African outreach was among Pope Francis' legacies, observers say, with numerous visits and a message of mercy inspiring ...

Deepening unity among Catholics will be the greatest challenge facing the next pope, who will be elected as early as ...

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa is a Vatican outsider, but his experience in a region sacred to three major religions may ...

White smoke will soon rise again from the Sistine Chapel chimney, signaling a new era of leadership in the Catholic Church — ...

For the first time, the majority of cardinals to choose a pope are not from Europe, as Catholic demographics shift. But ...

“It’s the natural journey of the church,” said Cardinal Beniamino Stella, an Italian who was once a power player in the ...

As cardinals prepare for the largest papal conclave in history, battle lines are being drawn over the direction of the church ...

Francis’ successor will be selected by cardinals at the conclave that began on May 7. Cardinals, known as the “princes of the ...

A Pew Research Center study conducted in 2024 found that for every American who converts to Catholicism, another 8.4 leave.

Black smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney on Wednesday, signalling that no pope had been elected as 133 cardinals ...

The pope is, for a majority of U.S. Catholics, equally important in their connection to the Church as their local priest and ...

Catholic cardinals will sequester themselves behind the Vatican’s medieval walls for the start of a conclave to elect the ...