In a lecture delivered on January 17, the Secretary of State of His Holiness emphasized that peace and justice should “once again become the pillars of order among nations, and not merely remain simple aspirations or empty claims.”

Pope Leo XIV received Prince Albert II of Monaco on January 17.

As is customary, the Vatican did not divulge the topics discussed in the private audience. Georgieva, who regularly tweets about her meetings with international leaders, did not discuss her audience with the Pontiff on her X account.

In a letter marking the 325th anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, Pope Leo XIV offered his vision of Vatican diplomacy, one in which priests of “deep spirituality” listen and build bridges.

A North Carolina bishop returned a priest accused of sexual abuse to active ministry effective January 13, over six years after the priest was placed on administrative leave by the previous bishop.

“In 2026, the United States has entered into the most profound and searing debate about the moral foundation for America’s actions in the world since the end of the Cold War,” said the prelates. “The events in Venezuela, Ukraine and Greenland have raised basic questions about the use of military force and the meaning of peace.”

They continued:

The sovereign rights of nations to self-determination appear all too fragile in a world of ever greater conflagrations. The balancing of national interest with the common good is being framed within starkly polarized terms. Our country’s moral role in confronting evil around the world, sustaining the right to life and human dignity, and supporting religious liberty are all under examination. And the building of just and sustainable peace, so crucial to humanity’s well-being now and in the future, is being reduced to partisan categories that encourage polarization and destructive policies.

Citing the Pope’s recent address to the diplomatic corps, the prelates said that “the contribution of Pope Leo in outlining a truly moral foundation” has “provided us an enduring ethical compass for establishing the pathway for American foreign policy in the coming years.”

They added:

As pastors and citizens, we embrace this vision for the establishment of a genuinely moral foreign policy for our nation. We seek to build a truly just and lasting peace, that peace which Jesus proclaimed in the Gospel.

We renounce war as an instrument for narrow national interests and proclaim that military action must be seen only as a last resort in extreme situations, not a normal instrument of national policy. We seek a foreign policy that respects and advances the right to human life, religious liberty, and the enhancement of human dignity throughout the world, especially through economic assistance.

“Human life is still gravely threatened by legalized abortion as it continues to be aggressively promoted at the state and federal level,” said Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, Ohio. “Many challenges remain, including pro-abortion ballot initiatives, the increased use and availability of abortion pills, and the need to protect the Hyde Amendment to keep taxpayer funded abortion out of national health care bills.”

“We must continue to support pregnant and parenting mothers in need and offer spiritual and emotional help to all who have participated in abortion,” Bishop Thomas added. “Our united prayers, sacrifices, and efforts to protect human life and heal the wounds inflicted by abortion remain as important as ever.”

“Inas empties yet another basin of mud, sweeping the space in front of her tent,” Lucia D’Anna wrote in her article. “Two years and much more, the third winter spent in fear and uncertainty. A translator, aunt of three children, she tries to survive in the hell of Gaza, because there is no other term to describe what is happening.”

“The young woman talks about when their house was bombed; everyone was inside,” D’Anna added. “They survived miraculously, escaping barefoot, unable to collect anything from inside, saving themselves, the adults and the children. The whole family has been displaced at least ten times, without a place to stay.”