The survival of the papacy has always been dependent on a precarious balancing act between the pope’s religious and secular ...

From, the quiet of the Vatican Library, of which he became Prefect in 1914, he had been sent as Apostolic Visitor (later Papal Nuncio ... He was the first Pope since 1870 to emerge from the ...

Like his predecessors, Pope Francis was selected using an age-old method -- a system known as the Papal conclave.

Sequestered cardinals would not tarry in long discussions, especially when they were away from the comfort of their own palaces, allowed only a single attendant and sleeping in simple cells. If they ...

The Catholic Church is almost 2,000 years old, and over the centuries, the protocol for papal funerals has been codified and refined into a seamless procedure. In the case of the pope’s death ...

Still, another reality emerges. The church may not have seen women as equals, but nevertheless, their work was key to the workings and finances of the papal court and its surroundings. The fact is ...

When it comes to creating a gallery or museum, where do you start? London's National Gallery was founded in 1824 when the British government took the decision to buy the art collection of the ...

Speculation about Pope Francis' health has led the Vatican to start preparing for a possible papal funeral. When a pope dies, a detailed process begins. This includes official mourning ...

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, praises the United States for siding with Russia in two votes at the UN.

Papal biographer says it would be sensible for Vatican to 'plan for change' amid pope illness ...