The death of Pope Francis Monday at the age of 88 has set into motion the process of selecting a new leader of the Roman Catholic Church, a ritual that has remained largely unchanged for centuries.

The Catholic News Agency earlier this year reported a slight increase in the number of Catholics globally, with the population growing to 1.406 billion in 2023 from 1.39 billion in 2022.

The secretive process to elect a new Roman Catholic pope begins May 7, two weeks after Pope Francis’ death at age 88.. Fans of the Oscar-nominated movie Conclave, which is about a papal election ...

Al Pac Monday, becoming the first movie star to have an audience with the new pope. A delegation from the film, Maserati: The Brothers, which Pacino is in, met with the pope at the Vatican Monday.