The pontiff’s bout with double pneumonia, and warnings that he could be significantly diminished, have accelerated ...

For much of the church’s history, the pope’s body was closely associated with the sanctity of his office, as the papal ...

March 13, 2025, marks Francis' 12th anniversary as pope. He holds the ninth longest papacy of the past 200 years.

The pope’s words emphasized his humility and belief that simple acts of devotion could unite the church. His illness has made ...

Pope Francis was hospitalized on Feb. 14, after suffering a bout of bronchitis for weeks and after increasingly finding it ...

Of those popes, Francis has the ninth-longest papacy so far.Over the past 200 years, the longest papacy reign was that of Pope Pius IX, who served over 31 years from 1846 to 1878. The shortest was ...

An old saying about the Vatican holds that “the pope is never sick until he’s dead,” and this position has held true in ...