Oxford academics drank from an enslaved woman’s human skull for decades, a new book reveals, revealing the pervasive legacy ...

Even the moment of the formal verification of the pope’s death takes place in the context of a prayer service “at home” in ...

Our lives are redolent with rituals, from personal to promulgated, from silly to serious, from religious to civic and secular. In The Politics of Ritual, Molly Farneth casts a determined eye on the ...

After Pope Francis’ funeral, 135 cardinals will gather for a conclave to elect a new pope. The traditions include oaths of secrecy, paper ballots and white smoke from a chimney of the Sistine Chapel.

The Vatican said that ritual would take place at 8 p.m. Rome time April 21. The ritual book has separate services for transferring the body to St. Peter's Basilica, the funeral, the burial and the ...