Leo XIV’s first apostolic exhortation focuses on loving the poor. Conservative American Catholics are sure to lose their ...

“Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the new Pope Benedict XVI, worked in close partnership with his predecessor and shared a belief in staunchly defending orthodox Catholic doctrine. There is no reason to ...

Pope Francis voted for Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, in the 2005 conclave that followed the death of St. John Paul II. "He was the only one who could be pope at that time," ...

I was rushing out as the crowd was rushing in. It was about six minutes after the bells began to toll over St. Peter’s Square, confirming that the smoke was white and we indeed had a Papam. The ...

In the days before the conclave, almost every Cardinal who deigned to speak to the press declared that he was praying to the Holy Spirit for guidance in choosing the successor to John Paul II. The ...

Francis A. Sullivan, S.J., in an undated photo(CNS photo/Lee Pellegrini, Boston University) Among the issues raised at this year’s session of the Synod on Synodality was that of the role and authority ...

“Simple and humble worker” had served as head of the Vatican office on church doctrine. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected the first German pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church in almost five ...

Embed <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4607210/4607211" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player"> Roman ...

NPR's Eric Weiner reports from Vatican City in Rome, where the cardinals have chosen Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany as successor to the late Pope John Paul II. Thousands of faithful gathered ...

For more than 30 years, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna has been at the center of the Church’s life — far beyond the confines of Austria. His retirement this week at age 80 marks the end of a ...