The eventful Avignon Papacy included three different popes ruling at the same time and an Irish king complaining about the English ...

The history of the papacy is filled with unusual, dramatic events. From a pope put on trial after death to a resignation that ...

Discussions of succession scenarios have been accelerated by the pontiff’s bout with double pneumonia and warnings that he ...

Pope Francis approved a three-year plan focused on implementing the reforms initiated by his recent synod on synodality.

Rome — The voice of Pope Francis was heard by the public on Thursday night for the first time since he was admitted to a hospital three weeks earlier. The message was recorded from the 88-year ...

LONDON (AP) — Friday marks three weeks since Pope Francis was hospitalized for bronchitis, which then led to double pneumonia. He was also treated for a complex lung infection and has suffered ...

The Egyptians treated them with reverence and adoration having, first domesticated them 4,000 years ago. Since then the small, carnivorous mammals have played a major part in religion, folklore, art, ...

Pope Gregory I (590–604 AD ... Church doctrine helped him maintain stability throughout his reign. Pope Pius VI (1775–1799): 24 years — Pius VI faced some of the most severe challenges ...

Due to political turmoil, it took more than two years to elect Pope Gregory X in 1271. To ensure the papal election ... It was not always this way. Pope Paul VI introduced the threshold in 1970 and it ...

After the death of Gregory XI in 1378, the cardinals elected Pope Urban VI but soon regretted it. A few months later, they deposed him and elected a new pope. Catholics now had two popes ...

Back in 1975, Pope Paul VI directed that the number of cardinals who can elect a vicar of Christ, should not be more than 120, but this has been exceeded in the last three pontificates.

Pope Francis, 88, has been in Rome's Gemelli Hospital since Feb. 14. LONDON and ROME -- Pope Francis' health condition has shown slight improvement in the last 24 hours, according to the Vatican ...