Walking into St. Peter’s Basilica, there he was, depicted in a huge mural on a wall. He still wasn’t smiling, although he ...

Canonized by Pope Pius XI in 1925, then declared a doctor of the Church by John Paul II in 1997 ... began on Jan. 4 and will continue until next Christmas, with a weekend of celebrations taking ...

When the late Pope Francis defended migrants ... a country that is not one’s own, and Pius XII called this vagueness into question. In his 1952 Christmas message, he argued that it resulted ...

The previous Leo, the 13th of that name, was pope for 25 years ... His predecessor, Pius IX, prince of fools, had lost the Papal States and most of the Church’s earthly power, and he had ...

Progressive contenders such as Tagle or Cardinal Matteo Zuppi might select Francis II, directly aligning themselves ... and a more hierarchical Church. Pope Pius XII is a particularly contentious ...

Francis himself quipped that his successor would be John XXIV, after the progressive Vatican II-era pope. The most popular papal name of the 20th century, Pius, would be a clear signal that a ...

At the Nativity Scene and Christmas Tree ... During the Holocaust, Pope Pius XII famously kept silent about the fate of Europe’s Jews even though evidence suggests that he knew of the plans for ...

Pope Francis, 88, was recently diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia, and as concerned Catholics around the world pray for the Holy Father, the Vatican revealed last week that he will remain ...

This method of preservation was adopted after an unexpected incident involving the embalming of Pope Pius XII in October 1958. Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to ...

Until then, such battles had been fought only by far-right groups like the Society of St. Pius X, founded by the rebel ... leaves the Clementina Hall during the Christmas greetings of the Roman Curia ...

Most highly anticipated were the Church’s records from World War II. Pope Pius XII served as Pope from ... and UN structures. His pre-Christmas address in 2024 was typical: “Yesterday, childre ...