The subject of numerous controversies, she is defined by ambiguity, welcoming outcasts to the Church and provoking more ...

Even in the last years of his life, despite significant health problems, Pope Francis was seen in a wheelchair praying in ...

Pope Francis’ tomb is made of Ligurian (Italian) marble with the sole inscription “FRANCISCUS” and a reproduction of his ...

Here are the key things to know about the funeral of the first Latin American pontiff in the church’s history.

The death of a pope sets in motion a series of carefully orchestrated rites and rituals well before the conclave to elect his ...

Pope Francis will be buried in a simple underground tomb at St. Mary Major Basilica, rather than St. Peter’s Cathedral or its crypt alongside previous popes. St. Mary Major Basilica is home to his ...

This reflects his veneration of an icon of the Virgin Mary ... painting that features an image of Mary, draped in a blue robe, holding the infant Jesus, who in turn holds a jewelled golden book.

The cardinals met Tuesday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ ...

Before and after every foreign trip, Francis would stop to pray before the image of Mary draped in a blue robe, holding the infant Jesus. Francis last went to pray at the icon before Holy Week.

In the Renaissance, European artists began to combine the icon and the ... Ottoman empires. But Jesus’ light skin and blues eyes suggest that he is not Middle Eastern but European-born. And the ...