Vice President JD Vance will attend the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV following the pontiff’s historic election as the first American leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

The pope, or the head of the Catholic Church, is followed by well over a billion people across the globe. He is also the leader of the Vatican City-State and holds significant influence on global geopolitical affairs.

Pope Leo XIV received world number one tennis player Jannik Sinner at the Vatican on Wednesday but they stopped short of hitting a few balls. Italy's Sinner, who is playing in Rome at the Italian Open where he had the day off,