Sylvia Poggioli has covered several papal conclaves and the Vatican for decades. For this week's reporter's notebook, she reflects on what it's like to cover one of the most secretive institutions in ...

Pope Francis was the spiritual leader of the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics, head of state of the Vatican and proprietor in trust of the Vatican’s great collection of art and historic architecture.

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín, who welcomed the decision to fly flags at half-mast over public buildings, said there should be an official period of mourning, pointing to steps taken in Spain, Cuba and ...

In life, Pope Francis strayed from the more conservative path forged by his predecessors Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict ... behind the Last Judgment wall of the Sistine Chapel.

The papal conclave will take place as usual in the hallowed space of the Sistine Chapel. What is the history of this famous ...

The first Latin American pope, known for speaking out against social injustice, leaves behind a complicated legacy.

VATICAN CITY - When Pope John Paul II died on the evening of April 2 ... close to St. Peter's Basilica and an imposing centuries-old defensive wall that forms a border between the world's smallest ...

Amid the Cold War in 1982 – just years before the Berlin Wall fell in 1989 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 – President Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II met at the Vatican.

Pope Benedict had inherited an avalanche of sexual abuse cases from his predecessor, Pope John Paul ... Rupnik’s art has featured in church buildings globally and was seen on the wall in Pope ...

The most recent pope to die in office, Pope John Paul II, was buried in 2005 ... adding that “they have a wall around the Vatican.” In a televised interview in January, Homan added ...