CRUX

In the first few months after Pope Leo XIV’s election last year, many observers described him as “boring” and thought his presumably long reign would be a slow and relatively unnewsworthy papacy.

Pope Leo XIV arrived in Cameroon’s northwestern city of Bamenda on Thursday to lead a peace meeting in a region battered by separatist violence that has claimed thousands of lives since it started nearly a decade ago.

Pope Leo XIV blasted the “handful of tyrants” who are ravaging Earth with war and exploitation, as he preached a message of peace Thursday in the epicenter of a separatist conflict considered one of the world’s most neglected crises.

A new Gallup poll released Thursday shows more young men in the U.S. say religion is “very important” in their lives compared to young women — the first time young men have surpassed young women on this measure of religiosity going back 25 years.

Pakistani Archbishop Dr. Joseph Arshad issued a statement saying he appreciated the constructive role of Pakistani leadership in promoting peace and stability as Pakistan has acted as an intermediary between Iran and the US over the last few weeks.