World News

Good-natured, affable and dedicated to dialogue, French Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of Marseille coordinates a churchwide network in the Mediterranean region, a mission he received from Pope Francis.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state since early in the pontificate of Pope Francis, has long been near the top of pundits’ lists of potential successors to the Argentine pope.

French Cardinal Christophe Pierre, 79, has worked the past 48 years in the Vatican’s diplomatic service, most recently as papal nuncio to the United States for the past nine years.

As the College of Cardinals gathers in Rome for the conclave that will elect our next pope, the rest of us may feel like we have no real role to play in the process.

As the Catholic Church’s cardinals prepare to elect a new pope, they must be wary of “elegant speeches” that hide a subtle cruelty toward the poor and vulnerable, said the Vatican’s former doctrinal chief.