Crowds and dignitaries gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the formal inauguration of Pope Francis at the Vatican on Tuesday, March 19, 2013. The Pontiff urged princes, presidents, sheiks and thousands of ordinary people gathered …
Vatican
The Rise of Pope Francis, Jorge Mario Bergoglio
The election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio to supreme pontiff Wednesday marks a series of firsts for Catholicism: He’s the first South American pope, the first Jesuit pope and the first to bear the name Francis.
The 76 year old …
Photos: Pope Benedict XVI’s Final General Audience
Pope Benedict XVI’s last general audience in St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, on Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 drew an estimated crowd of tens of thousands of people.
Life After the Papacy: What Lies Ahead for the Pope Post-Abdication
Even as his resignation looms, many details of precedent and procedure remain unresolved — and that may cause problems in a church where the symbolic is often the same as the substantial
Who Will Be the Next Pope? Bookmakers Place Their Bets
Just hours after Pope Benedict XVI’s surprising Feb. 28 resignation, bookmakers have already started placing odds on his successor
Pope Benedict XVI To Resign, Citing ‘Advanced Age’
Pope Benedict XVI will resign on Febraury 28 at 8pm Rome time.
The Pope Tweets with You: Benedict XVI Joins the Twitterverse
He has his own handle (@pontifex) but the pontiff will mostly dictate his tweets or quote parts of his sermons. Still, you can #askpontifex
A Man for Changing Seasons: What Hilary Mantel’s Thomas Cromwell Teaches About Power
The protagonist of Hilary Mantel’s trilogy—the first two books of which have now both won Booker prizes—weaves together complex narratives of politics, power and modernity
The Vatican Sentences the Pope’s Butler: Is a Pardon on the Way?
The pontiff was the victim, the person in whose name the crime was committed, the authority under which the trial was held and the arbiter of whether the sentence will be carried out.
The Pope’s Butler Testifies: Innocent of Theft, Guilty of Betrayal?
As the church takes the ungainly role of prosecutor, Paolo Gabriele says he acted because he believed the Pope whom he loved was misinformed