Novels and films that include or revolve around a conclave often include nefarious plotting, or at least politicking, and attempts to wing it when it comes to the rules for electing a new pope.

Asserting that the Catholic Church needed the gifts and experiences of women, Pope Francis appointed several women to top positions in the Roman Curia, including the first female prefect of a major dicastery, and worked to ensure their contributions were recognized in parishes and dioceses around the world.

The pontificate of Pope Francis did not result in breakthrough theological agreements with other Christians, but huge strides were made in personal relations and practical cooperation.

The U.S. Supreme Court April 22 heard a case concerning a request from an interfaith group of Maryland parents to allow them to opt their children out of classroom instruction pertaining to books containing LGBTQ+ themes to which they object on religious grounds.

The Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y., has reached a potential agreement with abuse survivors five years after filing for bankruptcy.

Between 1931 and 1938, a young nun named Sister Maria Faustina claimed to have experienced a series of visions, messages and conversations in which our Lord Jesus asked her to establish a devotion to his Divine Mercy.

One popular devotion is the Divine Mercy Chaplet, often said at 3 p.m. in honor of the hour Christ died.

When Pope Francis chose the small Italian island of Lampedusa as the destination for his first trip outside Rome after his election, he signaled to the world that migration would be a defining issue of his pontificate.

Upon Pope Francis’ passing, San Lorenzo issued a poignant statement reflecting on his lifelong bond with the club: “His passion for San Lorenzo always moved us deeply, and unites us in constant prayer for his soul.”

As the pope of the peripheries, Pope Francis brought the heart, mind and soul of the Catholic Church in Latin America from what he called the “ends of the earth” to the center of Christendom.