Justin S. McLellan

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed Israel's regret in a phone call with Pope Leo XIV for what he called an accidental attack on the Holy Family Catholic Church in Gaza that killed three and injured 10 others. ncronline.org/vatican/netany…

Vatican: Netanyahu called Pope Leo XIV the day after after an Israeli strike on a Gaza parish killed 3. The pope lamented Gaza's humanitarian crisis, "whose heartbreaking price is paid especially by children, the elderly and the sick." More here: ncronline.org/news/two-dead-…

At a quiet outdoor Mass "for the care of creation," Pope Leo XIV prayed for the conversion of those resisting climate action and urged the church to speak boldly before "the destructive power of the 'princes' of this world." More from Castel Gandolfo: ncronline.org/earthbeat/pope…

Thrilled to begin as @NCRonline's Vatican correspondent during this remarkable moment for the global and U.S. Catholic Church. I'm deeply grateful to @CatholicNewsSvc and @romereports for taking a chance on me and guiding me every step of the way. Grazie!

A quick behind the scenes look at the Vatican Press (Tipografia Vaticana)

Launching his papacy with a call for reconciliation and communion, Pope Leo XIV formally began his ministry as the successor of St. Peter by calling for "a united church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world." usccb.org/news/2025/pope… 📷CNS

First Pope Leo merch I’ve seen around the Vatican. Pope Francis rosaries “on sale” for one Euro.

Not quite “Imagine” but still hits.

Where Christians are "mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied" is where the Catholic Church's "missionary outreach is most desperately needed," Pope Leo XIV said in his first homily as leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics. usccb.org/news/2025/new-…

Swedish Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Stockholm warned against categorizing the cardinals along political and ideological lines. Read my interview with Cardinal Arborelius on @OSVNews. osvnews.com/swedish-cardin…

Here are some photos I took for @CatholicNewsSvc of #PopeFrancis' casket being taken to his final resting place in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome after his funeral. The late pope's last journey in the popemobile took him past the Roman Forum and the Colosseum.

Cardinals are mobbed by the press as they arrive at the Vatican for their pre-conclave meetings, though few are willing to speak to journalists before #PopeFrancis' funeral tomorrow.

The faithful wait in line to visit #PopeFrancis’ body in St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican has said the basilica may stay open past midnight to accommodate the high number of pilgrims coming to see the late pope’s remains.

#PopeFrancis’ body is carried into St. Peter’s Basilica, where it will be available for public viewing and prayer for three days.

Preparations underway to move #PopeFrancis’ body from the chapel of the pope’s residence at Casa Santa Marta to St. Peter’s Basilica.

As the pope of the peripheries, Pope Francis brought the heart, mind and soul of the Catholic Church in Latin America from what he called the "ends of the earth" to the center of Christendom. @DetroitCatholic via @CatholicNewsSvc detroitcatholic.com/news/popes-lif…

Simone Legno, the creator of "Luce," also created a Nativity Scene depicting the Holy Family in the style of Japanese animated figures displayed in a Vatican exhibit on Nativity scenes from around the world. 📸 @CatholicNewsSvc

#PopeFrancis does not take questions during the 50-minute return flight to Rome from Ajaccio, France. It is the first time the pope does not hold a press conference on an international flight and the shortest flight of his pontificate. 📸@CatholicNewsSvc / @LolaGomezC

#PopeFrancis ended his day trip to Corsica by meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron. Macron gave the pope a book on the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris and said his visit was an honor for Ajaccio, Corsica and France. (📸Vatican pool)

#PopeFrancis addresses Corsica’s local Catholic community, encouraging Catholics to recall that evangelization does not depend on “human abilities” but on God. He encouraged church workers to regularly set aside time to connect with themselves and with God.