Leo XIII – February 20, 1878 - July 20, 1903: Born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci in Italy, he directed the Catholic Church for 25 years, dying at 93 in Rome. He was regarded as, somewhat, ...

Noblemen, enslaved people, freedom fighters, slaveowners: what the complex family tree of the first American pontiff reveals.

Cardinal Robert Prevost has been announced as the new pontiff and has chosen the name Pope Leo XIV. There are no written rules or official criteria for a pope's name, but they choose names that have ...

After Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was elected pope, genealogists got to work. What they found surprised them.

But in modern times, papal conclaves have skewed much shorter: The longest conclave in the 20th century lasted five days. And in 2013, Pope Francis was elected in a little over 24 hours.

Francis himself quipped that his successor would be John XXIV, after the progressive Vatican II-era pope. The most popular papal name of the 20th century, Pius, would be a clear signal that a ...

new popes tended to choose the name of the pope who had elevated them to cardinal. Only starting in the mid-20th century did new popes begin to choose names signaling the aim of their papacy ...

Francis himself quipped that his successor would be John XXIV, after the progressive Vatican II-era pope. The most popular papal name of the 20th century, Pius, would be a clear signal that a ...