Vatican
Leo XIV’s papacy is off to a surprisingly promising start
Rome In the days before the conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV, traditionalist Catholics were so worried about interference from…
The Pope’s funeral was symbolic of the man
The funeral of Pope Francis is perhaps his last chance to set his mark on the papacy. The ever so…
Does China have Vatican City in its sights?
Last Sunday the Vatican released the first photograph of Pope Francis since his ordeal began. He was wearing a stole…
The strange beauty of the vigil for the Pope
Steady rain during the day stopped just before Monday’s evening prayers for Pope Francis in Saint Peter’s Square. A line…
We need safeguarding from safeguarders
What does it mean, in practice, to say that reporting child abuse should be mandatory? It sounds appropriately severe, but…
Pope Benedict helped me know and love Christ
It was Benedict XVI’s election as Pope, his speeches and his writings that prompted my conversion, and it was his…
What is Pope Francis up to?
If you think your diary looks busy over the next few days, spare a thought for Pope Francis. The 85-year-old,…
Mourning glory
The room is immersed in semi-darkness. Light filters down from above, glistening on polished marble as if it were flesh.…
The truth behind the Pope Benedict inquiry
How are we to interpret the revelation that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI misled a sex abuse inquiry? That might seem an…
Pope vs church
Francis’s haphazard reforms risk sparking a Catholic civil war
The Catholic crack-up
It’s not just Vatican infighting any more. Pope Francis has a potential schism on his hands
The Vatican
The sun has only just risen in Rome and we are standing bleary-eyed in a short queue outside the Vatican.…
The Catholic civil war
Uncertainty over how much reform Pope Francis wants is splitting his church into factions
Diary
I feel a bit about the Scottish referendum as I did about the 2005 Ashes series. In both cases, those of…
The fantasy Francis
Trendy commentators have fallen in love with a pope of their own invention
