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.
Public Christmas trees, like Rockefeller Center’s famous tree, didn’t start appearing in the U.S. until the 20th century.
Nicholas Hunt/WireImage via Getty Images
Evergreens have long served as symbols of life during the bleakness of winter. But Queen Victoria spurred the tradition that has become a global phenomenon.
The National Shrine of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini in Chicago recently offered indulgences.
Myriam Renaud
The Catholic Church practice of granting indulgences, criticized by Martin Luther in the 16th century, still exists, as part of the doctrine – but in a different form.
A woman prays in front of a statue of the martyred Catholic archbishop of El Salvador, Oscar Romero, known for his embrace of liberation theology.
Vlady Chicas/picture alliance via Getty Images
The influential movement, which is still controversial both inside and outside Catholicism, must be understood in the context of Latin American history.
Rosaries are meant for praying anywhere and anytime.
Anderson Mouzinho/EyeEm via Getty Images
Rosaries are meant to be used wherever, whenever – and each one tells a story.
Volunteers laugh during a 2020 meeting of Jolt, a nonprofit that works to increase civic participation of Latinos in Texas.
Mark Felix/AFP/AFP via Getty Images
A substantial majority were concerned about the prevalence of abuse, racism, and sexism in church contexts, and many raised issues relating to transparency and accountability.
German Bishop Georg Bätzing talks with members of various Catholic youth organizations holding up umbrellas reading “Consecration for All” and “Jesus had two fathers.”
Sebastian Gollnow/Picture Alliance via Getty Images
The Catholic Church’s membership numbers are growing fastest outside Europe and the Americas, and Catholics’ priorities look very different across the world.
Pope John Paul I greets the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican in August 1978.
Keystone/Hulton Archive via Getty Images
As Japanese victims struggled to process the nuclear attack, many turned to religion. The way they understood the horror still has consequences today.
A mural in Kyiv depicts the Virgin Mary cradling a U.S.-made anti-tank weapon, a Javelin, which is considered a symbol of Ukraine’s defense against Russia.
AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Dorian Llywelyn, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
Many religions have been used to prop up nationalism, and Catholicism is no exception, as a Jesuit priest and scholar explains.
Research shows that short spacing between childbirth and another pregnancy comes with heightened health risks.
Aleksandr Kirillov/EyeEm via Getty Images
Many people do not realize they are delivering at a Catholic hospital, and others may not have a choice. But where one receives care has a profound impact on the birth control options they’re offered.
‘The Holy Family,’ by the 17th-century Spanish painter Bartolome Esteban Murillo.
The Print Collector/Hulton Fine Images via Getty Images
Father Damien’s legacy has inspired health providers and humanitarians for over a century.
Venezuelan priest Arturo Sosa Abascal, second from right, receives congratulations after being chosen as new superior general of the Jesuits in 2016.
Franco Origlia/Getty Images News via Getty Images