'Conclave' and Ralph Fiennes go for the (papal) throne

NEW YORK (AP) — Robert Harris had just completed a trilogy of novels about Cicero when he watched the election of Pope Benedict live on television. As a chronicler of power and its mutations, the scene — the Sistine Chapel smoke signaling a decision, of course, but also the whole, secretive...

Peruvian theologian the Rev. Gustavo Gutiérrez, father of influential liberation theology, has died

LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peruvian theologian the Rev. Gustavo Gutiérrez, the father of the social justice-centered liberation theology that the Vatican once criticized for its Marxist undercurrents, has died. He was 96. The Dominican Order in Peru announced on social media that the...

China and the Vatican agree to extend an agreement on appointing bishops

BEIJING (AP) — China and the Vatican have agreed to extend a provisional agreement on the appointment of Catholic bishops in China for four more years, officials said Tuesday. The 2018 agreement, extended twice previously, was an attempt under Pope Francis to bridge long-standing...

Zelenskyy appeals to allies to keep up aid as Germany pledges new weapons package

BERLIN (AP) — President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday it's important that allies' aid to Ukraine doesn't decrease next year as he received a pledge of a new weapons package from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on a European tour meant to win backing for his “victory plan” aimed at ending the...

Pope names 21 new cardinals, significantly increasing the pool who will one day elect his successor

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis named 21 new cardinals Sunday, significantly increasing the size of the College of Cardinals and further cementing his mark on the group of prelates who will one day elect his successor. They include a man who will be the oldest cardinal — Monsignor...

Catholic reform debate launched by Pope Francis leans away from ordained roles for women

ROME (AP) — Debate was leaning away from allowing women to take on ordained roles in the Catholic Church as the second phase of Pope Francis’ reform project opened Wednesday with an agenda topped by calls for women to take up more positions of responsibility Francis presided...

Vatican bank fires newlywed couple for violating a new workplace marriage ban

ROME (AP) — The Vatican bank confirmed Wednesday it has fired two employees on the grounds that their recent wedding violates a new ban on workplace marriages. The Institute for Religious Works said it took the “difficult decision” to fire the couple, who have three children,...

Tone deaf and color blind? Catholic Church struggles to keep accused abusers out of religious art

BRUSSELS (AP) — Little brings more heavenly bliss to the faithful or otherworldly wonder to casual visitors than ethereal hymns cascading amid the columns of Catholic cathedrals. That is, unless the composer is a known molester or someone accused of sexual abuse. A few days before...

Pope expels a bishop and 9 other people from a Peru movement over 'sadistic' abuses

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis took the unusual decision Wednesday to expel 10 people – a bishop, priests and laypeople -- from a troubled Catholic movement in Peru after a Vatican investigation uncovered “sadistic” abuses of power, authority and spirituality. The move...

Pope Francis expels 10 people from a troubled Catholic movement in Peru after a Vatican investigation uncovered abuses