The papacy, an institution stretching back nearly two millennia, represents one of history's longest unbroken lines of ...

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 ...

Giulio took the name Clement VII when elected pope himself in 1524, following which he commissioned Michelangelo to paint The Last Judgement for the Sistine Chapel. He also took over as architect ...

The Vatican officially became the permanent papal seat in 1377. This was after Pope Gregory XI moved the papacy back to Rome from Avignon, France, where it had been located for nearly 70 years.

Pope Leo XIV, elected on Thursday ... regular — priests who followed St. Augustine’s rule — and one, Gregory VIII, was a member of the Norbertine order, which also follows St. Augustine ...

Cardinal Ratzinger was ordained pope on April 19, 2005, and resigned on February 28, 2013. Like Benedict, the name Gregory was also used by 16 popes, making it the second most popular name for ...

Tight control over food in the conclave started in 1274 when Pope Gregory X decreed that cardinal electors would get only one meal a day if the papal voting took longer than three days.

The last conclave to last more than a week was in 1831, when Pope Gregory XVI was elected after 51 days of voting. Here’s a breakdown of how the length of conclaves has changed in recent years.