In the nearly 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church, most popes have come from Europe, even though there are countries in South and Central America, Asia, and Africa with significant Catholic ...

RIO DE JANEIRO — Several months after he assumed leadership of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis made his first trip overseas. It was back home to Latin America, where the Argentine pontiff ...

His ascension to the papacy heralded many firsts. Francis was the first Pope from the Americas or the Southern Hemisphere. Not since Syrian-born Gregory III died in 741 had there been a non ...

As archbishop of Argentina, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who would take the name Francis when he became pope in 2013, came up within the Latin American bishops’ conference, known as CELAM.

As a missionary and bishop in Peru, the future Pope Leo came face-to-face with one of the most serious and far-reaching scandals in the church in Latin America.

For nearly 1,500 years, a large majority of Catholics in the Western Church attended Mass in Latin. But after the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), the rite changed in ways that went well beyond ...

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Catholic cardinals broke with tradition Thursday and elected the first U.S. pope, making Chicago-born missionary Robert Prevost the 267th pontiff to lead the Catholic Church ...

Religion How Pope Francis shaped the papal conclave to reflect a changing church. For the first time, the majority of cardinals to choose a pope are not from Europe, as Catholic demographics shift.

As archbishop of Argentina, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, who would take the name Francis when he became pope in 2013, came up within the Latin American bishops’ conference, known as CELAM.

LIMA (CNN) — As a missionary and bishop in Peru, the future Pope Leo came face-to-face with one of the most serious and far-reaching scandals in the church in Latin America.

Francis: Pope from Latin America who changed Catholic Church . Image source, AP. Published. ... "Look at the peacock," he said, "it's beautiful if you look at it from the front.

LIMA (CNN) — As a missionary and bishop in Peru, the future Pope Leo came face-to-face with one of the most serious and far-reaching scandals in the church in Latin America.