VATICAN CITY (RNS) Naming yourself after St. Francis of Assisi is one thing. Running the Vatican is another. And taming the Vatican bureaucracy is likely to be one of Pope Francis’ most difficult assignments.
(RNS) Jews worldwide welcomed newly elected Pope Francis as a friend on Wednesday (March 13), and pointed in particular to his sympathetic and strong reaction to the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in his native Argentina — the deadliest bombing in the country’s history.
VATICAN CITY (RNS) A hierarchy looking to make a clear statement about where the troubled church is headed chose on Wednesday (March 13) the first member of the influential Jesuit order to be the next pope. Yet they also chose a humble man who lives simply and took the name Francis (also a first) that evokes the founder of another great religious order.
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as Pope Francis on Wednesday after only two days of voting in the conclave tasked with choosing a successor to Pope Benedict XVI.
The conclave to elect a new pope began on Tuesday (March 12) and Catholics gathered for Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Religion News Service photos by Andrea Sabbadini Click any image below to view photo slideshow.
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Black smoke from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel signaled that the first day of the conclave ended without the election of a new pope.
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Everyone gathered around the papal conclave had theories, many had favorites, and most declared it all so unpredictable that the winner – or even how long it would take to find him – was anybody’s guess.
(RNS) No one knows what name the next pope will pick. But choosing a new moniker is a decision that’s tied up in history, tradition and more than a little symbolic value.
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Pope Benedict XVI’s former personal secretary will return to Rome to assist the opening of the papal election in the Sistine Chapel, highlighting the unprecedented situation created by the resignation of a living pope.
(RNS) The selection of the 266th pope comes at a critical juncture in Muslim-Catholic relations, which have been marred by persecution of Christians in the Muslim world, Islamophobia in Western countries and rioting between Muslims and Christians across Africa.
