Pope Leo ​on Monday (September 28, 2026) said concerns that artificial intelligence could destroy the ‌world are not “fake news” and should ​be taken seriously, in an apparent ⁠rebuke of U.S. President Donald Trump.

The first U.S. pope, who has warned of the dangers of AI throughout ‌his 16-month papacy, also directly criticized technology CEOs who argued there should be ‌no guardrails on the technology.

“I do think ‌that ⁠the concerns raised by many of ⁠the experts, specialists in AI, should be taken seriously,” the pontiff said in a press conference on his flight back ​to Rome after ‌a four-day trip to France. “I don’t think that that is fake news, as some have said.”

Mr. Trump told the U.N. General Assembly last week ‌that he believed fears about the dangers ​to humanity from AI were a “hoax.”

The pope said he had read on ⁠Monday (September 28) that the head of chipmaker Nvidia had announced there could be a way to insert guardrails ‌into certain AI models. But Pope Leo expressed scepticism, adding: “He’s the same one, however, that says there should be no limits placed and no government regulation.”

Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang told CBS News this month that he agreed ‌with Mr. Trump that safety concerns about AI were overblown.

Pope Leo urged ​the world “to promote dialogue, study, investigate, to find ways to make sure that ⁠AI does not get to a point where it ⁠could destroy humanity.”

“I think that there are enough people seriously interested in that … ‌but we have to keep working,” said the Pope. “We can’t just sit back and pretend ​nothing’s going to happen.”

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday (September 27, 2026) said assisted dying was not “normal”, as he continued a landmark visit to France, where Parliament has legalised the practice for certain patients.

“No human law should ever make you lose the certainty of your dignity,” he told believers who were sick or suffered from disabilities, at the French pilgrimage site of Lourdes.

“We must reject the temptation to cause death under the guise of false compassion. It is impossible to regard causing death as something normal,” he added.

“What is legal is not necessarily moral.” France’s Parliament passed legislation in June establishing a right to assisted dying for some adults suffering from an incurable condition.

The move drew strong criticism from the Catholic Church in France, which denounced the bill as a serious “rupture”.

Bishop of the Udupi Catholic Diocese Leslie Clifford D’Souza met Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on Thursday to receive his blessings after assuming office.

Pope Leo met all newly appointed Bishops from around the world on Thursday and subsequently held individual conversations with the Bishops of each diocese.

During the meeting, Bishop Leslie felicitated the Pope on behalf of the diocese with a traditional shawl and a statue of Our Lady of Milagres and conveyed greetings on behalf of Udupi district. He also briefed the Pope about the Udupi Diocese, a release said.

Pope Leo XIV has thrown his support behind the United States ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026, offering a boost to the cohost nation as the tournament prepares to get underway on June 11.

The pontiff, who became the first American leader of the Catholic Church, said he would be cheering for the U.S. national team during the competition, despite his busy schedule.

Speaking to a journalist aboard a flight from Rome to Madrid on Saturday (June 6, 2026), Pope Leo said, “I would certainly support the U.S. I don’t know how many games I’ll be able to see, but I wish them all the best,” reported Reuters.

The United States will host the tournament alongside Canada and Mexico and begin their campaign in Group D, where they are set to face Paraguay, Australia and Turkiye. Born in the Chicago suburbs as Robert Prevost, Pope Leo XIV also holds Peruvian citizenship after spending decades serving as a missionary and bishop in Peru before his election as the Pope.

His ties to both nations have previously made his football loyalties a subject of interest. Last year, Pope Leo indicated that he would support Peru over the United States if the two countries met on the football pitch. However, Peru failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup, leaving the U.S. as the beneficiary of the Pope’s backing.

During the flight, the Pope was also asked about his preference between Spanish football giants Real Madrid and Barcelona. Maintaining neutrality in his current role, he initially replied, “The Pope is for all teams.” However, when referring to his pre-papal identity, he added with a smile, “Prevost is for Real Madrid.”

Pope Leo is currently on a week-long visit to Spain and the Canary Islands as preparations continue for the start of the expanded 48-team FIFA World Cup.

U.S. President Donald Trump launched a sharp rhetorical attack against Pope Leo XIV and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson following their recent meeting in Rome, suggesting that Vatican officials should have cautioned the pontiff against hosting the Democratic leader, whom he labelled as “useless”.

Taking to his social media platform, Truth Social, on Saturday (May 30, 2026), the Republican leader expressed his disapproval of the diplomatic engagement in Italy. “Someone should explain to the Pope that the Mayor of Chicago is useless, and that Iran cannot have a Nuclear Weapon!” Mr. Trump wrote.

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As part of his digital broadside, the U.S. President attached screenshots of social media updates previously uploaded by Mr. Johnson on X, which documented the mayor’s audience with the head of the Catholic Church at the Vatican on Friday (May 29, 2026). The shared photographs captured Mr. Johnson presenting the pontiff with a miniature version of the Chicago municipal flag. The duo was also seen smiling while displaying a Chicago Cubs baseball cap, a notable gesture given that the pontiff is widely known to be a supporter of the rival White Sox team.

Notably, Leo is the first American to ascend to the papacy and was born in Chicago. The sharp remarks from the U.S. President appear to have reignited his highly publicised friction with the head of the Vatican. Mr. Trump has previously targeted the pontiff over the latter’s vocal Opposition to the military conflict involving Iran. Furthermore, the President has previously accused the religious leader of being “weak” on criminal justice matters, while aggressively asserting that the pontiff was comfortable with Tehran acquiring atomic capabilities.

Detailing his grievances regarding global security and foreign policy directions, Mr. Trump reiterated his staunch opposition to the pontiff’s theological and political stances. “I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon. I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s terrible that America attacked Venezuela,” he wrote. In the same statement, the President firmly rejected external oversight regarding his domestic mandate, adding, “I don’t want a Pope who criticises the President of the United States because I’m doing exactly what I was elected to do.

Expanding on his security concerns, Mr. Trump has also charged the pontiff with “endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people”, alleging that the religious leader’s diplomatic stances inadvertently condone the development of nuclear armaments by the Iranian regime. The Vatican has not shied away from the political crossfire, with the pontiff having previously addressed the steady stream of criticism emanating from Washington. Reaffirming his theological independence, the Pope previously stated that he is “not afraid of the Trump administration or of speaking out loudly about the message of the Gospel.”

Families living in a toxic-waste polluted area around Naples were preparing to meet Pope Leo XIV during his pastoral visit on Saturday (May 23, 2026), carrying with them years of grief, anger and hopes for justice after losing children to cancer linked to a multi-billion mafia racket of dumping toxic waste.

The visit to the so-called Terra dei Fuochi, or Land of Fires, comes on the eve of the 11th anniversary of Pope Francis’ big ecological encyclical Laudato Si (Praised Be), and indicates Pope Leo’s interest in carrying on his predecessor’s environmental agenda.

The European Court of Human Rights last year validated a generation of residents’ complaints that mafia dumping, burial and burning of toxic waste led to an increased rate of cancer and other ailments in the area of 90 municipalities around Caserta and Naples, encompassing a population of 2.9 million people.

The court found Italian authorities had known since 1988 about the toxic pollution, blamed on the Camorra crime syndicate that controls waste disposal, but failed to take necessary steps to protect residents’ lives. The binding ruling gave Italy two years to set up a database about the toxic waste and verified health risks associated with living there.

The Pope will visit the city of Acerra to meet families who lost young relatives to cancer, the human cost of environmental pollution. Bishop Antonio Di Donna estimated 150 young people died in the city of some 58,000 over the past three decades.

“We very much wanted the Pope to meet with them because these children and young people who have died are, to all intents and purposes, victims of environmental pollution. There is a link, a correlation between pollution and the incidence of cancer,” Di Donna said.

The victims include Maria Venturato, who died of cancer in 2016 at the age of 25. Her father Angelo said he hopes to speak with the pope to explain their reality, “not for me … for the next generation.” “I’d like to give these young people a future, so I’m asking for the pope’s help with this. That is, I’m making a strong appeal to him to go to those in power and say, Look, let’s heal this land of fires,'” he said.

Filomena Carolla plans to present the pope with a book containing memories from the life of her daughter, Tina De Angelis, who died of cancer at the age of 24.

“I’m just angry at the people who poisoned the soil, because what did our children have to do with it? What did they have to do with it, so young,” Ms. Carolla said.

Pope Francis’ plans to visit the area in 2020 were cancelled by the pandemic.

On April 12, U.S. President Donald Trump declared on his social media platform, Truth Social, that he does not “want a Pope who criticises the President.”

He called Pope Leo XIV “weak on crime, terrible for foreign policy,” claimed credit for his election, and said he preferred the Pope’s brother Louis, a self-described “all MAGA [Make America Great Again]” Floridian.

Pope Leo XIV blasted the “handful of tyrants” who are ravaging Earth with war and exploitation as he preached a message of peace on Thursday (April 16, 2026) in the epicentre of a separatist conflict considered one of the world’s most neglected crises.

Pope Leo travelled to the western Cameroon city of Bamenda, where jubilant crowds clogged the roads, blowing horns and dancing. They were overjoyed that a Pope had come so far to see them and put a global spotlight on the violence that has traumatised this region for nearly a decade.

Pope Leo XIV prayed on Monday (December 1) at the tomb of a Lebanese saint revered among Christians and Muslims as he brought a message of peace, hope and religious coexistence to a region torn by conflict.

Bells rang out as Pope Leo’s covered popemobile snaked its way through the rain and thousands of enthusiastic Lebanese lining his motorcade route into Annaya, around 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Beirut. Some waved Lebanese and Vatican flags and tossed flower petals and rice on his car in a gesture of welcome as he zoomed by.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of pilgrims visit the hilltop monastery of St. Maroun overlooking the sea to pray at the tomb of St. Charbel Makhlouf, a Lebanese Maronite hermit who lived from 1828 to 1898. Believers credit him with miraculous healings that have occurred after people prayed for his intercession.

Pope Leo prayed quietly in the darkened tomb, and offered a lamp as a gift of light for the monastery.

“Sisters and brothers, today we entrust to St. Charbel’s intercession the needs of the church, Lebanon and the world,” Pope Leo said in French. “For the world, we ask for peace. We especially implore it for Lebanon and for the entire Levant.”

Pope Leo’s visit to the tomb, the first by a pope, opened a busy day for history’s first American pope. He received a raucous, ululating welcome from nuns and priests at the Our Lady of Lebanon sanctuary in Harissa, a town north of Beirut.

There, Pope Leo urged the church workers to offer their flocks, and especially young people, hope amid life’s injustices.

“It is necessary, even among the rubble of a world that has its own painful failures, to offer them concrete and viable prospects for rebirth and future growth,” he said to cheers and shouts of “Viva il Papa” (Long live the pope).

In the afternoon, the pope was to preside over an interfaith gathering alongside Lebanon’s Christian and Muslim leaders in the capital Beirut.

There, Pope Leo was expected to hammer home his core message of peace and Christian-Muslim coexistence in Lebanon and beyond at a time of conflict in Gaza and political tensions in Lebanon that are worse than they have been in years. His visit comes at a tenuous time for the tiny Mediterranean country after years of economic crises and political deadlock, punctuated by the 2020 Beirut port blast.