The College of Cardinals is an important part of the church’s governance structure. Its members elect the next pope and help develop future policies for the church.
People pray in front of the tomb of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI inside the grottos of St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, on Jan. 8, 2023.
AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia
A specialist in Catholic liturgy and rituals explains that while several popes have been canonized, it is a long process that may take several years to examine and uncover any hidden flaws.
Pope Benedict XVI waves as he is driven through a crowd during his weekly general audience, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, on June 2, 2010.
AP Photo/Andrew Medichini
Catholics disagree over how to adapt the church’s doctrine and practices, especially marriage, to different cultures.
Pope Benedict XVI acknowledges the crowd during an audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Oct.24, 2007. A January 2022 report faulted his handling of several sex abuse cases.
AP Photo/Plinio Lepri
Pope Benedict XVI’s many years of wrestling with the abuse crisis highlight the Catholic Church’s broader challenges addressing it.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI sits in St. Peter’s Basilica Dec. 8, 2015. A long-awaited report on sexual abuse faulted his handling of four cases.
AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia
A German report accused retired Pope Benedict XVI of mishandling several cases of sexual abuse in the 1970s and 1980s. Here are a few of our related articles on the Catholic Church’s crisis.
Sir Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce star in ‘The Two Popes.’
(Netflix)
The Catholic Church has historically been unwilling to extend full priesthood to women. However, Pope Francis could take the lead in ordaining women to become deacons, a scholar says.
In late November, the Vatican confirmed that Pope Francis is going to visit the United States of America for the World Meeting of Families that will take place in Philadelphia at the end of September 2015…
Pope Benedict XVI open to prosecution after he steps down?
EPA/Claudio Peri
Not a day goes by without further allegations of rape and sexual abuse being made against the Catholic Church. The vast majority of accusations relate to abuse perpetrated outside the Vatican’s walls…
Pope Benedict XVI greeting pilgrims from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica soon after his election in 2005.
Georgi Licovski/EPA
As the news of Pope Benedict XVI’s dramatic resignation sinks in, the speculation on his successor has inevitably begun. Will we see the first black Pope? The first South American Pope? Just as it happened…
Pope Benedict XVI, who recently announced that he will resign from the papacy this month.
AAP/Claudio Peri
Pope Benedict XVI announced his historic decision to step aside as Pope yesterday. This is the first time in 600 years a Pope has resigned. And in 1415 when Gregory XII resigned, he did so not to retire…
Pope Benedict XVI has announced plans to step down on February 28, citing the job’s pressures and his advanced age.
Alessandro Di Meo/EPA
“There is not, and there never was on this earth, a work of human policy so well deserving examination as the Roman Catholic Church.” So wrote Thomas Babington Macaulay in his review of Leopold von Ranke’s…