A snapshot of the papacies of the 11 modern popes that preceded Pope Francis, from Pope Benedict XVI to Blessed Pope Pius IX.

The common practice in the modern Catholic Church is for the cardinals to choose a pope from among their own ranks, though this was not always the case. Conclaves will typically begin with a ...

Mainstream Christianity’s attitudes about sex have always been complicated—and its institutions might even be able to evolve.

But just outside town, on a bluff overlooking the Missouri River, conservative Catholicism is flourishing. Last year, the ...

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"So it truly is the founding place of the modern Catholic Church in the United States." "But it's also a symbol, and this is what's important," he said. "That building could not have been ...

Ross Douthat: The death of Pope Francis ends, or at least temporarily suspends, a tumultuous period in the life of the ...

So, while his 2013 election will certainly be viewed as a "tectonic shift," the efforts he made to refurbish the Catholic ...

Pope Francis, the second-oldest pope in modern history, has died at age 88, leaving behind a legacy of change in the Catholic ...

VATICAN CITY, — Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church for the past 12 years, has died at age 88. The head of the ...

The Santa Marta residence, a modern building with a common dining room, became the nerve centre of the more than 1.3 billion-member Roman Catholic Church. "It (the decision to stay in Santa Marta ...

The world wars of the past century reconfirmed the Catholic Church’s emphasis on restraint in war. Contemporary Catholic analysis of ethics and military strategy is spearheaded by influential ...