Rome had spent months prepping up for the Roman Catholic Church Jubilee. It built tunnels, opened up squares and scrubbed moldy fountains. Now thousands of pilgrims were flocking from all over the world for the occasion — a year of…
Tag: Vatican City
A Papal Primer That’s Fiction, but Also Rings True
After back-to-back wins for best picture at the Screen Actors Guild Awards and at Britain’s equivalent of the Oscars, the papal thriller “Conclave” has a chance at a hat-trick on Sunday at the Academy Awards. The shot at cinematic glory…
Francis’ Illness Raises a Hard Question: Who Governs if the Pope Can’t?
Since being hospitalized with acute pneumonia for two weeks, Pope Francis has signed off on the appointment of 20 bishops, accepted the resignations of at least four and approved moving five people along the road to sainthood, according to the…
Anxious Prayers as Pope Francis Lingers in Critical Condition
Vatican City is an anxious place. Clergy keep their phones by their pillows. Reporters, crammed in the Holy See press office, open emails with trepidation. Faithful have begun to gather expectantly in St. Peter’s Square. All await terse bulletins from…
Francis Is in Critical Condition. What Happens When a Pope Dies?
The Catholic world is gripped with uncertainty as Pope Francis, 88, remains in critical condition in a Rome hospital because of a complex lung infection and other serious ailments. On Monday, the Vatican said Francis had awakened from a restful…
Catholics Pray for Ailing Pope Francis at Sunday Mass
Roman Catholics worldwide prayed for Pope Francis, who is hospitalized in critical condition, at Mass on Sunday after the Vatican announced that he was “not out of danger.” The 88-year-old pontiff went into the hospital on Feb. 14 with an…
Pope Francis in Critical Condition After ‘Respiratory Crisis,’ Vatican Says
Pope Francis was in critical condition on Saturday night after having a long “asthmatic respiratory crisis” earlier in the day that required “high flows of oxygen” as well as a blood transfusion, the Vatican said, adding to concerns about the…
Pope Francis, Hospitalized, Has Pneumonia, Vatican Says
Pope Francis has pneumonia in both lungs and will not participate in activities through the weekend because of his health issues, the Vatican announced on Tuesday. Francis, who was admitted to a hospital in Rome on Friday, had initially been…