The pope is both the head of the Catholic Church and head of ... When a pope dies – or resigns, like Benedict XVI did in 2013 — the governance of the Catholic Church formally falls to the ...

The pope continued his respiratory therapy Thursday afternoon and followed the evenings Lenten spiritual exercises. While no events are planned to mark the pontiff’s 12 years as head of the ...

Following the unexpected resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in 2013 ... rich countries bore the most responsibility. Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church, is received by vice president and ...