An image of 15-year-old Carlo Acutis is unveiled during his beatification ceremony at the St. Francis Basilica in Assisi, Italy, in October 2020. Gregorio Borgia/AP hide caption
Pope Francis Pope Francis
Stories About
Pope Francis
Workers give the finishing touches to the illumination set for the Patron Saint feast in Fasano, near Borgo Egnazia, Italy, on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. A Group of Seven summit aiming to consolidate support for Ukraine opened Thursday under a vastly different political landscape than even a few days ago after European Parliament elections jolted the leaders of France and Germany and emboldened Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni. Gregorio Borgia/AP hide caption
Pope Francis leaves evening prayers in the Vatican Gardens on June 7. The pope will meet this week with G7 leaders to talk about the ethics of artificial intelligence. Alessandra Tarantino/POOL/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Pope Francis remains popular among U.S. Catholics, with 75% having favorable views of him, according to a Pew Research report. But many self-identified Catholics disagree with various teachings of their church. Andrew Medichini/AP hide caption
Pope Francis arrives as he celebrates Easter mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, March 31, 2024. Andrew Medichini/AP hide caption
A same-sex couple receives a blessing in front of Germany's Cologne Cathedral in September 2023, a few months before Pope Francis officially declared such blessings allowable. Martin Meissner/AP hide caption
Catholic Church works to explain what same-sex blessings are and are not
Pope Francis distributes sweets to children during the weekly general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican on Jan. 3. Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty images hide caption
Pope Francis presides over Christmas eve Mass, at St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, on Sunday. Gregorio Borgia/AP hide caption
Pope Francis waves to the faithful at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. The pope, who will turn 87 next month, canceled his trip to Dubai for the U.N. climate conference on doctors' orders. Andrew Medichini/AP hide caption
Pope Francis is a staunch advocate for addressing climate change. Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images hide caption
Pope Francis leaves the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic in Rome, on Friday, nine days after undergoing abdominal surgery. Andrew Medichini/AP hide caption
Pope Francis went to a hospital in Rome Wednesday for abdominal surgery. He's seen here in the popemobile, leaving his general audience at St. Peter's Square in The Vatican before heading to the hospital. Andreas Solaro/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Pope Francis meets Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a private audience at the Vatican on Saturday. Francis recently said that the Vatican has launched a behind-the-scenes initiative to try to end the war in Ukraine. Vatican News via AP hide caption
Pope Francis leaves at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, on Wednesday. Alessandra Tarantino/AP hide caption
A Ukrainian MSLR BM-21 "Grad" fires toward Russian positions in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, April 8. Evgeniy Maloletka/AP hide caption
People hold candles during a Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) torchlight procession on Good Friday in Rome on Friday, April 7, 2023. Alessandra Tarantino/AP hide caption
Pope Francis arrives to celebrate the Palm Sunday's mass in St. Peter's Square at The Vatican Sunday, April 2, 2023 a day after being discharged from the Agostino Gemelli University Hospital in Rome, where he has been treated for bronchitis, The Vatican said. Andrew Medichini/AP hide caption
Pope Francis autographs the plaster cast of a child as he leaves the Agostino Gemelli University Hospital in Rome on Saturday. Gregorio Borgia/AP hide caption
Pope Francis. Vincenzo Pinto/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Pope Francis blesses a guest on March 29, 2023 during the weekly general audience at St. Peter's square in The Vatican. Vincenzo Pinto/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Pope Francis waves from the window of the apostolic palace during the weekly Angelus prayer on Sunday in the Vatican. Tiziana Fabi/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Pope Francis arrives to celebrate mass at the John Garang Mausoleum in Juba, South Sudan, Sunday, Feb. 5, 2023. Francis is in South Sudan on the second leg of a six-day trip that started in Congo, hoping to bring comfort and encouragement to two countries that have been riven by poverty, conflicts and what he calls a "colonialist mentality" that has exploited Africa for centuries. Gregorio Borgia/AP hide caption
A portrait of Pope Francis in South Sudan. Simon Maina/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
A million people celebrated a papal mass in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital on the second day of Pope Francis' visit to the conflict-torn country. Alexis Huguet/AFP via Getty Images hide caption