Christopher White

Pope Francis on Sept. 3 kicked off an 11-day swing through southeast Asia and Oceania that is likely to test the physical limits of the 87-year-old pontiff.

Pope Francis will visit four countries in Asia and Oceania Sept. 2-13 – his longest trip as pope. It could cement his own legacy on his priorities inside the church and attract the attention of the wider world.

While the synod study groups are expected to present preliminary findings on women deacons in October, it remains unclear what the Vatican's doctrinal office plans to make public. 

As Francis gets some much-needed rest inside Vatican walls ahead of the longest international trip of his papacy in September, three potential future popes are having their own moment in the spotlight.

 Under past popes he was sidelined. But Pope Francis has entrusted Fr. Timothy Radcliffe to serve as the spiritual guide of the synod on synodality. 

The Vatican on July 14 expressed "concern" over the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump and said the attack "wounds people and democracy, causing suffering and death." 

Many of the hot button issues that dominated Pope Francis' high stakes summit on the future of the Catholic Church last October, such as women deacons and welcoming LGBTQ Catholics, will be off the table when prelates and lay delegates return to Rome this October. 

Archbishop Christopher Coyne of Hartford, Connecticut, noted his disappointment in the U.S. bishops' conference's decision to dramatically slash its staff in the social justice department. 

Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the disgraced former papal nuncio to the United States who questioned the legitimacy of Pope Francis and the authority of the Second Vatican Council, has been found guilty of schism and excommunicated, the Vatican announced on July 5.

One year after appointment, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández has not just become Francis' closest curial collaborator, he also has emerged as a gatekeeper to the 87-year-old pope. 

The president of Pope Francis' abuse prevention commission has written to every Vatican department urging them not to use artwork of alleged perpetrators of abuse. 

In The Roman Curia, Msgr. Anthony Ekpo admits that for centuries, the work of the Vatican's governance has often perplexed Catholics and non-Catholics alike, leaving some to ask: "Can anything good come from the Roman Curia?" 

Franciscan Catechist Sr. Laura Vicuña Pereira Manso tells NCR the synod on synodality "will open up ways for us to continue the conversation."

One year after relieving Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the longtime personal secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, of his Vatican duties and sending him home to Germany without an assignment, Pope Francis on June 24 named the controversial prelate as the Vatican's ambassador to Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.

The disgraced former papal nuncio to the United States, Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, alleges that he has been charged with schism by the Vatican's doctrinal office, charges he describes as an "honor."

Weeks after twice repeating a homophobic slur, Pope Francis unintentionally became the star of Rome's 2024 Pride parade. 

Pope Francis met with President Joe Biden June 14 in a private meeting that took place during the G7 summit of world leaders, just five months before U.S. voters will head to the polls for a presidential election.

Artificial intelligence (or "AI"), said the pope to the "Group of Seven" leaders, is both "an exciting and fearsome tool" where the "benefits or harm it will bring will depend on its use."

Nearly three years after their first meeting, President Joe Biden and Pope Francis will likely discuss peace, with the two men representing different visions of what that requires in the present moment.

Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet turns 80 on June 8. His birthday brings with it the conclusion of an incongruous era at the Vatican, where he walked a fine line representing both past and present papal regimes.