“We talked about the importance of chastity, how it heals and strengthens and restores the person," said Courage International Executive Director Father Brian Gannon.

The pontiff warned that profit, doping, and fanaticism can distort sport’s deeper human purpose.

The pontiff said Christians grow closer when they deepen their shared faith in Christ, “the ultimate source of our peace.”

The pontiff told organizers of a Vatican-backed initiative that global crises are still leaving many children in extreme poverty.

Planned consecrations could trigger automatic excommunication and deepen rupture with Rome.

Trappist Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim will preach the week of spiritual exercises, with two daily meditations beginning Feb. 22.

The Vatican has published the schedule of liturgies that Pope Leo XIV will celebrate in February, March, and the beginning of April, which includes the start of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter.

At his general audience, Pope Leo XIV appealed for renewed nuclear arms-control efforts and asked Catholics to proclaim the Gospel in ways that speak to people’s real lives.

Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of February is for children with incurable diseases.

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Sister Raffaella Petrini as a member of the Commission for Reserved Matters, which is responsible for awarding financial contracts in confidential areas of the Vatican.