A conversation with Father Robert Hagan, O.S.A., the prior provincial of the Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova, about the spiritual foundations of our new American pope.

At first glance, it would seem that buying rosaries and listening to the pope cry out passionately against war have little to do with each other.

On his first Sunday appearance as pope, Leo XIV made a passionate appeal for peace and an end to the armed conflicts in the world, especially in Ukraine and Gaza, and cried out, “Never again war!”

At this early stage of Leo XIV’s pontificate, the text is a “must read” for Catholics. Here are three notable takeaways.

“I would like us to renew together today our complete commitment to the path that the universal church has now followed for decades in the wake of the Second Vatican Council,” Pope Leo said.

The late pope’s attention to geographic detail led to what was described as the most diverse conclave in the history of the church.