Vatican Media

News Summary:

The Vatican has moved to establish itself as a steward of reality in an increasingly confusing digital world, accelerating partnerships in cybersecurity and releasing formal guidelines for artificial intelligence, Axios reported on April 24, 2026. Previously, on April 22, Pope Leo XIV commemorated the first-year anniversary of Pope Francis's death, referring to it as his "birth into heaven." In a message delivered by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Pope Leo XIV honored Francis as a "devoted shepherd" who continued the legacy of the Second Vatican Council, Vatican News reported. Earlier, on April 18, Pope Leo XIV began his visit to Angola, meeting with authorities, civil society representatives, and diplomatic corps members at the Presidential Palace in Luanda, urging Angolan authorities not to suppress the visions of youth or the dreams of the elderly. This follows comments published by Vatican News on April 13, where Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich suggested that a move towards the ordination of women would "currently" risk dividing the Catholic Church, though he did not rule out the possibility of female subdeacons, citing the Anglican Communion's experience. In early April, new research on DNA traces found on the Shroud of Turin indicated the cloth likely passed through the Middle East, according to Vatican News, based on investigations of material provided by Professor Pier Luigi Baima Bollone, who identified human blood on the Shroud in the 1980s.