U.S. Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, D-Brownsville, met with Pope Leo XIV in Vatican City last Saturday, according to an announcement Tuesday from the congressman’s office.

Gonzalez’s audience with the pontiff took place during the 16th Annual Meeting of the International Catholic Legislators Network (ICLN). It was the first ICLN meeting led by Pope Leo, who was elected May 8 as the first American-born pope (born in Chicago), succeeding Pope Francis who died April 21.

Gonzalez was among the bipartisan Delegation of Catholic Members of Congress. The theme of the meeting with Pope Leo was “The New World Order: Major Power Politics, Corporate Dominion and the Future of Human Flourishing.”

“In these words, I sense both a concern and a longing,” the pope said, according to the Vatican. “We are concer

See Full Page