Father Paolo Capra, pastor at St. Augustine, made the trip to Istanbul with the brick, which will be the first stone of the new parish they plan to build.

The best way to describe him is as the anti-polarization pope. His biggest issues are peace and unity. He knows he’s operating in a context where very few world leaders are talking that way. It’s not a collaborative world. He’s looking at a polarized landscape and responding to it.

Pope Leo revealed on Tuesday that at the moment of his election as leader of the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church, he turned to God with a simple message: "You're in charge and you lead the way".

Pope Leo has said he believes the United States needs to find “another way” in handling the situation in Venezuela, warning against any military incursion and saying it would be better to pursue dialogue or apply economic pressure.

Traveling through the Mideast, Leo XIV channeled many of his predecessor’s messages. Leo’s deliberate manner differed from Francis.

This was not a normal Sunday for churchgoers in Pleasant Grove. They learned that Friday, one of the foundation bricks for their new church, was blessed by Pope Leo XIV.

The Catholic Church is more than 2,000 years old. Declaring war on it is hardly civilized or politically smart. Trump has three years left in office. The Catholic Church will survive condemnation by those in power; it’s hardly the first time this has occurred in its long and storied history.

In his homily for the first Sunday of Advent, the pope referred to the first reading (Isaiah 2:1-5) as "one of the most beautiful passages in the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, where the invitation resounds, beckoning all peoples to ascend the mountain of the Lord (cf. v. 3), a place of light and peace."

Pope Leo XIV's first foreign trip evidenced profound echoes of his predecessor, Pope Francis. Still, we are also starting to see points of difference emerge as well. Leo is not Francis 2.0. Leo is Leo.

Pope Leo XIV is pictured in May in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. On Tuesday as he was leaving Lebanon, the pontiff said that in Europe "and North America, we should perhaps be a little less fearful and look for ways for promoting authentic dialogue and respect" over immigration issues. File Photo by Stefano Spaziani/UPI | License Photo