For the first time in modern history, the apostolic nuncio to the United Kingdom has celebrated Mass in England’s most ...

Centuries ago, Pope Gregory VII forced King Henry IV to kneel barefoot in the snow, symbolizing the Church’s triumph over the state.

Centuries ago, Pope Gregory VII forced King Henry IV to kneel barefoot in the snow, symbolizing the Church’s triumph over the state.

Matilda of Canossa, the Margravine of Tuscany who militarily and materially made possible Pope Gregory VII’s famous Investiture Controversy slap-down of the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV ...

Six hundred years later, Pope Gregory VII forced the brilliant monarch of the Holy Roman Empire, Henry IV, to walk barefoot in the snow for miles before granting him forgiveness at Canossa, Italy.

Because of the antipopes, there are 21 Johns, but no Pope John XX, and eight Bonifaces but no Pope Boniface VII. John and Gregory are the most common names among the popes.

As the first pope to come from North America and a well-respected moderate, Pope Leo XIV has the chance to unite the church.

Pope Leo XIII, who was head of the Catholic Church from 1878 to 1903, laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought, most famously with his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed ...

Whether it is Francis II, Leo XIV, or a never-before-used name, a new pope's chosen name sends an early signal about his priorities and vision for the Church.

Explore historical trivia behind the longest conclave and the shortest, the oldest pope and the youngest and a handful of antipopes as well.