By Catholic News Service  WASHINGTON (CNS) — Catholic leaders worldwide expressed words of hope and joy in calling upon Catholics to come together as one body behind the papacy of Pope Francis. International political leaders also offered words of congratulations and pledged to work with the new pontiff on common

By Francis X. Rocca & Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 76, the leader of a large urban archdiocese in Latin America, was elected the 266th pope and took the name Francis. He is the first pope in history to come from

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — While the 115 cardinal electors have been locked in the Sistine Chapel voting for a new pope, the elder members of the College of Cardinals have been sitting out the election. Ninety of the world’s cardinals are 80 years old

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — More black smoke poured from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel at 11:40 a.m. March 13, which seemed to indicate the 115 cardinal electors failed to elect a pope on their second and third ballots. The cardinals

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Despite the rain, thousands of people filled St. Peter’s Square after dark March 12, the first evening of the conclave, to witness the black smoke that signaled the Catholic Church’s 115 cardinal electors had failed, as expected, to elect a

By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Invoking the aid of the Holy Spirit and the holy men and women from all over the world recognized as saints, 115 cardinals processed slowly into the Sistine Chapel to begin the process to elect a pope. Once in the

By Carol Zimmermann Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A respected Italian journal said Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, a 76-year-old Jesuit, was the cardinal with the second-highest number of votes on each of the four ballots in the 2005 conclave. The journal, Limes, said its report

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Hours before the start of the conclave that will choose the next pope, the dean of the College of Cardinals celebrated the papacy as a source of unity among Catholics and of evangelization and charitable service to the world.

By Greg Hartman & John Stegeman The Catholic Telegraph  The conclave starts Tuesday, and a more detailed schedule of the events has become available. Here is a guide to what happens now, before, during and after the conclave. All times listed are Rome local time with Eastern Daylight Time listed

By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Like the rest of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, including the 5,100 bishops and 412,000 priests, the pope exercises what the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls his “baptismal priesthood” by participating in “Christ’s mission as priest, prophet and