Can Pope Leo XIV harness early enthusiasm to boost the Catholic Church's popularity?
In just 10 days, he's brought Chicago-bred English to the Holy See, given a jolt to White Sox merchandising and hosted a global tennis icon. But the burning question for the globe's largest Christian faith is whether Pope Leo XIV can also fill the pews.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
17 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
World Cup of Darts 2025: England's Luke Littler and Luke Humphries torn apart by Germany
The world's top two players slipped to an 8-4 second round defeat at the Eissporthalle in Frankfurt, where Martin Schindler and Ricardo Pietreczko made the most of the backing of a partisan home crowd to seal a comprehensive victory. Littler and Humphries, who both received MBEs in the King's Birthday Honours, were made to pay for missed doubles with the 18-year-old in particular turning in an off-colour display in a country where he has endured previous disappointments. A delighted Schindler, who had insisted in advance that the English duo were 'beatable', told Sky Sports: 'I was right because we believed in ourselves. 'We have been putting in a solid performance, and obviously the double 16s from Ricardo just went in, so we are very happy to go through. 'Today was one step and tomorrow is the other. That's it.' Booed by the home crowd, Littler started nervously and the Germans took the first two legs, but his 123 check-out got England on the board before a 64 finish levelled it up at 2-2. However, the the teenager missed three darts at a double in the fifth leg to allow Pietreczko to win it with a 106 out-shot and another in the sixth as the Germans restored their advantage, and after Humphries had hit 25 rather than bull going for 122, they went in at the break 5-2 ahead. Pietreczko took out 101 after the resumption before Germany went 7-2 up and although Littler and Humphries took the next two, they eventually succumbed as a return of just four doubles from the 11 chances they created ultimately proved costly. Germany's reward is a quarter-final tie against Australia, who routed Argentina 8-1 with Damon Heta and Simon Whitlock proving too strong for Jesus Salate and Victor Guillin despite missing 21 of their 29 attempts at doubles. Twice-winners Gerwyn Price and Jonny Clayton secured Wales' passage with a resounding 8-2 win over the Philippines. ADVERTISEMENT The Welsh pair, who claimed the crown in 2020 and 2023, powered their way through to a last eight clash with Hong Kong with the minimum of fuss despite the first three legs going against the darts. However, Scotland's Peter Wright and Gary Anderson found themselves on the wrong end of a demolition job as they went down 8-0 to the Netherlands in just 15 minutes. Danny Noppert and world youth champion Gian Van Veen, who took out 130 to claim the fourth leg on Scotland's throw, were in inspired form, averaging 100.2 and converting eight of the 12 darts they had at doubles to breeze through to a meeting with the Czech Republic. William O'Connor and Keane Barry eased the Republic of Ireland to a showdown with neighbours Northern Ireland after an 8-3 victory over Switzerland in which they were always in control. Northern Ireland were comfortable winners over South Africa as Josh Rock and Daryl Gurney eased them to an 8-2 success. Elsewhere, there were wins for the Czechs over Malaysia and Hong Kong against Sweden.
RTÉ News
6 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Bath squeeze past Leicester in Premiership final to end 29-year title wait
Bath ended their 29-year English title drought when they survived a late surge by old rivals Leicester Tigers to triumph 23-21 in a gripping Premiership final and complete a memorable trophy treble at Twickenham on Saturday. Tries by Thomas du Toit and Max Ojomoh, after an outrageous play by out-half Finn Russell, gave Bath a healthy lead in the second half that looked set to underline their dominance of a campaign in which they finished the regular season 11 points clear of Leicester. Leicester, however, seeking a record-extending 12th title, hit back with tries by Solomone Kata and Emeka Ilione either side of a Russell penalty to set up a nail-biting finale. Bath, who lost a similarly close game to Northampton a year ago, held out, though, to complete a memorable treble after they also lifted the Premiership Cup and European Challenge Cup having not won a domestic trophy since their 1996 league and cup double. Former Ireland international Quinn Roux started in the second row for Bath, with ex-Leinster and Ireland Under-20 players Ross Molony and Niall Annett among the replacements, while their director of rugby is ex-Munster head coach Johann van Graan.
The Irish Sun
8 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
‘It stings and makes me bitter' – League One chairman gutted after losing star man to Bundesliga on free transfer
PETERBOROUGH chairman Darragh MacAnthony admitted he is feeling "bitter" after one of his star players left the club. Ricky Jade-Jones has departed Posh with his contract expiring at the end of the month. 2 Ricky Jade-Jones has left Peterborough to sign for St. Pauli 2 Posh chairman Darragh MacAnthony shared his disappointment over the move Credit: PA He has signed for Bundesliga side St. Pauli in what is a big blow for the League One side. Jade-Jones has been at Peterborough since the age of nine and played 190 games after graduating the academy. As a result, Posh would have been guaranteed a hefty fee by way of compensation if the striker had signed for another English club. His move to Germany means Peterborough will only be granted a small training compensation fee. READ MORE IN FOOTBALL MacAnthony shared his thoughts about Jade-Jones' move on X. He wrote: 'He turned down four brilliant Championship clubs to do this move which has cost his home town club a lot of money . "Not going to lie, it stings and makes me bitter for the moment as the kid has been with us so many years and I couldn't have been more supportive of him but we move on and don't look back. "This is football and it can kick you in the nuts at times.' Most read in Football BEST FREE BETS AND BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS Jade-Jones scored 18 goals in all competitions last season including 11 in League One. He is now set to play in the top tier for the first time after St. Pauli finished 14th in the Bundesliga following promotion in 2024. Tom Lockyer opens up on the hurt of leaving Luton after five years at the club
