Vatican City

Former President Donald Trump posted and deleted an AI-generated image depicting him resembling Jesus Christ, later claiming it showed him as a doctor, amid a deepening conflict with Pope Leo XIV over the Iran war and immigration. The dispute has drawn international condemnation and exposed conflicting accounts of a high-level Vatican-Pentagon meeting.

Pope Leo XIV has issued an urgent appeal for a ceasefire and dialogue in the Middle East conflict, expressing sorrow over civilian deaths and particular concern about a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon. His message, delivered in a Palm Sunday sermon and social media posts, comes as Israel intensifies its ground invasion in Lebanon and the IDF reports strikes in Tehran and Beirut.

Pope Leo XIV opened his first Holy Week as pontiff with a Palm Sunday celebration before tens of thousands in St. Peter's Square, marking the start of Easter events that include a return to traditional rituals.

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Anthony Randazzo of Broken Bay as prefect of the Dicastery for Legislative Texts, a key Vatican legal office. The move places an Australian bishop with experience in the clergy abuse crisis at the helm of the church's canon law system.