Vatican City
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Pope Leo begins papacy calling for ‘united church’ in a wounded world
By JUSTIN McLELLAN, Catholic News Service
Published May 20, 2025On May 18, Pope Leo XIV formally began his ministry as the successor of St. Peter by calling for “a united church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.”
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Letters from Rome: Life in the interregnum, and witnessing the pope’s election
By FATHER GAURAV SHROFF, Special to the Bulletin
Published May 15, 2025Father Gaurav Shroff of Atlanta shares his experiences during the mourning period for Pope Francis and the election of a new leader for the Catholic Church. He is currently serving at the Dicastery for the Clergy at the Vatican.
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New pope calls for Christian witness in the world
By JUSTIN McLELLAN, Catholic News Service
Published May 14, 2025Where Christians are “mocked, opposed, despised or at best tolerated and pitied” is where the church’s “missionary outreach is most desperately needed,” Pope Leo XIV said in his first homily as leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
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Pope Leo leaves Vatican to visit Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published May 10, 2025Less than 48 hours after being elected, Pope Leo XIV traveled by minivan 40 miles southeast from the Vatican to pray at a Marian shrine cared for by his Augustinian confreres.
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Chicago native Cardinal Prevost elected pope, takes name Leo XIV
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published May 8, 2025Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, the Chicago-born prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops under Pope Francis, was elected the 267th pope May 8 and took the name Pope Leo XIV.
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In final pre-conclave meetings, cardinals discuss war, dialogue
By JUSTIN MCLELLAN, Catholic News Service
Published May 6, 2025With less than 48 hours until the beginning of the conclave, the cardinals who will enter the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope discussed war, the need for dialogue and the role of the pope in fostering it.
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At final memorial Mass, Pope Francis remembered as tireless shepherd
By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES, Catholic News Service
Published May 4, 2025On the final day of official mourning for Pope Francis, the late pontiff was remembered as someone who was determined to live out the mission entrusted to him, even when his health deteriorated.
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As conclave nears, all but four cardinal electors are in Rome
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published May 2, 2025All but four of the 135 cardinals who are eligible to enter the conclave May 7 to vote for a new pope had arrived in Rome by May 2, according to the Vatican press office.
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Cardinals approve electors for conclave, formally ask for prayers
By JUSTIN McLELLAN, Catholic News Service
Published April 30, 2025The College of Cardinals confirmed that 135 members are eligible to participate in the conclave, the Vatican announced, and they asked the faithful to accompany them in prayer as they prepare to elect the next pope.
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Cardinals, faithful flock to Rome’s center to pray at pope’s tomb
By CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published April 27, 2025Members of the College of Cardinals visited the tomb of Pope Francis, who wanted to be buried in a Marian basilica three and a half miles from the Vatican. More than 30,000 of the faithful also visited the tomb at St. Mary Major within the first six hours.
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Every life is sacred: Pope fought abortion, death penalty, poverty
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published April 26, 2025In efforts to promote a holistic defense of human life, Pope Francis frequently denounced a “throwaway culture” where anyone not considered “useful” was seen as disposable–including the unborn and the aged.
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Poor and powerful pray for eternal repose of a pope ‘with an open heart’
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published April 26, 2025Pope Francis was “a pope among the people, with an open heart toward everyone,” said Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, as he presided over the funeral of the pope.
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Prayer, pilgrims accompany pope’s body to basilica
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published April 23, 2025To the chanting of “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live,” the mortal remains of Pope Francis were carried into St. Peter’s Basilica.
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Pope’s funeral set for April 26, public viewing April 23-25
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published April 22, 2025The funeral Mass of Pope Francis will be celebrated April 26 in St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican announced. Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside over the liturgy.
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With pastor’s touch, Pope Francis preached mercy, embraced ‘peripheries’
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published April 21, 2025Pope Francis, who died April 21 at age 88, gave new energy to millions of Catholics–and caused concern for some–as he transformed the image of the papacy into a pastoral ministry based on personal encounters and strong convictions about mission, poverty, immigration and dialogue.
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Pope Francis’ last Easter message: Jesus’ resurrection makes Christians pilgrims of hope
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published April 21, 2025The hope Christians have is not a sign of avoiding reality but of trusting in God’s power to defeat sin and death as the resurrection of Jesus shows, Pope Francis wrote in his final Easter message. The pope died a few hours later.
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US cardinal announces pope’s death to the world
By BY CAROL GLATZ, Catholic News Service
Published April 21, 2025U.S. Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, the “camerlengo” or chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, announced to the world that Pope Francis had died April 21 at the age of 88.
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On Palm Sunday, recovering pope says to carry the cross with compassion
By JUSTIN MCLELLAN, Catholic News Service
Published April 13, 2025Carrying the cross means stepping into the pain of others and walking beside them, Pope Francis wrote at the start of Holy Week. The pope made a surprise appearance at the end of the Palm Sunday Mass at the Vatican.
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Ailing pope surprises pilgrims during Jubilee of the sick
By JUSTIN MCLELLAN, Catholic News Service
Published April 6, 2025With thousands of infirmed people and caregivers gathered for Mass April 6 in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis, seated in a wheelchair, made an unexpected appearance to greet the crowd.
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Vatican releases first photo of Pope Francis since his hospitalization
By CINDY WOODEN, Catholic News Service
Published March 16, 2025For the first time since Pope Francis was hospitalized in mid-February, the Vatican press office released a photograph of him March 16; the image shows him concelebrating Mass that morning in the chapel of his suite of rooms at Rome’s Gemelli hospital.