Faith

Dr. David Deane offers a reminder that Advent is not a mere warm-up act before Christmas, but rather the Church’s annual rebellion against a world that has forgotten how to wait for Christ.

Preparing the way of the Lord means taking concrete steps to help usher in God's kingdom of peace, Pope Leo XIV said on his first Advent Sunday back at the Vatican after his trip to Turkey and Lebanon.

At the end of his first foreign trip as pope, a trip focused on dialogue, Pope Leo XIV said the examples of friendship and respect he had seen could be a helpful example for people in North America and Europe, too.

Pope Leo XIV ended his stay in Lebanon with what he termed "a heartfelt appeal: may the attacks and hostilities cease."

At a shrine topped by a 28-foot-tall statue of Our Lady of Lebanon, Pope Leo XIV listened to stories of unshakable faith amid war, injustice and suffering.

Acknowledging the existence of "circumstances that are highly complex, conflictual and uncertain," Pope Leo XIV arrived in Lebanon preaching peace.

On his first foreign papal trip, Pope Leo XIV showed reporters that the inflight news conferences of his predecessors would continue.

Although the ancient city of Nicaea lies in ruins and the geographic centre of Christianity has shifted West, Pope Leo XIV and Christian leaders gathered at an archaeological site in Turkey to celebrate the enduring faith set out in the Nicene Creed.

Meeting leaders of Turkey's small and varied Catholic communities, Pope Leo XIV asked them to embrace their "littleness" as they strive to be a leaven of God's love in Turkish society.

Cardinal Francis Leo’s Message for Advent, which begins Nov. 30.