A new AP-NORC poll finds that just over a month after Pope Leo XIV became the first U.S.-born pontiff, American Catholics are feeling excited about their new religious leader.

Pope Leo XIV stressed the importance to society of sport in his Angelus address in the Vatican on Sunday. Sport was more than physical achievement, but could also "become an important means of reconciliation and encounter: between peoples and within communities,

Pope Leo XIV has made waves with some of his fashion choices, returning to much of the traditional pomp of popes past.

Holy pop! According to a new deep dive published by The New York Times, the newly named Pope Leo XIV is related to two of pop music's biggest names: Madonna and Justin Bieber. In assembling a detailed family tree for the Chicago-born religious leader - who was elected the new head of the Catholic Church in May following the death of Pope Francis - the publication found that Leo is distantly linked to the two singers through a shared ancestor born about six generations back.

"What does the pope think about us being related? That's my question," one cousin said. "What does he think of us because we're Afro American?" She plans to write a letter inviting Leo to her home if he ever visits New Orleans.

There is no evidence Pope Leo XIV publicly said the quote in question. A Google search of the words " Pope Leo 'you cannot follow both Christ and the cruelty of kings' " revealed only social media posts featuring the graphic above or attributing the quote to Pope Leo XIV without any evidence.

Carlo Acutis was 15 when he died in northern Italy in 2006, after a short bout with leukemia. The pope announced Friday he'll be canonized in September.