The cardinals electing a new pope to lead the Roman Catholic Church left the Sistine Chapel exhausted and hungry. A meditation to start the conclave had dragged on and pushed their first vote deep into Wednesday evening. It had resulted in an inconclusive tally, with three main contenders. Keeping their vow of secrecy, they returned…
The surprising election of the first American pope felt fraught and disorienting to Roman Catholics around the world, who had considered such an outcome unlikely and perhaps unwelcome — until Pope Leo XIV stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and chose to speak a few sentences in Spanish. In an instant, the new…
In the fall of 2024, the cardinal who is now Pope Leo XIV sat at a large round table inside the Vatican, discussing the challenges that face the Roman Catholic Church with a cardinal from Ethiopia, archbishops from Cameroon and Kenya, a cardinal posted to Mongolia, and bishops from Texas and Liberia. Joining them at…
American cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church described the historic papal conclave that concluded this week as relatively easy, with no arm-twisting or overt politicking. When their work was done — and as the outside world waited to learn the new pope’s identity — the cardinals inside the Sistine Chapel “went wild,” one recalled on…
Robert Francis Prevost was elected on Thursday by 133 cardinals to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics. The first pope from the United States, he chose the name Leo XIV. Here’s what to know about the new pope, how he was chosen and the issues he will face as the successor to Pope Francis,…
The cardinals gathering for the conclave hope to pick the very best among them to be the leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Their culinary expectations are not so high. “Food you could eat at a train station” was how Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, a conclave veteran from the Italian city of Genoa, famous for its…
The conclave is one of the world’s most solemn, sacred and consequential elections. It is also a secretive meeting of older men who wear red robes and engage in politicking, scheming and smoking while picking the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics. The internet could not resist. “It’s so wild,” Rob Anderson, an…
When more than a million refugees and economic migrants poured into Europe a decade ago, Pope Francis urged compassion and, in a display of empathy and support, washed the feet of 12 asylum seekers at an Italian reception center. Cardinal Peter Erdo, the Hungarian archbishop considered a contender to succeed Francis, took a different approach:…
Cardinal Jean-Marc Aveline of France cooed at babies on Sunday at a church in the Monti neighborhood of Rome. Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary asked for prayers for fellow cardinals at a church near the Colosseum. Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of Congo joined priests from across the globe behind the altar of a church in western…
Only about half a million people live in Malta, the tiny set of islands in the Mediterranean that make up one of Europe’s smallest countries. Yet a Maltese citizen could soon be elected pope. Cardinal Mario Grech, 68, the former bishop of a Maltese island, Gozo, has emerged as a candidate for pope because of…