The Latest Breaking News from the Catholic Church

Most stories about Pope Francis mention that he made history as the first pontiff from Latin America. In fact, Francis was the first pope in centuries to be born outside Europe. But what impact did that actually have on the Catholic Church? The Conversation U.S. asked Neomi De Anda, a…

Francis-era reforms that saw a diverse group of cardinals join the mix make his successor nearly impossible to call.

It was the mounting rage of citizens in Viterbo, a small town north of Rome, that ended the longest papal election in the Catholic Church’s history, forging for the first time the word “conclave.”

The cardinals of the Catholic Church held their ninth in a series of near-daily meetings at the Vatican on Saturday ahead of the election of a new pope.