Catholic Church

The election of the first American pope has tax lawyers wondering if the IRS will try to collect taxes on the new Pontiff’s in-kind compensation.

Peruvians are enthusiastically celebrating the election on Thursday of Pope Leo XIV as the 267th Bishop of Rome.

Pope Leo XIV delivered his first homily on Friday morning since being elected to be the terrestrial head of the Catholic Church, emphasizing the challenge of leading people to Jesus in a world that often disparages the faith as “absurd” or “weak.”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a brief statement on Friday congratulating Pope Leo XIV on his ascent to the helm of the Catholic Church.

Pope Leo XIV, the newly-elected leader of the Catholic Church, previously opposed the promotion of gender theory.

The Catholic Church elected its new leader on Thursday when the conclave ended with the selection of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost.

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago was chosen by the College of Cardinals to be the new pope of the Catholic Church, making him the first American pope in the Church’s 2,000-year history. The Chicago native chose the papal name Leo XIV. White smoke appeared above the Sistine Chapel at approximately 6:08 p.m. Rome time, followed by the chiming of the Vatican’s bells, which confirmed for the faithful that a new successor of St. Peter the Apostle was indeed chosen. 

Hindu nationalist Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi honored the memory of the recently deceased Pope Francis during an event on Friday, stating that the late Catholic pontiff “will always inspire me.”

Even for non-Catholics, the pope is a figure of world significance who can affect politics in every nation around the globe, as Francis, the first pope from Latin America, clearly did.

A commencement date for the conclave to elect a successor to the late Pope Francis was announced Monday by the Vatican.

Roman Catholic faithful began visiting the tomb of Pope Francis on Sunday, filing past the simple white tomb in St. Mary Major Basilica a day after he was bade farewell by the powerful of the world and a crowd of hundreds of thousands.

Catholic faithful around the world expressed indignation this week after videos and pictures of individuals taking selfies next to Pope Francis’s open casket began circulating on social media.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry offered brief condolences over the death of Pope Francis on Tuesday, over a day after the announcement of his passing, crediting him meagerly for “useful” exchanges with Beijing.

The Vatican kept the doors of  St. Peter’s Basilica open all night Wednesday due to higher-than-expected turnout of Catholic faithful determined to bid farewell to the late Pope Francis.

The Vatican opened St. Peter’s Basilica to the general public Wednesday to pay their final respects to Pope Francis, with thousands of people filling the central aisle and Swiss Guards standing at attention.

Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, never visited his birthplace Argentina in the 12 years of his papacy.

The Marxist leaders of Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and Colombia all offered statements honoring the legacy of the late Pope Francis on Monday, embracing him as a friend to their cause.

The Vatican on Tuesday published the final thoughts of the late Pope Francis on the afterlife, in an essay he wrote in February, in which he declared that “death is not the end.”

In the wake of Pope Francis’ passing on Easter Monday, the Catholic Church will begin the process of selecting the next Bishop of Rome, thereby setting the future course of the Church and its 1.3 billion followers.

President Donald J. Trump has ordered all United States flags on government and military properties to be lowered to half-staff in memory of His Holiness Pope Francis on the morning after his passing.

The death of a pope starts a centuries-old ritual involving sacred oaths by the cardinals electing a successor, the piercing of ballots with a needle and thread after they’re counted, and then burning them to produce either the white or black smoke to signal if there’s a new leader for the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics.

Heads of state and religious leaders around the world offered condolences and messages honoring Pope Francis following the announcement of his passing on Monday, honoring him as compassionate, warm, and a “moral beacon” in a divided world.

With the death of Pope Francis at the age of 88 early Monday morning, the question is posed: who will replace him and how will it be decided?

In Paris, the bells of the recently restored Notre Dame rung out and football matches across Italy are cancelled in mourning. 

Pope Francis has died, the Vatican announced early Monday morning in Rome. He was 88.

A record number of adults in France are expected to have received baptism across the country on Easter, primarily driven by young people joining the Catholic Church.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance and his family were at the Vatican for Good Friday services to celebrate Easter. The convalescing pope did not attend.

Rosario Murillo, wife of communist dictator Daniel Ortega and “co-president” of Nicaragua, praised the “heroism of Jesus Christ” on Tuesday in an address ignoring the fact that her regime has banned Holy Week processions in the country.

The communist regime of Cuba banned Christians in Havana from celebrating the traditional Solemn Stations of the Cross on Sunday, Cuban outlets reported.

A convalescing Pope Francis greeted the crowd in St. Peter’s Square on Palm Sunday, wishing more than 20,000 faithful a “Good Palm Sunday, a good Holy Week,” in yet another reassuring public sign of his recovery from a life-threatening battle with double pneumonia.

Nicaragua is forcing the nation’s Catholic priests to present themselves at local police stations weekly for questioning and submitting their homilies for review, the online Catholic outlet The Pillar reported on Wednesday.

The U.S. Catholic Church is shutting down some of its migration work amid pressure from ordinary Catholics and the U.S. government. 

Pope Francis made a surprise entrance to St. Peter´s Square during a special Jubilee Mass for the sick and health workers on Sunday, marking his first public appearance at the Vatican since his release from the hospital two weeks ago.

A Tulsa, Oklahoma, man was arrested after a Catholic priest was shot and fatally wounded outside his parish rectory in Seneca, Kansas, on Thursday.

The Nicaraguan newspaper La Prensa reported on Monday that the communist regime turned the seized Episcopal Curia of Matagalpa into the location of a social security-affiliated company and stole all of the relics housed therein.

Pope Francis has shown “a truly surprising improvement” since returning to the Vatican to convalesce after surviving a life-threatening bout with double-pneumonia, the doctor who coordinated the pontiff’s five-week hospitalization said Saturday.