The cardinals who enter the Sistine Chapel May 7 to elect a new pope use smoke signals to communicate with the outside world.
The cardinals who enter the Sistine Chapel May 7 to elect a new pope use smoke signals to communicate with the outside world.
For thousands of young teens who traveled to Rome for the Jubilee of Teenagers, the announcement of Pope Francis’ death came as a shock.
Father Francisco Walker never had an audience with Pope Francis, but he did meet him as a little kid when Father Jorge Bergoglio (the future pope) came to his home in Buenos Aires on a motorcycle to have coffee with his parents.
At the conclusion of the official days of mourning following the death of Pope Francis on April 21, 135 cardinal electors are eligible to enter pre-conclave gatherings.
It’s not known if Pope Francis ever suffered from jet lag, but the Holy Father logged a lot of air miles during his papacy, traveling to dozens of countries to spread the message of Jesus Christ’s love of mankind.
Since attending World Youth Day for the first time as pope in 2013, Pope Francis encouraged young people to invite God into their lives and go forward as Christ’s disciples.
Pope Francis wasn’t the first pontiff to appoint to the College of Cardinals bishops from non-European, non-traditional locales in terms of Catholicism. He did, however, globalize the college in a way that far exceeds anyone who came before him.
Pope Francis’ papacy was known for many things, but one that stood out to many was his openness to having laypeople and women wield influence inside the Catholic Church and for his welcoming stance toward the LGBTQ+ community.
With the death of Pope Francis, the canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, which was scheduled for April 27, has been postponed.
Not everyone gets the chance to serve ice cream to the leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics, but Msgr. Cuong Pham did just that, once handing Pope Francis a dish of vanilla ice cream.