As members of the College of Cardinals prepare for the conclave, they face a profound choice: Build on the late pope’s reforms and vision, or slow things down and make a course correction.

Pope Francis was not afraid of messiness. That seems to have been part and parcel of his pastoral freedom, charging into crowds to embrace people and, as I once saw on that 2013 World Youth Day trip, accepting a cup of mate passed to him through the window of his Fiat by someone in the crowd.

He predicted Italian Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa will be the next pope, and will choose the name Francis II.

If Roman Catholic cardinals have not picked a new pope by day three of next week's conclave, then things are not going to plan. Short conclaves wrapped up in a couple of days project an image of unity,

President Donald Trump stirred mixed reactions and criticism with an AI-generated image of himself as pope, joking about succeeding Pope Francis.

The church is set to begin the papal conclave on May 7 to choose a new pope, following the death of Pope Francis, who was 88, on Easter Monday. Vance is a Catholic and was one of

President Donald Trump posted an artificial intelligence-generated image of himself dressed as pope as the mourning of Pope Francis continues and just days before the conclave to elect his successor is set to begin.