Latest news with #HolySee
GMA Network
4 days ago
- GMA Network
Vatican revamps website for more accessible browsing
The Vatican has changed the graphic design of its website for more accessible navigation. In a statement on Thursday, the Vatican's Dicastery for Communication said the homepage update is 'part of an extensive editorial and development effort' to transfer the site's 'historical heritage' into a renewed portal. "It must represent the embrace of the Church in the digital world. It was the first thing that came to mind when I heard about the intention to renew the official website of the Holy See,' Peruvian graphic designer Juan Carlos Yto said. The website, which has been online since 1995, previously displayed a gold tone and depicts Pope Leo XIV's insignia. It also featured the previous popes and sections such as news, calendars, photos, and videos. Meanwhile, the new look of the website has a blue tone with Pope Leo XIV's photo and insignia while some of its other features were rearranged. Yto said the website invoked a 'clearer, more approachable, and contemporary Church.' 'The colors are inspired by the Roman sky blue, which contrasts beautifully with the warm tones of travertine. Sky and earth. Stone and depth. Golden accents of divinity, light grays, and white to illuminate,' he said. 'Larger and more prominent photographs on the homepage, to show a living and constantly moving Church,' he added Pope Leo XIV was inaugurated as the 267th Pontiff on May 18, 2025. —Mariel Celine Serquiña/LDF, GMA Integrated News
Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Can Pope Leo remain a U.S. citizen now that he's a foreign head of state?
Pope Leo XIV's election as the first U.S.-born leader of the Catholic Church elevated him to the extremely rare, and legally thorny, position of being an American citizen who now is also a foreign head of state. Born in Chicago as Robert Prevost in 1955, the new pope for the past decade has held dual citizenship in the U.S. and Peru, where he spent time as a missionary and bishop. As pope, Leo serves as leader of both the Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church, and Vatican City, an independent state. Can the pope remain a U.S. citizen while leading a foreign government? Here are things to know about Leo's citizenship. In addition to being the spiritual leader for what the church says is roughly 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, Leo is also the head of what's recognized as the world's smallest nation. Vatican City covers just 0.17 square miles and has a population of a few hundred people. It became an independent state in 1929 under a treaty between Italy and the Holy See. Americans working for foreign governments aren't automatically at risk of forfeiting their U.S. citizenship. But the U.S. State Department says on its website that it may 'actively review' the citizenship status of Americans who 'serve as a foreign head of state, foreign head of government, or foreign minister.' 'Such cases raise complex questions of international law, including issues related to the level of immunity from U.S. jurisdiction that the person so serving may be afforded,' the policy states. The State Department declined to comment on the pope's status. A spokesperson said the department doesn't discuss the citizenship of individuals. The core issue is whether foreign leaders should hold American citizenship when they also enjoy broad immunity from U.S. laws, said Peter Spiro, a Temple University law professor and expert on citizenship law. Such immunity clashes with the constitutional principle that no U.S. citizen should be above the law. However, the U.S. Supreme Court in a 1980 decision ruled that Americans can't be stripped of their citizenship unless they intentionally renounce it. 'The State Department never assumes that you intend to lose your citizenship unless you specifically say so through the renunciation process,' Spiro said. He said it would be hard to argue that Leo, by becoming pope, demonstrated an intent to give up being a U.S. citizen. 'I think it's highly unlikely that the U.S. moves to terminate the pope's citizenship,' Spiro said. Peruvian law has no conflict with Pope Leo remaining a citizen, said Jorge Puch, deputy director of registry archives at Peru's National Registry of Identification and Civil Status. Leo was granted Peruvian citizenship in August 2015, the month before Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Chiclayo in the South American country's northern region. To qualify, he had to live in Peru for at least two years and pass a civics test. 'It is the most praiseworthy thing our beloved supreme pontiff could have done: Wanting to have Peruvian nationality without having been Peruvian by birth,' Puch said. All adult Peruvians, including naturalized citizens, are required to vote in elections through age 69. Voting in Peru's presidential election next April won't be mandatory for Leo. He turns 70 in September. It's not clear what happened to the citizenship status of Leo's predecessors once they became pope. That's not information the Vatican discloses. Pope Francis renewed his passport in his home country of Argentina in 2014, the year after he became pope. German-born Pope Benedict XVI and Pope John Paul II, a native of Poland, never publicly relinquished citizenship in their home countries. John Paul was the first non-Italian pope in 455 years. Margaret Susan Thompson, a Syracuse University history professor and expert on American Catholicism, said she doubts Leo would renounce his U.S. citizenship. But she believes the new pope was sending a message when he delivered his first speech in Italian and Spanish without using English. 'I think he wants to stress that he is the pope of the universal Catholic Church,' Thompson said, 'and not an American holding that position.' Yes. Here are a few notable examples. Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was born in New York to British parents in 1964. He left the U.S. as a young boy and renounced his American citizenship in 2016 while serving as the U.K.'s foreign secretary. Johnson became prime minister three years later. Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed was an American citizen when he was elected president of Somalia in 2017. Born in Somalia, he moved to the U.S. in 1985 and became a citizen in the 1990s. Mohamed gave up his U.S. citizenship two years into his presidency. Valdas Adamkus became a U.S. citizen after his family fled Lithuania to escape Soviet occupation. He returned to win Lithuania's presidency in 1998, years after the Soviet Union collapsed. He relinquished his American citizenship after being elected. Bynum writes for the Associated Press. AP reporter Regina Garcia Cano in Mexico City contributed to this story.
Bloomberg
7 days ago
- Politics
- Bloomberg
Pope Leo XIV Prays for Chinese Catholics in First Comments on Thorny Issue
ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV asked Sunday for prayers for China's Catholics to be in communion with the Holy See, as he made his first public remarks about one of the thorniest foreign policy issues facing his new pontificate. History's first American pope recalled that on Saturday the Catholic Church marked a special feast day to pray for the church in China. Pope Benedict XVI had initiated the feast day as part of his efforts to unify China's estimated 12 million Catholics who were divided between an official, state-controlled church that didn't recognize papal authority, and an underground church that remained loyal to Rome through decades of persecution.
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pope prays for Chinese Catholics, hinting at how he will approach one of the Church's thorniest issues
Pope Leo XIV asked Sunday for prayers for China's Catholics to be in communion with the Holy See, as he made his first public remarks about one of the thorniest foreign policy issues facing his new pontificate. History's first American pope recalled that on Saturday the Catholic Church marked a special feast day to pray for the church in China. Pope Benedict XVI had initiated the feast day as part of his efforts to unify China's estimated 12 million Catholics who were divided between an official, state-controlled church that didn't recognize papal authority, and an underground church that remained loyal to Rome through decades of persecution. Leo noted that on the feast day 'in the churches and shrines in China and throughout the world, prayers have been raised to God as a sign of the solicitude and affection for Chinese Catholics and their communion with the universal church.' Speaking from his studio window during his noontime blessing, Leo prayed that Catholics in China and elsewhere 'obtain the grace to be strong and joyful witnesses of the Gospel, even in the midst of trials, to always promote peace and harmony.' Pope Francis took Benedict's unifying efforts further by approving a controversial deal in 2018 over bishop nominations. The details of the deal were never released, but it affords the state-controlled church a say in its church leaders, though Francis insisted he retained veto power over the ultimate choice. The deal has been criticized by some, especially on the Catholic right, for having caved to Beijing's demands and sold out the underground faithful in China. The Vatican has said it was the best deal it could get and it has been renewed periodically since then. Leo will have to decide whether to continue renewing the accord. There have been some apparent violations on the Beijing side with some unilateral appointments that occurred without papal consent. The issue came to a head just before the conclave that elected Leo pope, when the Chinese church proceeded with the preliminary election of two bishops, a step that comes before official consecration. Leo told the archbishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Stephen Chow, that he had 'visited China several times and got to know the Chinese culture and reality,' according to the Fides missionary news agency, citing comments Chow made in his diocesan weekly newsletter after the conclave. Chow added that he expected Leo would follow Francis' direction for the church in China. He said he had given Leo a small statue of Our Lady of Sheshan, a statue of the Madonna that is particularly venerated by Chinese faithful and is celebrated on the feast day, May 24. Chow, a Jesuit, said he had implored Leo 'to not forget the church in China and the Chinese people,' according to the newsletter. 'He nodded his head to indicate that he will not forget,' according to Fides. The Vatican has been working for years to try to improve relations with China that were officially severed over seven decades ago when the Communists came to power. Relations had long been stymied over China's insistence on its exclusive right to name bishops as a matter of national sovereignty, while the Vatican insisted on the pope's exclusive right to name the successors of the original Apostles. The 2018 deal was aimed at uniting the flock, regularizing the status of seven bishops who weren't recognized by Rome and thawing decades of estrangement between China and the Vatican.
CNN
7 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Pope prays for Chinese Catholics, hinting at how he will approach one of the Church's thorniest issues
Pope Leo XIV asked Sunday for prayers for China's Catholics to be in communion with the Holy See, as he made his first public remarks about one of the thorniest foreign policy issues facing his new pontificate. History's first American pope recalled that on Saturday the Catholic Church marked a special feast day to pray for the church in China. Pope Benedict XVI had initiated the feast day as part of his efforts to unify China's estimated 12 million Catholics who were divided between an official, state-controlled church that didn't recognize papal authority, and an underground church that remained loyal to Rome through decades of persecution. Leo noted that on the feast day 'in the churches and shrines in China and throughout the world, prayers have been raised to God as a sign of the solicitude and affection for Chinese Catholics and their communion with the universal church.' Speaking from his studio window during his noontime blessing, Leo prayed that Catholics in China and elsewhere 'obtain the grace to be strong and joyful witnesses of the Gospel, even in the midst of trials, to always promote peace and harmony.' Pope Francis took Benedict's unifying efforts further by approving a controversial deal in 2018 over bishop nominations. The details of the deal were never released, but it affords the state-controlled church a say in its church leaders, though Francis insisted he retained veto power over the ultimate choice. The deal has been criticized by some, especially on the Catholic right, for having caved to Beijing's demands and sold out the underground faithful in China. The Vatican has said it was the best deal it could get and it has been renewed periodically since then. Leo will have to decide whether to continue renewing the accord. There have been some apparent violations on the Beijing side with some unilateral appointments that occurred without papal consent. The issue came to a head just before the conclave that elected Leo pope, when the Chinese church proceeded with the preliminary election of two bishops, a step that comes before official consecration. Leo told the archbishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Stephen Chow, that he had 'visited China several times and got to know the Chinese culture and reality,' according to the Fides missionary news agency, citing comments Chow made in his diocesan weekly newsletter after the conclave. Chow added that he expected Leo would follow Francis' direction for the church in China. He said he had given Leo a small statue of Our Lady of Sheshan, a statue of the Madonna that is particularly venerated by Chinese faithful and is celebrated on the feast day, May 24. Chow, a Jesuit, said he had implored Leo 'to not forget the church in China and the Chinese people,' according to the newsletter. 'He nodded his head to indicate that he will not forget,' according to Fides. The Vatican has been working for years to try to improve relations with China that were officially severed over seven decades ago when the Communists came to power. Relations had long been stymied over China's insistence on its exclusive right to name bishops as a matter of national sovereignty, while the Vatican insisted on the pope's exclusive right to name the successors of the original Apostles. The 2018 deal was aimed at uniting the flock, regularizing the status of seven bishops who weren't recognized by Rome and thawing decades of estrangement between China and the Vatican.
