A change in popes — through death or resignation — is a complicated process. These are the need-to-know terms — some of them ...

The church is divided. The problem is to find the one who unites, not pretend that it isn’t divided,” one church historian ...

As a result of Francis’ expansion of the diversity of cardinals who will elect his successor, all that is certain about the ...

TWO hundred thirty thousand — that is the estimate of the crowd that massed at the Piazza di San Pietro and the streets of ...

NPR secured one of the last public tours of the Sistine Chapel before it closes for the Catholic Church's upcoming conclave to select the next pope.

As they entered the Vatican to partic­ipate in a series of meetings leading up to the election of Pope Francis’ successor, several cardinals spoke to the media, emphasising that they are still ...

Pope Francis’ death and funeral will usher in a period of transition for the Catholic Church, with cardinals gathering at the Vatican for the papal conclave, the secretive voting that will result in ...

The death of the 88-year-old pontiff puts into motion the process of selecting a successor, according to longstanding Vatican traditions.

The conclave is a time-honored process conducted in secrecy behind the locked doors of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel.

The cardinals eligible to vote for the new pope will gather in the coming weeks and enter seclusion to secretly vote for the new bishop of Rome.

With the death of Pope Francis, attention now turns to the selection of his successor. The next pope will be chosen in what is called a “conclave,” a Latin word meaning “a room that can be locked up,” ...

Cardinals this week will start in-depth discussions on planning the conclave to choose Pope Francis' successor. No date has ...