The Washington Post reports that despite his elevation to spiritual leader of the Catholic Church and head of the Vatican city-state, Pope Leo XIV – born as Robert Prevost in the Chicago area – remains obligated under US law to file annual tax returns as an American citizen living abroad. Unlike his predecessors, the pontiff's nationality creates unprecedented tax complications, according to experts consulted by The Washington Post.

"Recent popes from Poland, Germany and Argentina were not taxed by their home countries," Jared Walczak, a vice president at the nonpartisan Tax Foundation in Washington, told The Washington Post, describing the American pope's accounting situation as "uncharted."

His status as clergy doesn't exempt him from US tax obligations, as The Washington Post explains that American citizens abroad must generally file returns if their income and personal circumstances would necessitate filing while living domestically. Tax experts interviewed by The Washington Post note that while Americans residing in foreign countries can exclude up to $130,000 in foreign earnings from US taxation for the 2025 tax year, this exclusion doesn't apply to income earned working for foreign governments.

The pontiff's compensation arrangement presents unique valuation challenges, according to The Washington Post's analysis. Rather than receiving a formal salary, the Vatican covers Leo's accommodations, meals, travel expenses, healthcare, and provides a monthly personal stipend. The late Pope Francis once explained this arrangement to The Washington Post by saying, "When I need money to buy shoes or something, I ask for it."

Financial experts consulted by The Washington Post believe Leo will likely need professional accounting assistance to determine how these benefits translate into reportable income on a US tax form. However, Walczak explained to The Washington Post that certain elements, like the papal residence, likely qualify for exemption whether Leo chooses the grand Apostolic Palace or the modest Santa Marta guesthouse where his predecessor lived.

"The papal palace is not a taxable fringe benefit," Walczak clarified to The Washington Post, noting that employer-provided housing generally avoids taxation when located on business property and the employee's residence there is deemed "essential" for business operations. Additionally, The Washington Post reports that US tax code grants clerics special "parsonage" exemptions for housing that aren't available to other professions.

Americans residing internationally who pay income taxes to foreign governments can apply those amounts against their US tax liability through the foreign tax credit, The Washington Post explains. This provision may have benefited Leo during his extensive work in Peru, which taxes full-year residents on worldwide income. The publication notes that Leo became a Peruvian citizen in 2015.

Despite these complications, Walczak told The Washington Post he doesn't anticipate Leo actually paying US taxes, suggesting the IRS might issue a private letter specifically addressing his situation. He even speculated to The Washington Post that Congress could potentially enact legislation clarifying the tax status of America's first pope.

The pontiff's position as Vatican head of state introduces additional complications, according to The Washington Post's reporting. Since 2015, the Vatican Bank has operated under a US federal law requiring global financial institutions to report details of US clients' accounts to the IRS, as stated in the bank's 2023 annual report obtained by The Washington Post.

"For customers who are nonresident in Italy, the principles of international tax law are applied. This means that each customer must declare his or her holdings and all derived income in his or her country of tax residence in accordance with the laws of that country," the report explains, as cited by The Washington Post.

US citizens living abroad must also file Treasury Department Financial Crimes Enforcement Network reports when having signature authority over foreign accounts exceeding $10,000 in total value, Brittany Benson, an analyst with H&R Block's Tax Institute, explained to The Washington Post. "This would likely apply [to Pope Leo XIV] if he has signature authority on Vatican accounts," Benson stated in correspondence with The Washington Post.

Edward A. David, assistant professor in theology and religious studies at King's College London, informed The Washington Post that Vatican revenue primarily derives from donations, museum admissions, and global property holdings. David emphasized to The Washington Post the unprecedented nature of this situation, stating: "U.S. tax law is very far-reaching. And while there might be an exemption for heads of state, this is brand-new territory for us and brand-new territory for the United States and the Vatican."

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With the ascension of the new Pope to the Holy See under the name "Leo XIV," one of the most charged and ancient names in the Catholic Church returns to historical prominence. This marks the 14th Pope named "Leo" – a name that immediately evokes memories of persecutions, reconciliations, and confrontations, especially toward the Jewish people.

The first among them, Leo I (440–461), was among the earliest dominant popes who outlined the concept of Holy See supremacy. His doctrine positioned the Church as the successor to the nation of Israel – a concept that had direct implications for how future generations would treat Jewish communities throughout Europe.

Others followed different paths. Leo IX was among the architects of clerical reform (establishing the religious authority supremacy of the pope), and during his time, the ideological foundation for the Crusades began to form, which brought terrible disasters upon Jewish communities across Europe.

Leo X, son of Lorenzo de Medici (one of the most influential politicians during the Renaissance), was a renowned patron of Renaissance art, but his notable silence in the face of anti-Jewish decrees enabled numerous acts of harassment against Jewish populations.

Leo XII (1823–1829) stands out as one of the most antisemitic popes in modern times, distinguished by reversing progressive developments and turning back the wheel of history in the worst sense. He reinstated the Jewish Ghetto in Rome, banned Jews from certain occupations, and even forced them to attend weekly missionary sermons.

The last to hold the title more than a century ago was Leo XIII (1878–1903) – perhaps the first pope in the 19th century who demonstrated genuine tolerance toward Jews. He is regarded among the architects of "social capitalism," advocated for the protection of minority rights, and for the first time facilitated meaningful dialogue between Catholic clergy and Jewish scholars.

As a tribute to him, the current Pope selected the name Leo XIV. This represents a statement that continues the transformation the Church has undergone over the past century in its attitude toward the Jewish people. Yet when examining the more distant past, one discovers the aforementioned dark history.

Choosing a name carries symbolic weight, and in the Pope's case, it brings profound responsibility. It's the responsibility of someone continuing the path of a predecessor who first displayed a tolerant attitude toward Jews, but also one that echoes the troubling legacy of notorious antisemites. Precisely because of awareness of the dark past this name carries, the responsibility facing the new Pope, leader of 14% of the planet's inhabitants, is to ensure that such persecution never happens again.

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This ends nearly 12 years during which Francis held the "keys to heaven," according to Catholic belief, and led Vatican City.

The leadership position of the church, which counts more than a billion people among its faithful, remains vacant until a successor is appointed by the assembly of cardinals ("conclave"). Francis was the 266th pope since Peter – who according to Catholic tradition was appointed to lead the church by Jesus.

Francis was the first pope since the 8th century born outside Europe, a fact that had a profound impact on his papacy, which was perceived as a period when European hegemony within the church was broken. He was also, not coincidentally, viewed as a "liberal pope," certainly compared to his predecessor Benedict XVI.

Pope Francis, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was born on December 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, to a family of Italian origin. His father was born in a village in Piedmont province in northwestern Italy.

He was the eldest brother in a family of five siblings. In his youth, he studied at vocational education institutions and received certification as a chemical technician and worked for several years in a factory. At 21, he fell ill with pneumonia, an event that threatened his life. He said he chose a life of priesthood after confession in church and began his religious studies at a seminary in Buenos Aires in 1955. After three years, he joined the Jesuit order, a choice that would have profound significance for the rest of his life, his path to the Holy See, and his papacy.

After earning a degree in philosophy and a period during which he served as a teacher of literature and psychology at Jesuit educational institutions in Argentina, he returned to theological studies and was officially ordained to priesthood in 1969. In 1973, he was appointed to lead the Jesuit order in Argentina. He was an avid fan of the San Lorenzo soccer team, which announced it would name a stadium being built these days after him. After the team won the Copa Libertadores, he had to admit that although he was "very happy," it was not "a miracle."

During Argentina's "Dirty War," when the military junta persecuted regime opponents, Bergoglio was accused of silence in the face of the kidnapping of two priests from the Jesuit order. In a conversation he held with members of the order in Budapest in May 2023, he defended his actions: "I did what I felt I had to do to protect them... The wounds of those years remain in both me and them, because we all experienced this persecution."

In February 1998, he was appointed Archbishop of Buenos Aires, a position he held until his election as pope. In 2001, he was promoted to cardinal by Pope John Paul II, the highest priestly rank in the Catholic Church. Already with the death of Pope John Paul II in April 2005, he was considered a candidate to replace him, but ultimately Joseph Ratzinger was chosen for the position, who upon his election became Benedict XVI. After Benedict's unusual retirement from the position, he was elected in March 2013 by the assembly of cardinals to replace him.

From Jorge to Francis

When elected, Jorge chose Francis as his religious name, after St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226), who founded the Franciscan order and revitalized the concept of monasticism, the ideal of modest living, and the church's proximity to the weak. He was the first to do so.

Francis's public image was that of a "liberal pope" who opposed capitalism, was somewhat tolerant of LGBTQ people, supported more equality for women, and represented the Global South against the West. As pope, he chose to live in a modest apartment rather than the elaborate papal palace. The custom of washing the feet of senior clergy by junior ones on Holy Thursday before Easter, he observed as pope by washing the feet of prisoners – and was unusual in that he included female prisoners in the ceremony, one of them Muslim.

In his first papal encyclical, he sharply criticized income inequality and stated that "as long as the problems of the poor are not radically resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation, no solution will be found to the world's problems." He devoted two papal encyclicals to climate issues: "Laudato Si" in 2015 and "Laudate Deum" in 2023. In an interview with CBS in May 2024, he warned that "we have reached the point of no return" and that "climate change at this moment is a path leading to death."

Francis led several changes in the Catholic Church's approach, especially through the document "The Joy of Love" published in 2016 after two church assemblies discussing family. The document did not officially change Catholic doctrine, but offered a more inclusive approach toward divorced people who remarried and established that each case should be considered individually. This is one of the most painful issues among Catholic believers, as the church believes that in most cases, second marriages are considered adultery. Francis sought to find a place for them within churches – but avoided significant changes to doctrine.

He also called for full equality for women in work and decision-making and spoke out against domestic violence. Regarding women in the church itself, Francis opposed the ordination of women to priesthood – but opened positions for them that were previously closed and gave them voting rights in forums that were closed to them.

On LGBTQ issues, as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Francis opposed Argentina's same-sex marriage law, which was approved in 2010. In 2013, he provided the most accepting statement toward LGBTQ people from such a senior church figure: "If a person is gay and seeks God, who am I to judge him?" In 2019, he expanded: "Tendencies are not sin. If you have a tendency to anger, it's not a sin. Only if you get angry and hurt people, the sin is there." In January 2023, he called for the repeal of laws criminalizing homosexuality, and in September of that year expressed openness to blessing same-sex couples, as long as it did not undermine the Catholic concept of marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman.

Man of gestures

But again, these were not "hard" theological changes. Francis was a pope of gestures, who knew how to make good use of the spotlight. He felt comfortable expanding the boundaries of semantics – without getting into real conflict around changes in doctrine. To some extent, this expectation was driven by the fact that he succeeded Benedict XVI, who was considered conservative and even known as "God's Rottweiler."

"There is no doubt that he brought with him a more liberal and open spirit, especially compared to Benedict XVI," says Dr. Maayan Raveh, an expert on political theology in the Middle East at the Haifa Research Center for Religious Studies, University of Haifa. "His very being from the Global South is significant in this context, as he brings with him social emphases and a different perspective." Raveh also points out the limitations of that liberal spirit of Francis. "He was very careful not to make substantial doctrinal reforms. Instead of changing the principles of faith, he allows for openness and interpretive flexibility in certain cases, while maintaining the traditional lines of the church."

Francis acted as a representative of the Global South in the Catholic Church. In his appointments to the College of Cardinals, he broke the European hegemony: its representation dropped from over 50% to just about 38%, while expanding representation from Africa, Asia, and Latin America and appointing cardinals from Catholic "periphery" countries. His choices increased the number of countries represented among the voting cardinals from 48 to over 70 countries.

Dr. Raveh qualifies Francis's image as someone who revolutionized the European hegemony in the church, saying that "his rise is a result of the changing balance of power in the church, a change that began in the early 20th century and intensified in the second half of the century, after World War II." She explains that "while the Catholic world in the Global North became less religious, the Global South became the main center of power for the church: today about two-thirds of Catholics in the world live in the Global South, and most of the clergy, nuns, religious and social institutions – including schools and monasteries – come from or are managed by clergy from these regions."

During his tenure, a severe migration and refugee crisis occurred – in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States – Pope Francis called on countries to increase the number of refugees they accept. Pope Francis attacked Trump during the 2016 election campaign, saying that "a person who thinks only about building walls and not about building bridges is not a Christian," referring to Trump's intention to build a wall on the Mexico border. Trump responded harshly, claiming that "it is disgraceful for a religious leader to question a person's faith," adding that he was "a good Christian."

In his remarks at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences conference in June 2024, Pope Francis stated that "after failed globalization, pandemics, and wars, we face a debt crisis affecting mainly the countries of the Global South, creating poverty and suffering" leaving "millions without a fair future." Additionally, he called on developed countries to forgive the debts of developing countries, while proposing to build "a new international financial architecture" with a multinational mechanism for managing debts between countries, with "shared responsibility" that would allow debt cancellation and give hope to poor countries.

As pope, he visited 59 countries – coming to Middle Eastern countries like Egypt, Iraq and Jordan, to war zones in Africa, Southeast Asia and the Far East, and throughout Latin America. He played, among other roles, a part in thawing relations between the United States and Cuba in 2014 and signed a historic agreement with China that on one hand gave the pope veto power over the appointment of bishops in the country and maintain open relations with the Catholic community in China, but on the other hand agreed to give the Communist Party a significant foothold in religious appointments in the country.

During the war in Ukraine, Francis disappointed many when he did not take an unequivocal stand against Russia – and continued to call for peace talks and an end to the war, while unable to point to the central culprit in the Kremlin. He did describe Ukraine as "tormented," prayed for the victims of the war, and condemned the bombing of cities in the country – but his statements often caused disappointment and anger in Kyiv and the Western world. On one occasion, he raised the possibility that NATO expansion led to the war, and another time he expressed himself in a way that hinted that Ukraine should embrace the courage of the "white flag" and negotiate, which many understood as a call to surrender.

Francis, whose first visit to Israel in 1973 was cut short by the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War, maintained complex relations with Israel and the Jewish people throughout his tenure. His attitude toward Judaism as a religion was consistently positive – "A Christian cannot be antisemitic, since we share the same root," he emphasized many times. His long friendship with Rabbi Abraham Skorka, which produced the co-authored book "On Heaven and Earth," expressed his commitment to interfaith dialogue.

His official visit to Israel in 2014 reflected the art of gesture that characterized his tenure: from kissing the hands of Holocaust survivors at Yad Vashem and promising "never again," to a spontaneous stop to pray at the separation barrier. However, in his final year, in the shadow of the Gaza war, his harsh statements – about harm to civilians in a church compound, claims of "cruelty" and intentional shooting at children – became a source of significant tension.

Journalist Henrique Cymerman, one of Francis's close friends in Israel, presents a different picture: "In my lifetime, there has never been a pope so close to the Jewish people." Cymerman reveals that the pope "cried after meeting with the families of the hostages," and intended to visit Kibbutz Nir Oz, where Argentinian friends from his childhood live. "He would always say: it is permissible to criticize the activity of any government, but to say that Israel has no right to exist – that is antisemitic and forbidden."

Relationship with Israel and Jews

Francis, then still Jorge, first visited Israel in October 1973. He only managed to put down his suitcase in the room, say a short prayer at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre before the Yom Kippur War broke out and forced him to stay in his room and return to his homeland. After being appointed pope, he came for a visit to Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority in May 2014. He met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Shimon Peres, and visited the Western Wall, the memorial for victims of hostile acts on Mount Herzl, and Yad Vashem. He even came to Heichal Shlomo in Jerusalem and met there with the chief rabbis.

His visit here was full of gestures, to Israelis and Palestinians, in accordance with the pope's character. On one hand, he laid a wreath on Herzl's grave, visited the memorial for victims of hostile acts, the Western Wall, and Yad Vashem, where he kissed the hands of Holocaust survivors and promised "never again." On the other hand, when passing by the separation barrier, he asked, in what was described as a planned deviation from protocol, to stop by the wall and pray. He invited Abu Mazen and President Peres to come to the Vatican in an attempt to promote the two-state solution – and they did indeed come to the Vatican for a joint prayer event for peace.

There is no doubt that in Israeli public opinion, Francis appeared during the last war in a series of harsh statements against Israel. The Vatican condemned Hamas's October 7 attack, and the next day provided a relatively unusual statement for his pacifist position when he said that "those who are attacked have the right to defend themselves," but added that he was "concerned about the siege of Gaza and the Palestinians living there." His public statements quickly tended against Israel very rapidly.

Francis made sure to speak every day with the Catholic community in Gaza, both during the intense days of the war and during ceasefires. On December 16, 2023, a mother and daughter were killed in the area of the Catholic church in the Rimal neighborhood. The Latin Patriarch in Jerusalem blamed Israel, while Israel initially denied and later said the matter was under investigation. During that period, church institutions were also damaged during the fighting. Following this, in a sermon he delivered on December 17, 2023, he said that "civilians are targets for bombings and shootings, even within the compound of the Holy Family Church (in Gaza)," and he added that this was "terrorism."

On December 21, 2024, after the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem was not allowed to enter Gaza, he said: "Yesterday they bombed children. It's cruelty. It's not war." The next day he added: "With sorrow I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty; of the children who are sprayed with machine guns, of the bombings of schools and hospitals."

In another incident, on December 7, 2024, he participated in the inauguration of displays of the nativity scene designed by Palestinian artists from Bethlehem. Another controversy arose after excerpts were published from a book to be published soon based on interviews with him, according to which he said "it should be investigated whether Israel committed genocide in the Gaza Strip." The pope himself denied the statements to an interfaith delegation. "I did not claim that Israel is committing genocide. They showed me materials about the war, and I said that if it's true, it should be investigated. I believe that Hamas should no longer exist in the world, but the war cannot continue," he said.

"The Vatican over the years has taken a position emphasizing concern for the Palestinian people, along with a call for peace," explains Dr. Maayan Raveh, an expert on political theology in the Middle East at the Haifa Research Center for Religious Studies, University of Haifa. "However, Francis is unique in that he took on a broader international role, and saw the Vatican as a kind of global mediator." Raveh explains that his statements should be seen in the context of his overall approach to conflicts: "He not only refers to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but holds a firm position against wars in general, from a theological perspective that sees war as contrary to perpetual justice, this approach is also prominent in his attitude toward the war in Ukraine."

Professor Dina Porat from the Department of Jewish History and the academic advisor to Yad Vashem, says that one must "distinguish between Francis's attitude toward Judaism and his attitude toward Israel – since while the former is based on ideological perceptions, the latter is motivated by political positions." Porat, who also edited the book "At This Time" dealing with church-Jewish relations after the Holocaust, says that Francis was faithful to the "Nostra Aetate" declaration of the Second Vatican Council, which cleared the Jews of guilt in the crucifixion of Jesus, recognizes that the election of the Jewish people has not been revoked, and condemned antisemitism.

Francis's deeper and more personal connection with Judaism is in his long friendship with Rabbi Abraham Skorka, rabbi of the Conservative community in Buenos Aires. The two published a book together based on their conversations entitled "On Heaven and Earth: Pope Francis on Faith, Family, and the Church in the Twenty-First Century." Skorka also accompanied Francis on his visit to Israel. In one of the passages in this book, a dialogue between Francis and his friend Skorka is presented – interesting exchanges against the background of Francis's statements published during the war. "The media's habit of presenting things in black and white is an immoral tendency that always prefers conflict over unity... It causes great harm."

"A Christian is forbidden to be antisemitic, since we share the same root. It would be a contradiction between faith and his life," Francis often said. In a letter from 2013, shortly after his election, he wrote: "We hold the Jewish people in special regard because their covenant with God has never been revoked... We cannot consider Judaism as a foreign religion."

One of the Israelis closest to Francis in Israel was journalist Henrique Cymerman, who says that in the last half-year he met with him once a month. Despite the image portrayed to the public in the last year, Cymerman says that "in my lifetime, there has never been a pope so close to the Jewish people." He says that the pope asked to meet with him, but meanwhile entered the hospital. Henrique came anyway and met with his senior assistants.

"He would always say: it is permissible to criticize the activity of any government, but to say that Israel has no right to exist – that is antisemitic and forbidden," says Henrique. "After the statement about 'genocide,' I came to him for a meeting – he explained that these were not his words, but was only answering a journalist's question. I told him only one thing – 'I want you to know that this is not genocide, there are tragedies, but this is not genocide. This is a war that was forced upon us.'"

Henrique tells about plans that now will not be realized. "The last time I came to him, President Herzog was also supposed to meet with him. I suggested the meeting and he agreed, I'm sorry we delayed." Henrique adds another detail: "Francis wanted to come to Nir Oz, he has friends who grew up with him in Argentina there. He also wanted to come to the church in Gaza, if the security situation would allow."

Several hostage delegations came to Francis, and Henrique says that he also discussed the issue with other leaders. "I was in the south and covered the events, Francis called and said – 'I feel very close to you, they are taking us back 50 years.' He cried after meeting with the hostages and that evening called Biden, the Emir of Qatar, and el-Sisi in front of me."

Cymerman thinks that Israel was wrong about Francis, including regarding the controversy surrounding his statements during the war. "The thing with the keffiyeh, the display from Bethlehem, he didn't even understand what it was about," he says. "As soon as he saw the world uproar that arose against the Jewish communities – he gave an immediate order to stop it." He explains that "we have few friends in the world, Francis was one of them. We need to bring closer and not push away. People exploited it for local political gain and hurt Israel in the international arena."

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"The condition of the Holy Father continues to be critical. Therefore, as explained yesterday, the Pope is not out of danger. This morning, Pope Francis experienced an asthma-like respiratory crisis of prolonged intensity, which required the administration of high-flow oxygen," the Holy See said.

The 88-year-old pontiff, who was hospitalized last week with a complex lung infection, subsequently received blood transfusions after medical tests revealed a possible anemic condition, according to a later Vatican update.

"Today's blood tests also revealed thrombocytopenia, associated with anemia, which required the administration of blood transfusions. The Holy Father remains alert and spent the day in an armchair, although he is more uncomfortable than yesterday. At the moment, the prognosis remains guarded," the statement read. Outside the hopsital, Catholic worshippers, including nuns, gathered on Saturday to pray for the leader of the church, whose official title is bishop of Rome.

Earlier, medical staff reported that Francis was combating pneumonia and a complex respiratory tract infection, which doctors indicate persists in his system. The condition is expected to extend his hospital stay "for at least another week."

The medical team cautioned that sepsis – a severe infection that can develop as a pneumonia complication – represents the primary threat to the Pope's health. However, as of Friday, no signs of sepsis were present, and Francis showed positive response to his prescribed medications, according to the Pope's medical team in their first comprehensive update on his condition.

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In the days leading up to his hospitalization, the Pope had been experiencing symptoms of the illness and had delegated his duties, including reading prepared speeches at public events. The Vatican noted on Monday that his condition had worsened, prompting doctors to revise his treatment regimen.

According to the Vatican's update, the Pope's infection was identified as polymicrobial, affecting his respiratory system. However, officials reported that the pontiff's condition was stable as of the weekend, and he was advised to undergo "complete rest" to aid his recovery.

As a result of his illness, Pope Francis was unable to fulfill several important duties over the weekend, including delivering his usual Sunday prayer at St. Peter's Square and leading a special mass for artists to celebrate the Catholic Church's Jubilee Year.

The Vatican has emphasized that the Pope will remain in the hospital for as long as necessary to ensure his health is properly managed.

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A Nativity Scene crafted in Bethlehem and displayed at the Vatican's Paul VI hall features a distinctive and controversial addition this year – a cloth that appeared to be a Palestinian keffiyeh (traditional head dress) covering the baby Jesus' manger, donated by the Palestinian Embassy to the Holy See. The inclusion of the traditional Arab scarf has sparked discussion.

The display has drawn particular attention for its connection to Jesus' historical Jewish identity, as he was born to Jewish parents in what was then the Roman province of Judea.

One online commentator wrote, "Does the pope think Jesus wasn't a Jew either? Did he even read the Bible?" Another outraged X user wrote, "The pope is exploiting Christmas to advance the ridiculous effort to rebrand Jesus as Palestinian rather than what He was – a Jew who fulfilled the Old Testament prophecy of a Messiah."

The pope was previously under fire for suggesting that "What is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide" in excerpts from an upcoming book published by La Stampa.

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Pope Francis has suggested that the international community should examine whether Israel's military campaign in Gaza constitutes genocide, marking his most explicit criticism yet of Israel's conduct in the war, Reuters reported on Sunday.

In excerpts from an upcoming book published by La Stampa, the pontiff acknowledged that some international experts believe "what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide. We should investigate carefully to assess whether this fits into the technical definition formulated by international jurists and organizations," the pope said in the excerpts.

Last week, the pope met at the Vatican with former hostages held by Hamas in Gaza who are advocating for the release of family members and others still in captivity.

The comments come amid ongoing legal proceedings at the International Court of Justice. Last December, South Africa filed a case against Israel, alleging violations of the Genocide Convention. The court ordered Israel in January to ensure its forces do not commit genocidal acts, though it has not yet ruled on whether genocide has occurred in Gaza.

Francis, who leads the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church, typically maintains neutrality in international conflicts while advocating for de-escalation. However, he has recently increased his criticism of Israel's military operations. In September, he expressed concern over Palestinian children's deaths from Israeli strikes in Gaza. He also issued strong criticism of Israel's airstrikes in Lebanon, describing them as going "beyond morality."

While Francis has not previously used the term genocide publicly regarding Gaza, controversy arose last year after Palestinians who met with him at the Vatican claimed he used the word in private conversations. The Vatican stated he had not used the term.

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According to reports from Italy's leading newspapers La Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, Pope Francis allegedly employed a highly offensive slur toward the LGBTQ community during a recent closed-door gathering with Italian bishops. The publications claim the pontiff reiterated his stance that gay individuals should not be admitted to the priesthood, purportedly stating that seminaries are already excessively populated with "frociaggine" – a vulgar Italian term that roughly translates to "faggotness."

The Vatican has not responded to requests for commentary regarding the alleged incident, which is said to have transpired on May 20th. 

As recounted by La Repubblica, based on multiple unnamed sources, and Corriere della Sera, citing unspecified bishops, the Pope's reported language stands in stark contrast to his previous statements that have been viewed as more embracing of the LGBTQ community. In 2013, at the outset of his papacy, Francis famously remarked, "If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?"

However, the Pope has also made contradictory pronouncements, such as instructing Italian bishops in 2018 to meticulously vet applicants for the priesthood and reject any individuals suspected of being gay. A 2005 Vatican document from Benedict XVI's pontificate stated that the Church could admit those who had "overcome" gay tendencies for at least three years but should bar individuals with "deep-seated" same-sex attraction or those who "support the so-called gay culture."

Il Messaggero, a national Roman newspaper, reported that "It's the fault of some bishop who broke his mandate of silence to report the gaffe that occurred last week," referring to the alleged anti-gay slur during an informal Q&A at the annual Italian Bishops' Conference meeting attended by over 200 clergy members.

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Pope Francis spent a good first night in the hospital after being admitted for a respiratory infection, a Vatican official said Thursday. Further medical updates were expected later in the day. Francis was taken to Rome's Gemelli hospital for tests on Wednesday afternoon after experiencing difficulty breathing in recent days.

The 86-year-old pope, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, does not have COVID-19 but will remain in the hospital for several days of treatment, the Vatican said. His audiences were canceled through Friday.

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Francis is scheduled to celebrate Palm Sunday this weekend, and it wasn't clear how his medical condition would affect the Vatican's Holy Week observances, which include Holy Thursday, Good Friday, the Easter Vigil and finally Easter Sunday on April 9. His hospitalization was the first since Francis had 33 centimeters (13 inches) of his colon removed and spent 10 days at the Gemelli hospital in July 2021.

He said soon after the surgery that he had recovered fully and could eat normally. But in a Jan. 24 interview with The Associated Press, Francis said his diverticulosis, or bulges in the intestinal wall, had "returned." Before he was admitted to the hospital Wednesday, the pope had appeared in relatively good form during his regularly scheduled general audience, though he grimaced strongly while getting in and out of the "popemobile."

Francis has used a wheelchair for over a year due to strained ligaments in his right knee and a small knee fracture, though he had been walking more with a cane of late. Francis has said he resisted having surgery for the knee problems because he didn't respond well to general anesthesia during the 2021 intestinal surgery.

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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the shy German theologian who tried to reawaken Christianity in a secularized Europe but will forever be remembered as the first pontiff in 600 years to resign from the job, died Saturday. He was 95.

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Pope Francis will celebrate his funeral Mass in St. Peter's Square on Thursday, an unprecedented event in which a current pope will celebrate the funeral for a former one.

Benedict stunned the world on Feb. 11, 2013, when he announced, in his typical, soft-spoken Latin, that he no longer had the strength to run the 1.2 billion-strong Catholic Church that he had steered for eight years through scandal and indifference.

His dramatic decision paved the way for the conclave that elected Francis as his successor. The two popes then lived side-by-side in the Vatican gardens, an unprecedented arrangement that set the stage for future "popes emeritus" to do the same.

A statement from Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni on Saturday morning said that: "With pain I inform that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesia Monastery in the Vatican. Further information will be released as soon as possible."

The Vatican said Benedict's remains would be on public display in St. Peter's Basilica starting Monday for the faithful to pay their final respects.

The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had never wanted to be pope, planning at age 78 to spend his final years writing in the "peace and quiet" of his native Bavaria.

Instead, he was forced to follow the footsteps of the beloved St. John Paul II and run the church through the fallout of the clerical sex abuse scandal and then a second scandal that erupted when his own butler stole his personal papers and gave them to a journalist.

Being elected pope, he once said, felt like a "guillotine" had come down on him.

Nevertheless, he set about the job with a single-minded vision to rekindle the faith in a world that, he frequently lamented, seemed to think it could do without God.

"In vast areas of the world today, there is a strange forgetfulness of God," he told 1 million young people gathered on a vast field for his first foreign trip as pope, to World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany, in 2005. "It seems as if everything would be just the same even without him."

With some decisive, often controversial moves, he tried to remind Europe of its Christian heritage. And he set the Catholic Church on a conservative, tradition-minded path that often alienated progressives. He relaxed the restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass and launched a crackdown on American nuns, insisting that the church stay true to its doctrine and traditions in the face of a changing world. It was a path that in many ways was reversed by his successor, Francis, whose mercy-over-morals priorities alienated the traditionalists who had been so indulged by Benedict.

Benedict's style couldn't have been more different from that of John Paul or Francis. No globe-trotting media darling or populist, Benedict was a teacher, theologian and academic to the core: quiet and pensive with a fierce mind. He spoke in paragraphs, not soundbites. He had a weakness for orange Fanta as well as his beloved library; when he was elected pope, he had his entire study moved – as is – from his apartment just outside the Vatican walls into the Apostolic Palace. The books followed him to his retirement home.

"In them are all my advisers," he said of his books in the 2010 book-length interview "Light of the World." "I know every nook and cranny, and everything has its history."

It was Benedict's devotion to history and tradition that endeared him to members of the traditionalist wing of the Catholic Church. For them, Benedict remained even in retirement a beacon of nostalgia for the orthodoxy and Latin Mass of their youth – and the pope they much preferred over Francis.

In time, this group of arch-conservatives, whose complaints were amplified by sympathetic US-based conservative Catholic media, would become a key source of opposition to Francis who responded to what he said were threats of division by reimposing the restrictions on the old Latin Mass that Benedict had loosened.

Like his predecessor John Paul, Benedict made reaching out to Jews a hallmark of his papacy. His first official act as pope was a letter to Rome's Jewish community and he became the second pope in history, after John Paul, to enter a synagogue.

In his 2011 book, "Jesus of Nazareth," Benedict made a sweeping exoneration of the Jewish people for the death of Christ, explaining biblically and theologically why there was no basis in Scripture for the argument that the Jewish people as a whole were responsible for Jesus' death.

"It's very clear Benedict is a true friend of the Jewish people," said Rabbi David Rosen, who heads the interreligious relations office for the American Jewish Committee, at the time of Benedict's retirement.

Yet Benedict also offended some Jews who were incensed at his constant defense of and promotion toward sainthood of Pope Pius XII, the World War II-era pope accused by some of having failed to sufficiently denounce the Holocaust. And they harshly criticized Benedict when he removed the excommunication of a traditionalist British bishop who had denied the Holocaust.

Benedict's relations with the Muslim world were also a mixed bag. He riled Muslims with a speech in September 2006 – five years after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States – in which he quoted a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad as "evil and inhuman," particularly his command to spread the faith "by the sword."

A subsequent comment after the massacre of Christians in Egypt led the Al Azhar center in Cairo, the seat of Sunni Muslim learning, to suspend ties with the Vatican, which were only restored under Francis.

The Vatican under Benedict suffered notorious PR gaffes, and sometimes Benedict himself was to blame. He enraged the United Nations and several European governments in 2009 when, en route to Africa, he told reporters that the AIDS problem couldn't be resolved by distributing condoms.

"On the contrary, it increases the problem," Benedict said. A year later, he issued a revision saying that if a male prostitute were to use a condom to avoid passing HIV to his partner, he might be taking a first step toward a more responsible sexuality.

But Benedict's legacy was irreversibly colored by the global eruption in 2010 of the sex abuse scandal, even though as a cardinal he was responsible for turning the Vatican around on the issue.

Documents revealed that the Vatican knew very well of the problem yet turned a blind eye for decades, at times rebuffing bishops who tried to do the right thing.

Benedict had firsthand knowledge of the scope of the problem, since his old office – the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which he had headed since 1982 – was responsible for dealing with abuse cases.

In fact, it was he who, before becoming pope, took the then-revolutionary decision in 2001 to assume responsibility for processing those cases after he realized bishops around the world weren't punishing abusers but were just moving them from parish to parish where they could rape again.

And once he became pope, Benedict essentially reversed his beloved predecessor, John Paul, by taking action against the 20th century's most notorious pedophile priest, the Rev. Marcial Maciel. Benedict took over Maciel's Legionaries of Christ, a conservative religious order held up as a model of orthodoxy by John Paul, after it was revealed that Maciel sexually abused seminarians and fathered at least three children.

In retirement, Benedict was faulted by an independent report for his handling of four priests while he was bishop of Munich; he denied any personal wrongdoing but apologized for any "grievous faults."

As soon as the abuse scandal calmed down for Benedict, another one erupted.

In October 2012, Benedict's former butler, Paolo Gabriele, was convicted of aggravated theft after Vatican police found a huge stash of papal documents in his apartment. Gabriele told Vatican investigators he gave the documents to Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi because he thought the pope wasn't being informed of the "evil and corruption" in the Vatican and that exposing it publicly would put the church on the right track.

Once the "Vatileaks" scandal was resolved, including with a papal pardon of Gabriele, Benedict felt free to take the extraordinary decision that he had hinted at previously: He announced that he would resign rather than die in office as all his predecessors had done for almost six centuries.

"After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths due to an advanced age are no longer suited" to the demands of being the pope, he told cardinals.

He made his last public appearances in February 2013 and then boarded a helicopter to the papal summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo, to sit out the conclave in private. Benedict then largely kept to his word that he would live a life of prayer in retirement, emerging only occasionally from his converted monastery for special events and writing occasional book prefaces and messages.

Usually they were innocuous, but one 2020 book – in which Benedict defended the celibate priesthood at a time when Francis was considering an exception – sparked demands for future "popes emeritus" to keep quiet.

Despite his very different style and priorities, Francis frequently said that having Benedict in the Vatican was like having a "wise grandfather" living at home.

Benedict was often misunderstood: Nicknamed "God's Rottweiler" by the unsympathetic media, he was actually a very sweet and fiercely smart academic who devoted his life to serving the church he loved.

"Thank you for having given us the luminous example of the simple and humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord," Benedict's longtime deputy, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, told him in one of his final public events as pope.

Benedict inherited the seemingly impossible task of following in the footsteps of John Paul when he was elected the 265th leader of the Church on April 19, 2005. He was the oldest pope elected in 275 years and the first German in nearly 1,000 years.

Born April 16, 1927, in Marktl Am Inn, in Bavaria, Benedict wrote in his memoirs of being enlisted in the Nazi youth movement against his will in 1941, when he was 14 and membership was compulsory. He deserted the German army in April 1945, the waning days of the war.

Benedict was ordained, along with his brother, Georg, in 1951. After spending several years teaching theology in Germany, he was appointed bishop of Munich in 1977 and elevated to cardinal three months later by Pope Paul VI.

His brother Georg was a frequent visitor to the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo until he died in 2020. His sister died years previously. His "papal family" consisted of Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, his longtime private secretary who was always by his side, another secretary and consecrated women who tended to the papal apartment.

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