VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis formally began his ministry as bishop of Rome and as pope by pledging to protect the Catholic Church, the dignity of each person and the beauty of creation, just like St. Joseph protected Mary and Jesus. "To protect creation, to protect every man and every woman,...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Without faith in Christ's sacrifice on the cross, the church is nothing more than a "pitiful NGO (non-governmental organization)," Pope Francis said in his first homily as pope. "When one does not confess Christ," he said, "one confesses the worldliness of the devil." The pope...
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JERUSALEM (CNS) -- Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal commended Pope Francis on his election with the traditional Arabic greeting of "Alf mabrouk," or "1,000 congratulations." "There is depth in our communion. Holy Father, it is with gratitude and great hope that we look forward to all that you do for the...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis began his first full day as pope with an early morning act of Marian devotion -- and by paying the bill at the clergy hotel where he had stayed before entering the conclave that elected him. The new pope left the Domus Sanctae Marthae at 8 a.m. March 14 for a five...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The church has turned to religious orders for popes at various times over the centuries, often when in need of a reformer, and such may have been the cardinals' thinking again when they elected Pope Francis. He is the world's first Jesuit pope, and the cardinal electors knew t...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- To the delighted surprise of many, clouds of white smoke poured from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel March 13, indicating a pope had been elected on the conclave's fifth ballot. The smoke signal went off at 7:05 p.m. The 115 cardinals gathered to elect the 266th...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76 was elected the 266th pope and took the name Francis. The election March 13 came on the first full day of the conclave on the conclave's fifth ballot. It was a surprisingly quick conclusion to a conclave that began with many plausib...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Despite the rain, thousands of people filled St. Peter's Square after dark March 12, the first evening of the conclave, to witness the black smoke that signaled the Catholic Church's 115 cardinal electors had failed, as expected, to elect a pope on the first ballot. The smoke...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Invoking the aid of the Holy Spirit and the holy men and women from all over the world recognized as saints, 115 cardinals processed slowly into the Sistine Chapel to begin the process to elect a pope. Once in the chapel, the cardinals from 48 countries vowed that, if elected...
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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The 115 cardinals participating in the conclave will know the identity of the new pope before the rest of the world, but their advance knowledge is likely to last for well over an hour, and even more in the unlikely event that the candidate they choose is not in the Sistine Ch...
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