World
A sea gull took center stage at the last conclave.
Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York has some advice for cardinals who are about to experience their first conclave.
“Bring a book,” he said in an interview on Tuesday afternoon, as the cardinals packed their bags to move into Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican City guesthouse where scores of cardinals stay during the conclave, the process of selecting the next leader of the Catholic Church.
“I do,” said Cardinal Dolan, “because in the conclave is mostly silence.”
When the cardinals meet for the conclave, they gather in the Sistine Chapel. All cardinal electors must swear an oath of secrecy and vote by secret ballot. The cardinals cast repeated votes until there is a two-thirds majority, and the next pope is selected.
The voting process can take an hour or two each time, so there is a lot of waiting while each cardinal fills out his ballot and submits it in an elaborate ritual to ensure there are no election violations, he said.
“It’s not like you’re at the edge of the seat, and watching them all do that,” said Cardinal Dolan, who attended the conclave that elected Pope Francis in 2013.
He’s bringing a biography of Michelangelo, which felt appropriate, as he will be surrounded by some of the artist’s masterpieces, including “The Last Judgment,” which depicts the second coming of Christ and covers the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel.
Cardinal Dolan said he had top candidates for pontiff in mind, men whose writing and work he has studied.
“You want to see a guy who speaks well, you look for some linguistic ability. It would be very difficult for someone who did not know enough Italian,” he said. “If you don’t know the difference between carbonara and tagliatelle, you’re in trouble. It would be very difficult for somebody who only knows Italian, because you’re also a universal pastor.”
As he spoke, he looked down at St. Peter’s Basilica from the roof terrace of the Pontifical North American College.
“I think it’ll be longer than last time,” he said, referring to the process that selected Pope Francis, which took two days. He said he had brought 12 packets of peanut butter, thinking that would be enough for him to eat three a day while sequestered. “So you figure that out,” he said on the math.
The meetings held before the conclave have been “strenuous,” he said, with “one cardinal after another” getting up to speak.
Cardinal Dolan said the cardinals had shared their concerns about what they see as challenges for Christians in Islamic countries; in countries with oppressive governments; in regions without enough Catholic priests; or where religious liberty is suppressed.
“Think of the cardinal from Sudan. Think of the cardinals from the Holy Land,” he said.
One cardinal was grateful that Francis had traveled all over the world, he said, while another said maybe the next pope should largely stay at the Vatican and bring cardinals to meet with him there.
“One of the cardinals said, I love Pope Francis, and I am grateful for his 12 years. But we are here to elect the successor of Peter, not the successor of Francis,” he said, referring to St. Peter, the first pope. “That of course is true. We have to remember that.”
The ancient and elaborate rituals of the conclave can be mystifying for those watching from afar. But new cardinals “will also say, we don’t really know the rituals and the protocol, we don’t even know what to wear,” he said. “They’re so honest and they’re so fresh.”
After a morning Mass on Wednesday, the cardinals are expected to go back to Casa Santa Marta, unpack and have lunch. The accommodation and cuisine are relatively simple. “The food’s not that good,” Cardinal Dolan said.
The process is also extremely secretive, so much so that at the last conclave, even the blinds of Cardinal Dolan’s windows were secured shut so that no one could see in or out.
Vatican City shuts down, and the cardinals are sequestered, but they have a physician and a confessor available, “if we need help in body or soul,” he said.
Shops and schools shut in northern Israel as residents protested a 10-day ceasefire with Lebanon that took effect on April 16, saying “nothing was achieved”. Israeli officials say operations may continue, with forces still deployed inside southern Lebanon.
Published On 19 Apr 2026
World
Pope Leo says remarks about world being ‘ravaged by a handful of tyrants’ were not aimed at Trump: report
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Pope Leo XIV said Saturday that remarks he made this week in which he said the “world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants” were not directed at President Donald Trump, a report said.
The pope, speaking onboard a flight to Angola during his 10-day tour of Africa, said reporting about his comments “has not been accurate in all its aspects” and his speech “was prepared two weeks ago, well before the president ever commented on myself and on the message of peace that I am promoting,” according to Reuters.
The news outlet cited the pope as saying his comments were not aimed at Trump.
“As it happens, it was looked at as if I was trying to debate the president, which is not in my interest at all,” the pope reportedly said.
’60 MINUTES’ ACCUSED OF USING LEFT-LEANING CARDINALS TO BAIT TRUMP INTO FEUD WITH VATICAN
Pope Leo XIV answers journalists’ questions during his flight from Yaoundé, Cameroon, to Luanda, Angola, Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Luca Zennaro/Pool Photo via AP)
Vice President JD Vance later took to X to thank the pope for clearing the record.
“While the media narrative constantly gins up conflict — and yes, real disagreements have happened and will happen — the reality is often much more complicated,” Vance wrote. “Pope Leo preaches the gospel, as he should, and that will inevitably mean he offers his opinions on the moral issues of the day.
“The President — and the entire administration — work to apply those moral principles in a messy world,” he continued. “He will be in our prayers, and I hope that we’ll be in his.”
The vice president’s comments came days after he told Fox News’ Bret Baier on “Special Report” that it would be best for the Vatican to “stick to matters of morality.”
“Let the President of the United States stick to dictating American public policy,” Vance said Tuesday.
Trump last Sunday accused Pope Leo XIV of being “terrible” on foreign policy after the pontiff criticized the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
“He talks about ‘fear’ of the Trump Administration, but doesn’t mention the FEAR that the Catholic Church, and all other Christian Organizations, had during COVID when they were arresting priests, ministers, and everybody else, for holding Church Services, even when going outside, and being ten and even twenty feet apart,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“I don’t want a Pope who thinks it’s OK for Iran to have a Nuclear Weapon.”
POPE LEO SLAMS THOSE WHO ‘MANIPULATE RELIGION’ FOR MILITARY OR POLITICAL GAIN, TRUMP RESPONDS
Pope Leo XIV and President Donald Trump (Simone Risoluti/Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images; Salwan Georges/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
During a speech in Cameroon on Thursday, the pope said, “We must make a decisive change of course — a true conversion — that will lead us in the opposite direction, onto a sustainable path rich in human fraternity.
“The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants, yet it is held together by a multitude of supportive brothers and sisters.
Pope Leo XIV speaks as he meets with the community of Bamenda at Saint Joseph’s Cathedral in Bamenda on the fourth day of an 11-day apostolic journey to Africa April 16, 2026. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)
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“Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic or political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”
Fox News Digital has reached out to the White House for comment.
Fox News Digital’s Landon Mion contributed to this report.
Bulgarians headed to the polls Sunday for the eighth time in five years, with anti-corruption candidate and former president Rumen Radev’s bloc tipped to win.
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The European Union’s poorest member has been through a spate of governments since 2021, when large anti-graft rallies brought an end to the conservative government of long-time leader Boyko Borissov.
Eurostat data shows Bulgaria consistently ranks last in the EU by GDP per capita. In 2025, Bulgaria (along with Greece) was at 68% of the EU average.
Radev, who has advocated for renewing ties with Russia and opposes military aid to Ukraine, was president for nine years in the Balkan nation of 6.5 million people.
He stepped down in January to lead newly formed centre-left grouping Progressive Bulgaria, with opinion polls before Sunday’s vote suggesting the bloc could gain 35% of the vote.
The former air force general has said he wants to rid the country of its “oligarchic governance model”, and backed anti-corruption protests in late 2025 that brought down the latest conservative-backed government.
“I’m voting for change,” Decho Kostadinov, 57, told reporters after casting his ballot at a polling station in the capital, Sofia, adding corrupt politicians “should leave — they should take whatever they’ve stolen and get out of Bulgaria”.
Polls are forecasting a surge in voter participation, with more than 3.3 million Bulgarians expected to cast ballots according to the Bulgarian News Agency.
Voting will close at 1700 GMT, with exit polls expected immediately afterwards. Preliminary results are expected on Monday.
‘Preserve what we have’
Borissov’s pro-European GERB party is likely to come second, according to opinion polls, with around 20%, ahead of the liberal PP-DB.
“I’m voting to preserve what we have. We are a democratic country, we live well,” said Elena, an accountant of about 60, who did not give her full name, after casting her vote in Sofia.
Front-runner Radev has slammed the EU’s green energy policy, which he considers naive “in a world without rules”.
He also opposes any Bulgarian efforts to send arms to help Ukraine fight back Russia’s 2022 invasion, though he has said he would not use his country’s veto to block Brussels’ decisions.
Pushing for renewed ties with Russia, Radev denounced a 10-year defence agreement between Bulgaria and Ukraine signed last month – drawing fresh accusations from opponents of being too soft on Moscow.
The ex-president also stoked outrage online for screening images at his final campaign rally of his meetings with world leaders including Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“We need to close ranks,” he told around 10,000 cheering supporters at the rally, presenting his party as a non-corrupt “alternative to the perverse cartel of old-style parties”.
Borissov, who headed the country virtually uninterrupted for close to a decade, has dismissed suggestions that Radev brings something “new”.
At a rally of his party earlier this week, he insisted GERB had “fulfilled the dreams of the 1990s” with such achievements as the country joining the eurozone this year.
‘No one to vote for’
Radev is aiming for an absolute majority in the 240-seat parliament.
A lack of trust in politics has affected voter turnout, which slumped to 39% in the last election in 2024.
But with Radev rallying voters, high turnout is expected this time, according to analyst Boryana Dimitrova from the Alpha Research polling institute.
Miglena Boyadjieva, a taxi driver of about 55, said she always votes, but the “problem is that there is no one to vote for”.
“You vote for one person and get others. The system has to change,” she told reporters.
Political parties have called on Bulgarians to show up for the polls, also to curb the impact of vote buying.
In recent weeks, police have seized more than one million euros in raids against vote buying in stepped-up operations.
They have also detained hundreds of people, including local councillors and mayors.
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