VATICAN CITY (RNS) Just minutes after Pope Francis finished introducing himself to the crowd in St. Peter’s Square on March 13, a woman perusing the shelves of a tourist shop just outside the squared asked the storekeeper, “When will you have souvenirs of the new pope?”
VATICAN CITY (RNS) The Vatican swiftly rejected accusations that Pope Francis sided with the brutal Argentinian government in the 1970s when he was a Jesuit leader.
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) Roman Catholic cardinals will be called on to decide the start date of the conclave to elect a new pope, but they don’t seem to be in a hurry to do so.
VATICAN CITY (RNS) As former pope Benedict XVI started his retired life in the papal villa in Castel Gandolfo on Friday (March 1), cardinals in Rome began preparations that will lead up to the closed-door conclave to elect his successor.
(RNS) The last Pope Benedict to resign, Benedict IX, was an infamous rake who sold the papacy. But like his 21st-century namesake, Benedict IX forces Catholics to mind the gap between the mortal man and the sacred papal office.
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi is known for his wide interests, and seemingly Internet-like omniscience. And some Catholics say he could just be the next pope.
A new analysis of Catholic population shifts raises questions about the upcoming papal election.
VATICAN CITY (RNS) In his first public comments since his surprise retirement announcement, Pope Benedict XVI asked Catholics for support and prayers to support him “in these days which are not easy for me.”
VATICAN CITY (RNS) Lutheran leaders have warned the Vatican that the creation of a structure to welcome conservative Lutherans into the Catholic Church would harm dialogue and damage ecumenical relations.
