A change in popes -- through death or resignation -- is a complicated process, with centuries-old rituals involving the transition in leadership for both the spiritual head of the global Catholic Church and the Vatican's head of state.

07 May 2025 13:12 ✍️ RSS THE WASHINGTON TIMES

With all the pomp, drama and solemnity that the Catholic Church can muster, 133 cardinals began the centuries-old ritual to elect a successor to Pope Francis, celebrating a morning Mass on Wednesday before opening the most geographically diverse conclave in the faith's 2,000-year history.

07 May 2025 11:25 ✍️ RSS THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Some African theologians are pushing back as Catholic conservatives around the globe rally behind outspoken Cardinal Robert Sarah, casting the Guinea prelate as their ideal pope and a hero of the culture war.

06 May 2025 21:59 ✍️ RSS THE WASHINGTON TIMES

They don't have a vote in the election of a pope, but nearly 900 superiors of the world's female religious orders gathered in Rome on Monday to chart a course forward, just a few miles away from where cardinals will begin voting this week to choose a successor to Pope Francis.

05 May 2025 10:22 ✍️ RSS THE WASHINGTON TIMES

A Brazilian nun who was the world's oldest living person at 116 years old died this week. A British woman, currently 115 years old, is now the world's oldest.

02 May 2025 18:57 ✍️ RSS THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Supreme Court justices struggled Wednesday to decide whether Oklahoma can open the nation's first religious charter school in a case that goes to the heart of whether charters are public or private institutions.

30 Apr 2025 22:00 ✍️ RSS THE WASHINGTON TIMES