holy See. On the eve of his anniversary, Leo hosted U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who traveled to Vatican City for a fence-mending meeting aimed at repairing bilateral relations. While both the Vatican and U.S. State Department reaffirmed their longstanding strong ties after the meeting, the conflict has nonetheless pushed Leo far outside his expected comfort zone on the global stage.

    Most recently, after Trump misrepresented the pontiff’s positions, Leo hit back: “If someone wants to criticize me for announcing the Gospel, let him do it with the truth.”

    Beyond the high-profile conflict with Trump, Leo’s first year in office has been defined by his promise to heal deep rifts within the Catholic Church and a polarized global community, a mission he has advanced steadily after 12 years of Pope Francis’ revolutionary, often divisive papacy. The pontiff has worked to calm tensions across the church, even amid rising threats of schism, as he navigates thorny challenges including friction between traditionalist and progressive factions, longstanding financial instability at the Holy See, and the geopolitical rift opened by his clashes with the Trump administration.

    Cardinal Wilton Gregory, a retired Washington archbishop and fellow Chicago native, noted that social media has amplified existing divisions within the church, creating a unique test for any sitting pope. “He has to call us to our better angels,” Gregory said of Leo’s approach, which has focused on de-escalating tensions rather than leaning into partisan friction. This approach was on display during Leo’s recent trip to Africa, where he sought to downplay the feud with Trump, saying that entering a public debate with the U.S. president “is not in my interest at all.” “I primarily come to Africa as a pastor, as the head of the Catholic Church to be with, to celebrate with, to encourage and accompany all the Catholics throughout Africa,” he said, repeating his stance that the political trappings of his role as a head of state and global moral figure are not his primary focus.

    For many observers, the novelty of having the first-ever U.S. pope, a development that breaks the longstanding unwritten norm that the papacy would not be held by a citizen of the world’s dominant superpower, has yet to fade. Unlike his predecessor Pope Francis, who frequently clashed with U.S. conservatives over his criticism of American-style capitalism and was often dismissed as out of touch with U.S. Catholic life, Leo speaks fluent English as a native speaker and has a deep, firsthand understanding of U.S. culture and institutions.

    Anthea Butler, a senior fellow at the Koch Institute at the University of Oxford, noted that Leo’s criticism of current U.S. policy differs sharply from Francis’ confrontational style. “He’s doing it not coming full-on like Francis would,” Butler explained, “but approaching issues from the side. He’s not naming names, he’s merely preaching the Gospel.”

    This approach has already yielded notable shifts in relations between the Holy See and U.S. Catholic institutions. During Francis’ papacy, tensions ran high between the Argentine pontiff and U.S. conservative Catholics, with unrelenting coverage of mismanagement and scandal at the Vatican leading many U.S. donors to stop contributing to the Holy See. Today, with a native-born U.S. leader in St. Peter’s, many U.S. Catholic leaders report newfound unity among American bishops, particularly around shared commitments to advocating for migrants and people living in poverty – a cohesion that leaders attribute in part to Leo’s unifying, accessible message.

    “It’s very different when you are hearing the message without it being mediated through translation,” said Kerry Alys Robinson, chief executive of Catholic Charities USA. Robinson noted that U.S. Catholic bishops are more united today than they have been in decades, a shift she credits in part to Leo’s consistent call for collective action around issues of shared concern to the church.

    Ward Fitzgerald, president of The Papal Foundation, which funds the pontiff’s global charity work, said the “Leo effect” has already translated to tangible growth in support from U.S. donors and new conversions to Catholicism across the U.S. and Europe. “I think there’s lots of reasons for it, but I certainly think that having a pope who speaks English helps young people understand the messages of the Holy Father,” Fitzgerald said. For U.S. donors, hearing the pontiff’s appeals directly in English resonates far more than translated remarks, Fitzgerald added, leading to increased giving. The Papal Foundation has already added 25 new donor families since Leo’s election – a significant gain, as membership requires a minimum pledge of $1.25 million.

    Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the influential U.S. prelate who was a key power broker in the 2025 conclave that elected Leo and who has close ties to Trump, celebrated a special anniversary Mass for foundation donors last week in St. Peter’s Basilica. In his homily, Dolan compared Leo to St. Joseph, the patron saint of the universal church, describing the pope as matching St. Joseph’s quiet, steady character. “A man who exuded a sense of depth and substance,” Dolan said. “A man who is shy, all right, a man who is focused on his mission. A man, always attentive to God’s plan. I can think of no one who fits that description better than Pope Leo.”