Syed was a reporter for TIME, based in the London bureau. Flags respectfully flew at half-mast in Vatican City on Thursday in an extraordinary ceremony that saw Pope Francis preside over the funeral ...

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was laid to rest Thursday in Vatican City in the first funeral ever conducted by a sitting pope for his predecessor. Pope Francis, who has led the Catholic Church since his ...

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has been referred to as the “Monk of Bavaria.” Yes, he was from Bavaria — a southern German state — and a proud Bavarian. Benedict XVI’s love for monasticism and monastics ...

Long before he was pope, Benedict was also Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and so-called guardian of orthodoxy, who as a career theologian, ...

Benedict Manasseri was born in Sicily in 1526, the son of African enslaved parents. After earning a reputation for his deep sanctity and healing powers, he joined the Franciscan order in 1562. Popular ...