Pope Leo XIV, right, stands in the Sistine Chapel among cardinals after being elected at the Vatican on May 8, 2025. He ...

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — A quiet alliance between North and South American cardinals helped elect the first US-born pope.

Odds-makers likely had an easier time 20 years ago, when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger stepped onto the balcony overlooking St.

A view of the Sistine Chapel where cardinals gather to elect the new pope, at the Vatican, Tuesday, May 6, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP) A view of the Sistine Chapel where cardinals gather to elect ...

Pope Leo XIV, history’s first American pope, is vowing to work for unity so that the Catholic Church becomes a sign of peace ...

Arlene and I have been blessed to have had many “once-in-a-lifetime” experiences. But aside from marriage, baptism and ...

This Top 10 in Data Journalism column also highlights the death of a Ukrainian journalist in a Russian prison, Trump’s first ...

The White House announced on Thursday that Vice President JD Vance will travel to Vatican City to attend the inaugural Mass of Pope Leo XIV this weekend. Vance will lead a U.S. delegation that ...

By Steve Stricker Columnist Fr. Joe Tonas, Pastor of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Oxford, MS for 18 years, great friend and hero, would often humbly compliment me on an Oxford Eagle column ...