• What to expect as the College of Cardinals prepares to elect a new pope

    What to expect as the College of Cardinals prepares to elect a new pope

    Apr 26, 2025 09:45 PM EST

    ... want somebody who can steer the church safely through those storms, to internal church debates over contentious matters such as women and outreach to the LGBTQ community, to more broad social concerns such as migration and climate change and poverty, really trying to come to some sort of rough consensus ...

  • WATCH: Pope Francis’ funeral

    WATCH: Pope Francis’ funeral

    Apr 25, 2025 05:01 PM EST

    ... Francis stressed this church’s role in reaching out to the margins of society, engaging with poor people and migrants and being more welcoming to LGBTQ+ people. As one cardinal put it, Francis was a “pastoral pope” who showed the church how "to go out and bring the Gospel to ...

  • Supreme Court hears major case on public school curriculum and parental rights

    Supreme Court hears major case on public school curriculum and parental rights

    Apr 22, 2025 10:40 PM EST

    The Supreme Court heard arguments in a major case focused on parental rights and public schools. At the center of the case is a dispute over a curriculum in Maryland that included books featuring LGBTQ+ characters. Some parents asked for their children to be excused, but schools stopped allowing opt ...

  • A timeline of Pope Francis' life

    A timeline of Pope Francis' life

    Apr 21, 2025 08:40 PM EST

    ... July 30, 2013: Declares “Who am I to judge?” when asked about a gay priest during a news conference, signaling a more welcoming stance toward LGBTQ+ community. Nov. 26, 2013: Issues mission statement for his papacy in Evangelii Gaudium, (“The Joy of the Gospel”), denouncing the world financial system that ...

  • Here are some of Pope Francis' memorable quotes

    Here are some of Pope Francis' memorable quotes

    Apr 21, 2025 04:22 PM EST

    “Who am I to judge?” — Francis, responding to a question about a purportedly gay priest, in a comment that set the tone for a papacy more welcoming to LGBTQ+ Catholics, July 28, 2013 A greeting for the patriarch “We are brothers.” — Francis, to Patriarch Kirill during the first-ever ...

  • These cardinals are possible contenders to be the next pope

    These cardinals are possible contenders to be the next pope

    Apr 21, 2025 02:56 PM EST

    ... Italian edition of “Building a Bridge,” by the Rev. James Martin, an American Jesuit, about the church’s need to improve its outreach to the LGBTQ+ community. Zuppi would be a candidate in Francis’ tradition of ministering to those on the margins, although his relative youth would count against him ...

  • What to know about Pope Francis' death

    What to know about Pope Francis' death

    Apr 21, 2025 02:17 PM EST

    ... the world. Catholic and non-Catholic leaders alike honored a spiritual leader who was a voice for the marginalized and the weak, for migrants and LGBTQ+ people, and who showed concern for nature. He “cared about the great global challenges of our time — migration, climate change, inequalities, peace — as well ...

  • How Pope Francis changed the Catholic Church

    How Pope Francis changed the Catholic Church

    Apr 21, 2025 09:18 AM EST

    LGBTQ+ Francis famously said, “Who am I to judge?” when asked in 2013 about a Vatican monsignor who was purportedly gay. Francis followed up by assuring gay people that God loves them as they are, that “being homosexual is not a crime,” and that “everyone, everyone, everyone” is welcome in ...

  • Pope Francis, history's first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88

    Pope Francis, history's first Latin American pontiff, dies at 88

    Apr 21, 2025 08:54 AM EST

    ... core doctrine. “Who am I to judge?” he replied when asked about a purportedly gay priest. The comment sent a message of welcome to the LGBTQ+ community and those who felt shunned by a church that had stressed sexual propriety over unconditional love. “Being homosexual is not a crime,” he ...

  • Vatican notes 'exchange of opinions' with Vance over migrants and prisoners

    Vatican notes 'exchange of opinions' with Vance over migrants and prisoners

    Apr 19, 2025 05:14 PM EST

    ... critics as having reactionary or authoritarian leanings, that is often called “postliberal.”Postliberals share some longstanding Catholic conservative views, such as opposition to abortion and LGBTQ+ rights. They envision a counterrevolution in which they take over government bureaucracy and institutions like universities from within, replacing entrenched “elites” with their own ...