In a bid to revive its ancient tradition of arts patronage, the Holy See will participate with its own pavilion at the 2013 Venice Biennale, a leading international arts festival. ...

Rose Marie Berger To have the "poor one" at the center of the Catholic faith is right and just. I W ...

Pope Francis on Friday met with Pope Tawadros II, head of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church, an encounter that brought the number of popes within the Vatican walls to three this week. ...

More than two months after his resignation, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will return to the Vatican on Thursday to live in a small convent that has been recently renovated for his needs. ...

The news that Pope Francis, just six weeks on the job, has cleared the way for the long-stalled canonization of martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero is a stunner that sends another important signal abou ...

When you’re the pope, few things matter as much as what you say and, especially, where you say it. When you’re the pope, few things matter as much as what you say and, especiall ...

Vatican employees won’t receive the special bonus they are traditionally awarded when a new pope is elected, the Vatican confirmed on Thursday, under orders from Pope Francis to give extra money to charity ins ...

Nearly a year after the Vatican announced a makeover of the largest umbrella group for American nuns, Pope Francis has directed that the overhaul of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious continue. ...

On April 11, 1963 Pope John XXIII published an encyclical some initially dismissed as naive and myopic, as too liberal and too lofty. But today, his "Pacem in Terris" is generally lauded as genius an ...

Wading into one of the most controversial fields of modern medicine, the Vatican is pushing adult stem cell research as ethical and scientifically more promising than embryonic stem cell research. ...

From the very first moment of his unexpected election as Pope Francis, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina has embraced a series of small departures from established tradition. ...

Pope Francis has won widespread acclaim thus far in his nascent papacy with popular gestures like washing the feet of juveniles during Holy Week and refusing many papal perks. But now comes the hard part of hi ...

He has been Pope Francis for less than a month, but the keep-it-simple prelate from Argentina is a wow with American Catholics — at least for now. He has been Pope Francis for l ...

Pope Francis on Wednesday said women play a “fundamental role” in the Catholic Church as those who are mostly responsible for passing on the faith from one generation to the next. ...

Now that the cardinals have elected and installed their new boss, Pope Francis can get to work being the Roman Catholic pontiff, with his next order of business doing something no other pope has done in centur ...

Editor's Note: Pope Francis delivered the following homily at his inaugural Mass on Tuesday, emphasizing the need to protect the poor and the environment. Editor's No ...

Pope Francis issued a powerful call for the protection of the environment and of society’s most vulnerable during his formal installation Mass at the Vatican, while qualifying his papal power as a “service” to ...

Last Sunday night, the Rev. Thomas Rosica was walking through the Piazza Navona in Rome’s historic center when he bumped into Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who he has known for years. Bergoglio was walking alone, ...

March 15, 2013 Sojo in the News Mark Engler ...

March 14, 2013 Sojo in the News Jim Wallis ...

On Wednesday, the white smoke got in my eyes, and rather than confusing my sight, it’s made things a little clearer. When I heard about the white smoke on Wednesday, I wrote on my ...

Will simplicity and social justice become the witness of the Roman Catholic Church around the world — and will it emanate from the first pope from the Global South, which is clearly the growing future of the c ...

What, in fact, does the election of Francis say about the Catholic Church at this point in its history? VATICAN CITY — A hierarchy looking to make a clear statement about where th ...

Argentinian Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected as Pope Francis I on Wednesday, after only two days of voting in the conclave tasked with choosing a successor to Pope Benedict XVI. ...

As cardinals in the Vatican wrapped up the first day of the conclave with no decision on the next pope, a small crowd assembled on the steps of the Cathedral of St Matthew the Apostle here in Washington, D.C., ...

National Catholic Reporter’s John Allen, a top Vaticanologist, perceived four main camps pushing different types of candidates: a pope who would overhaul the Roman Curia, the pontiff’s dysfunctional civil serv ...

Black smoke from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel signaled that the first day of the conclave ended without the election of a new pope. VATICAN CITY — Black smoke from the chim ...

Tensions among the Roman Catholic cardinals meeting here to choose a new pope appeared to escalate on Wednesday as the American prelates in Rome canceled their daily press briefing under pressure from colleagu ...

The papacy of Benedict XVI came to a quiet end at 8 p.m. on Thursday, making him the first pope in 600 years to voluntarily leave office. VATICAN CITY — The papacy of Benedict XVI ...

You won’t find many Catholic churches named after Pope Benedict IX. You won’t find many Catholic churches named after Pope Benedict IX. Benedict IX squandered the papacy’s ...

Cardinal Keith O’Brien of Scotland resigned on Monday in the wake of explosive charges that he had made “inappropriate” sexual advances to four men, three of them priests, and one now a former seminarian, star ...

As the 117 Roman Catholic cardinals walk into the Sistine Chapel next month for the election of a new pope, one hopes that they fully recognize the unfolding, dramatic pilgrimage of world Christianity: The dem ...

Pope Benedict XVI will soon become the first pope to resign since 1415, short-circuiting many of the initial stages of electing a new pope. But the Vatican says the transition to a new papacy shouldn’t be all ...

Following is a brief explanation of the process used in a conclave to elect a new pope. Following is a brief explanation of the process used in a conclave to elect a new pope. ...

A top Vatican official blamed the media for “derailing” his recent remarks on possible legal protections for unmarried couples, while reaffirming his support for British and French bishops who have been vocal ...

Pope Benedict XVI has asked the Vatican’s highest appeals court to consider reviewing church rules on marriage annulments — a statement that may signal a change in tone more than a change in substance. ...

The Vatican applauded President Obama’s gun control proposals. The Vatican applauded President Obama’s gun control proposals. The Vatican continues to appeal for disarmament and m ...

VATICAN CITY — The Vatican reaffirmed its commitment to dialogue with Jews on Monday after the head of a traditionalist breakaway group called them “enemies of the Church.” The Vatican chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said that it was “me ...

As Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday celebrated the 500th anniversary of the Renaissance masterpiece, the Vatican said the growing number of tourists who visit the historic site every year might eventually lead t ...

Fifty years after the Second Vatican Council revolutionized life inside the Roman Catholic Church, hundreds of bishops from around the world are gathered in Rome to confront an external threat: a mounting tide ...

The Vatican's newspaper has declared the controversial “Jesus wife” papyrus fragment “a fake." L'Osservatore Romano on Friday (Sept. 28) devoted two articles to Harvard professor Karen King' ...

An Illinois priest who was forced out of his parish by his bishop for improvising prayers during Mass has had his suspension reversed by the Vatican. An Illinois priest who was fo ...

The discovery that some ancient Christians thought Jesus had a wife could shake up centuries-old Christian traditions, Karen King, a well-respected historian of early Christianity at Harvard Divinity School, s ...

The Vatican confirmed on Wednesday that Pope Benedict XVI's visit to Lebanon will go ahead as planned, despite growing tension in the region after the killing of the U.S. ambassador to Libya by a mob enra ...

Catholic Bishop Robert W. Finn was found guilty Thursday of failing to tell police about a priest suspected of sexually exploiting children, an unprecedented verdict that is being hailed as a landmark in the e ...

Ed Spivey Jr. Please Vatican, censor me. I deserve it. AS AN AUTHOR whose book sales have, shall we say, peak ...

Rose Marie Berger Women still are forced to operate as second-class citizens in the church. EVER SINCE THE ap ...

Mussalaha, the popular faith-led peace movement in Syria, smuggles humanitarian aid to blockaded Rableh. Agencia Fides, the Vatican news outlet for Catholic missioners, is the onl ...

A federal judge on Monday dismissed the Vatican from a lawsuit filed by a former Portland teenager who says he was sexually abused by a pedophile priest who was transferred from Ireland to Chicago and then Por ...

A leader of the group of Catholic nuns who are facing a crackdown from the Vatican said on Thursday that her members have no plans or desire to leave the church, or reconstitute their group beyond Vatican cont ...