VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV received letters and messages from individuals detained in a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) processing facility near Chicago and from Catholics active in providing immigrants and refugees with spiritual and pastoral support.Members of the Chicago-based Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership gave him an album containing the items when they met with the pope and at the end of the pope's weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square Oct. 28."The pope looked visibly moved" while listening to the testimony of Abigail Ortiz Valles, a Scalabrinian laywoman who takes part in the coalition's ministry at the Broadview ICE facility near Chicago, according to the group's Facebook page.The gift, the Oct. 29 post said, "was a handmade album of photos from our actions of the past year, showered with messages of love, support, and hope from members across our coalition and also from our siblings who are detained in Broad

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- From horse-drawn ornate wooden carriages to a bulletproof all-electric vehicle, the papal modes of transport have evolved to keep the pope safe, seen and saving the planet.The first time a car was offered to a pope was after the 1903 election of St. Pius X when the Archdiocese of New York donated one, said Sandro Barbagallo, curator of historical collections at the Vatican Museums."But the pope refused it," he told reporters at a new exhibit featuring select popemobiles Oct. 28.The pope politely declined the gift, he said, in part because a car was useless at the time since a dispute with the Italian government over the sovereignty of the Holy See kept popes confined to Vatican City from 1870 to 1929, and because he preferred walking in the Vatican Gardens and hearing "the sound of horses' hooves along the path rather than the sound of an internal combustion engine."However, the pope's limited opportunities to travel didn't stop other eager Cat