Courtney Mares

Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.

Pope Leo XIV receives a Thanksgiving pie on board the papal flight to Turkey, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025 / Credit: Courtesy of Claudio Lavanga

Pies and a Baseball Bat: The Gifts Pope Leo XIV Received on Papal Flight to Turkey

“To the Americans here, Happy Thanksgiving!” Leo said as he greeted about 80 journalists aboard the chartered ITA Airways flight...

A cross stands in Montse Sole Historical Park in memorial of the victims of the massacres carried out there by Nazis in 1944. / Credit: Francesco de Marco/Shutterstock

Pope Leo XIV Recognizes Martyrdom of Two Priests Killed by Nazis

The killings marked the first day of what is now known as the Marzabotto Massacre, a large civilian massacre in...

Pope Leo XIV addresses pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday Angelus on Nov. 9, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV Warns AI Could Fuel "antihuman ideologies" in Medicine

Pope Leo XIV warned Monday that artificial intelligence could exacerbate “antihuman ideologies” in medicine as doctors and theologians raise alarms...

Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Pope Leo XIV Calls on Catholics to Lead in Ethical Artificial Intelligence Development

In a message to the Builders AI Forum at the Vatican in Rome, Pope Leo said the development of AI...

Pope Leo XIV prays during a Mass on Oct. 27, 2025, marking both the start of the academic year at Rome’s pontifical universities and the opening day of the Jubilee of the World of Education. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Pope Leo XIV to Offer All Souls’ Day Mass at Rome’s Largest Cemetery

The Vatican announced that Pope Leo XIV will offer Mass at Campo Verano Cemetery near the Basilica of St. Lawrence...

Pope Leo XIV arrives in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly general audience on Oct. 29, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibanez/EWTN News

Pope Leo XIV: "The Church does not tolerate antisemitism"

Pope Leo XIV condemned antisemitism during his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 29 and also prayed...

Pope Leo XIV addresses the audience in his homily at a Mass on Oct. 27, 2025, marking both the start of the academic year at Rome’s pontifical universities and the opening day of the Jubilee of the World of Education. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Pope Leo XIV Urges University Students to Feed "hunger for truth and meaning"

Pope Leo XIV urged university students to feed their “hunger for truth and meaning,” lamenting that modern education often loses...

Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III walk together in the Sistine Chapel during a historic meeting that included a prayer service at the Vatican, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III Make History With First Joint Prayer Since Reformation

History was made in the Sistine Chapel on Thursday as Pope Leo XIV and King Charles III prayed side by...

A Venezuelan priest who concelebrated the canonization Mass with Pope Leo XIV celebrates his country's first saints in St. Peter's Square on Oct. 19, 2025. / Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN

Pope Leo XIV Canonizes Seven New Saints, Including First From Venezuela and Papua New Guinea

Pope Leo XIV declared seven new saints before an estimated 70,000 people in St. Peter’s Square at the canonization Mass...

Pope Leo XIV Says First Canonized Couple Give Example of "marriage as a path to holiness"

At a time when the world offers “many counter-examples” of what a healthy marriage should look like, Pope Leo XIV...

The Sistine Hall of the Vatican Apostolic Library. / Credit: Courtney Mares/CNA

Vatican, Other Catholic Libraries Turn to AI, Robotics to Digitize Collections

As the Vatican Apostolic Library digitizes some of its historic collection, other historic Catholic institutions in Rome are going even...

Archbishop Filippo Iannone speaks at a press conference presenting the reform of canon law on June 1, 2021. Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 26, 2025, appointed Iannone as prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops, a department the pope himself once led. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Pope Leo XIV Names First Head of Major Vatican Department

Pope Leo XIV made his first appointment of a head of a major Vatican office since his election: Archbishop Filippo...

Pope Leo XIV waves to pilgrims gathered for his Sunday Angelus in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Sept. 14, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV Signals Potential Shift on China, Talks Trump and Gaza

Pope Leo XIV signaled he may be open to future changes to the Vatican’s controversial deal with China, saying that...

St. Francis Xavier statue in front St. Joseph Cathedral in Beijing, China, Feb. 25, 2016. / Credit: Zvonimir Atletic/Shutterstock

Pope Leo XIV Creates "new" China Diocese amid Diocesan Border Dispute with Beijing

Pope Leo XIV has created a new Catholic diocese in northern China with the same name as one established decades...

Crowds of people come to pray at Carlo Acutis’ tomb at the church of St. Mary Major in Assisi, Itlay, during the weekend of his Sept. 7, 2025, canonization. / Credit: Diocese of Assisi

Over Half a Million Pilgrims Have Visited St. Carlo Acutis’ Tomb So Far This Year

More than 620,000 people have visited the tomb of St. Carlo Acutis in the first eight months of 2025, according...

Pope Leo XIV gives his Sunday Angelus address from the Apostolic Palace overlooking St. Peter’s Square on Aug. 24, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

President Zelenskyy Shares Letter from Pope Leo XIV on Ukraine’s Independence Day

“With a heart wounded by the violence that ravages your land, I address you on this day of your national...

Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd during his Angelus address on Aug. 24, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV: Jesus Challenges Presumption of Those Who Think They are Already Saved

Speaking from the window of the Apostolic Palace to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Aug. 24, the pope...

Pope Leo XIV views a gift from an attendee at the International Catholic Legislators Network meeting at the Vatican, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media

Pope Leo XIV Urges Catholic Legislators to Look to Augustine’s "City of God"

The pope called on parliamentarians to ensure that “power is tamed by conscience and law is at the service of...

Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter's Square, Wednesday, June 25, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

From AI to the White Sox: Pope Leo XIV’s First 100 Days Break New Ground

Here are some of the highlights of the first 100 days of Pope Leo XIV.

Several of the participants at the 2025 EWTN Summer Academy in Rome, an intensive program in religious journalism and digital storytelling, come from places where Catholics live their faith amid severe adversity. / Credit: Lemmy Ogbonnaya Ijioma/EWTN Summer Academy

Jubilee of Youth: Meet the Brave Catholic Communicators who are Telling their Stories

Meet some of the bold Catholic communicators in training at the 2025 EWTN Summer Academy in Rome, which coincides with...