Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople received the award for his great dedication to the service of ecology. Photo: AFP

Pope Leo XIV attends surprise birthday party

Sunday’s lunch was not a grand public event, but it spoke volumes. In celebrating a birthday, the Pope celebrated also a brotherhood that has endured shifting vocations and distant geographies. It was a moment of joy, reflection, and quiet affirmation of the values that first brought them together: intellectual pursuit, spiritual depth, and a common life rooted in the Rule of St. Augustine — where no one seeks the truth alone, but leads others to it in unity and humility.

How many Catholic parliamentarians are there in Germany? This is the religious composition of the German parliament

Newly released data from the Bundestag’s historical reference manual shows that more than 48 percent of sitting MPs have declared an affiliation with either the Catholic or Protestant churches—outpacing the general population, where these two Christian denominations account for just over 45 percent combined.