Appeasement: Adolph Hitler meeting Cesare Orsenigo, the papal nuncio to Germany, in 1935.
US Holocaust Museum/Wikimedia Commons
Between 1939 and 1945, Pope Pius XII put the interests of the Catholic Church in Germany before the fate of European Jews.
Christian Palestinian tattoo artist Walid Ayash draws a tattoo on the arm of a Coptic Egyptian pilgrim on April 28, 2016, at his studio in Bethlehem.
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Historically, many Christians got tattoos around Holy Week − usually a cross − to honor Christ’s martyrdom.
A priest and Catholic worshippers pray in front of an image of ‘Sangre de Cristo,’ burned in a fire on July 2020, at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Managua.
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When President Daniel Ortega returned to power in 2006, church figures supported him. Violent repression after the 2018 protests has soured the relationship and made clergy targets for intimidation.
Delegates attend the opening of the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Oct. 4, 2023, at the Vatican.
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Pope Francis’ Synod on Synodality is attempting to move the church toward a more dialogue-based model of authority, a scholar of Catholicism explains.
Pope Francis (in white) at the opening session of a major congress on the Catholic Church’s future on 4 October 2023.
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Divisions and tensions in the global church are affecting the church in Africa.
Pope Francis leads a prayer vigil at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City on Sept. 30, 2023.
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As the Synod of Bishops meets in Rome, a Catholic theologian explains the preparations that went into the consultative process and what it says about Pope Francis’ vision for the future church.
Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to meet the tiny Catholic community of Mongolia is drawing considerable interest.
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A scholar of Roman Catholicism explains why Pope Francis’ visit to Mongolia, home to fewer than 1,500 Catholics, is significant.
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Hernias are common. Not all need surgery. Here’s what we know about hernias, who’s most at risk, and how they’re treated.
The shrine at Lourdes, France, where the Virgin Mary is venerated as ‘Our Lady of Lourdes,’ following several apparitions reported in 1858.
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The Vatican plans to set up an ‘observatory’ to investigate apparitions of the Virgin Mary. A scholar of global Christianity explains why this is a major shift in how apparitions are authenticated.
Mary is often depicted weeping, a reminder of the ‘Seven Sorrows’ the Bible recounts her suffering.
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Investigating supernatural claims is a delicate task for the church, and Catholic leaders rarely label them as authentic.
Moro’s bullet-riddled body lays in the boot of a car in Via Caetani, in central Rome, on 9 May 1978.
UPI/AFP
Marco Bellochio’s series is the latest interpretation of a murder that continues to haunt Italy.
Last week, Pope Francis repudiated a 500-year-old-decree justifying colonialism. This image is from last summer: at Lac Ste. Anne, Alta., in Canada.
(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
The Vatican has repudiated the Doctrine of Discovery, a 500-year-old decree used to justify settler colonialism. Scholar Veldon Coburn explains this symbolic victory and what still needs to happen.
Pope Francis at Martyrs Stadium in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, in February 2023.
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Pope Francis’ papacy is anchored on what he calls a “revolution of tenderness”.
Pope Francis attends his weekly general audience in Vatican City on Feb. 15, 2023.
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‘I see the church as a field hospital,’ Pope Francis once said – not a place where superficial solutions will do much good.
Pope Francis on a visit to Madagascar in 2019.
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He will have a joyful welcome but a difficult task - to challenge negative values while enabling a more African Catholic church.
Pope Francis in Nairobi, Kenya, during his first papal visit to the African continent in 2015.
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African Catholics are growing in number. They are also reinventing and reinterpreting Christianity.
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Pell, often described as a conservative Catholic, was jailed for child sexual abuse in Australia in 2019 but maintained his innocence and was acquitted the following year.
Pope Francis.
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From the earliest years of Christianity, some people have been recognised as having lived exceptionally holy lives.
Cardinal Joseph Zen has long supported protesters and critiqued China.
AP Photo/Kin Cheung
A scholar of philosophy and foreign policy explains why Cardinal Zen poses a threat to the Chinese Communist Party as a competing source of political authority.
Pope John Paul I greets the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in August 1978.
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Popes’ roles have changed over time. Some periods produced plenty of saintly popes, while others are notorious for the opposite.