It’s not actually known when Turku became a city, but the first mention of it being a city is in 1229, when Pope Gregory IX mentioned it, so that’s the date that’s used as the city’s ...

The pope could wake up tomorrow and allow priests ... great reforming popes like Leo IX and Gregory VII insisted that henceforth the priesthood would be celibate. This decision greatly ...

St Clare of Assisi depicted in contemporary stained glass in St Stephen’s, Bristol ...

In 1231, Pope Gregory IX issued a bull allowing Aristotle’s works to be studied but under the condition that they were first “purged of errors”. Broadly, the issue with Aristotle’s works on ...

The pope looms so large in everyday Italian life that there are lots of expressions that make light of even a dark event like ...

"The clinical condition is fair," the Vatican said in an update. LONDON and ROME -- Pope Francis was admitted to a hospital on Friday for "necessary tests" and to continue his ongoing bronchitis ...

Yet it has not always been this way. It was only with Pope Pius IX in the mid-19th century that the papacy would become so visible. He was the first to have his picture widely displayed in ...

The Pope is stable in hospital with a slight fever after he was admitted for bronchitis treatment, the Vatican has said. After daily audiences he was taken to Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic ...

The pope does not name Trump in his letter, but it is a clear directive to resist the demonization of migrants and refugees. By Clarissa-Jan Lim Pope Francis issued a fierce rebuke of President ...

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII reformed the calendar, dropping 10 days and making the equinox fall on March 21 again. Most Eastern Christians did not adopt the new calendar, leading to a situation ...

The Vatican says it is unclear how long Pope Francis will stay in hospital and he will not lead Sunday’s Angelus prayer after he was admitted on Friday with a respiratory tract infection.