The ultimate goal of all Church activities, including WYD, is evangelization, which is the raison d’être of the Church ...

Francis came second in the 2005 conclave in which Benedict XVI succeeded ... in the modern era. The last pope to renunciate his title was Gregory XII in 1415. Much of Benedict’s time as Pope ...

When a pope dies, or more rarely resigns (Francis's direct predecessor, Benedict XVI, was the first to step down since Gregory XII in 1415), the college of cardinals gathers in the Vatican to ...

In addition to the building of Dublin’s Whitefriar St. church, Our Lady of Mount St. Carmel, in 1826, Spratt also founded St ...

In 1837, Pope Gregory XVI (1830-1846) also carried the image in procession throughout Rome to ask Our Lady for an end to an epidemic of cholera. When it soon ended, the Pontiff solemnly placed crowns ...

Hocus Pocus, I see a crocus! Ding-a-ling-a-ling! Here comes Spring! At this very special time of year, however, thoughts may tend towards roses and wine rather than crocuses. Before wending their ...

perhaps a pope more in the mould of John Paul II or Benedict XVI. It was therefore not a complete surprise – even if the robust language left many speechless – that the day after Pell’s ...

In 1839, Pope Gregory XVI issued a Bull, entitled In Supremo. Its main focus was against slave trading, but it also clearly condemned racial slavery: We, by apostolic authority, warn and strongly ...

The Order of St Gregory was established on 1 September 1831 by Pope Gregory XVI. The order is bestowed on Catholic men and women in recognition of their service to the Church, unusual labours, support ...