It has been a busy spring for JD Vance. The diplomatically untested vice president was tapped for wartime negotiations with Iran, became the administration’s mouthpiece in a doctrinal feud with Pope Leo and led the White House in a last-ditch effort to salvage now-ousted Hungarian autocrat Viktor Orbán. It has hardly been an auspicious season for someone positioning themselves to carry the MAGA torch post-Trump.

Can he come back from a string of public flops?

Despite entering office as a “man full of ideas” just over a year ago, Vance and his opinions “matter less and less” within the Trump administration, said Idrees Kahloon at The Atlantic. While his diminished clout may be the “typical fate” of the vice president who is “forever on display but seldom listened to,” Vance’s shrinking footprint is a “major comedown from the role he once seemed likely to fill,” that of “Trumpism after Trump.”

Admittedly, the job of being veep was not “designed to be fun,” Edward Luce at the Financial Times said. But being Trump’s number two “brings unique discomfort.” Vance is “flailing” at backing policies that “often turn 180 degrees overnight,” rendering him “no longer Trump’s obvious successor.” Even if he should “regain his place in the Trumpian firmament,” there is “no such thing as a Vance base” within the modern GOP.

The past few weeks saw Vance bring his “noncharisma to bear” on Orbán’s behalf, prompting voters to “commit themselves to a serious program of Orbán Renewal” before he jetted off to “screw up the Iran peace talks,” Charles Pierce said at Esquire. Vance is playing “both sides against the middle” on Trump’s war in Tehran so as to maintain his “alleged viability in 2028,” while wings of the “elite political media” ready themselves to position him as the “next tinhorn Reasonable Republican.”

The future remains unwritten, but it’s “hard to imagine things going worse” for the veep, largely because Trump “forced Vance into this position,” Asawin Suebsaeng said at Zeteo. Vance may believe in Orbán’s ultra-nationalism as an “ideological pursuit, not a practical one” but it’s hard to “identify any political advantages” to his recent “crusade” on Orbán’s behalf, said Noah Rothman at the National Review. “Conversely, the downsides are becoming increasingly hard to ignore.”

Every time Vance debases himself on Trump’s behalf, “he gets less and less in return,” said Dana Milbank at The New York Times. Not only have his “political fortunes” begun to “dim,” his “soul has become a depreciating asset.” In many ways, Vance has “cast himself as the chief ideologist” of a MAGA movement with “no ideology” beyond the “instincts, impulses and glory of one man,” The Economist said.

Vance’s attempts to “take on” Pope Leo by attacking his “area of expertise” highlight the “deadly sin of pride,” Tom Nichols said at The Atlantic. Describing the “willingness” of someone like Vance to challenge the Vatican “requires a word from Yiddish rather than Latin: chutzpah.” That he would encourage Leo to “stay in his lane” while at the same time spreading “his version of the gospel from his powerful political perch” could prove “one contradiction too many, even for this skilled political chameleon,” Nia-Malika Henderson said at Bloomberg.

The well-positioned ‘heir apparent’

Still, Vance may remain well-positioned ahead of 2028. His “unusual second job” serving as the Republican National Committee’s finance chair is “exactly” what an “ambitious presidential aspirant might dream up,” said Theodore Schleifer and Shane Goldmacher at The New York Times said. While he’s done “some good for the party,” Vance has also done “some good for himself” by “wooing” the GOP’s “richest and most influential patrons,” even as his camp is “leery of being seen as plotting about anything beyond the 2026 midterms.”

In March, Vance was the main attraction at the closed-door spring summit of the Rockbridge Network, a “secretive donor group” that he cofounded in 2019 during his “stint as a private investor,” said Gabe Kaminsky at CBS News. Although his remarks were focused on 2026, the larger question “looming” over the confab was whether he had 2028 plans in place. Given Rockbridge’s reach within the MAGA coalition, Vance seems “poised to stand at the crossroads” of varying GOP interests that, one attendee told the outlet, “want JD to be the heir apparent.”

Pope Leo XIV may have broken a historic barrier by becoming the first pontiff from the United States, but his views on the Catholic Church could harken back to more traditional times. There are also some areas of the church's doctrine where he takes a more progressive stance, similar to his predecessor, Pope Francis.

Climate change

When it comes to climate change, Leo will "likely continue Francis' legacy as a steward of the environment," said Time. The new pope has railed against the misuse of environmental resources and as a cardinal he made a speech "calling for the church to take greater action against the destruction of the planet."

Leo has also proven himself informed on modern climate issues like greenhouse gases and electric vehicles. He has criticized the "'harmful' effects of technological development and reaffirmed the Vatican's commitments to protecting the environment," said NPR. He also cited Francis' "installation of solar panels and shift to electric vehicles" as a commitment to a clean-energy church.

LGBTQ+ rights

Leo is less progressive on LGBTQ+ issues than his predecessor, as Francis famously said of gay Catholics, "Who am I to judge?" But Leo has said that "media depictions of the modern family present a major challenge to the Catholic Church," according to The Washington Post.

He has spoken out against what the National Catholic Register has called "disordered sexual practices and ideologies," including same-sex relationships. When he was a bishop in Peru, Leo also "opposed a plan to teach transgenderism in schools." However, while he is more strict about the church's anti-LGBTQ+ stance, Leo has also taken a "somewhat neutral position on Fiducia Supplicans," a 2023 Catholic Church doctrine that "allowed for blessings of people in same-sex couples."

Abortion and women's health

The Catholic Church generally opposes expanded reproductive care, and Leo has "criticized abortion in his homilies, often tying the issue of abortion to euthanasia," said Newsweek. People "cannot build a just society if we discard the weakest — whether the child in the womb or the elderly in their frailty," Leo said in a 2019 speech as a cardinal. He was also a member of his university's anti-abortion club, the Post said.

Regarding other women's health issues like contraception and IVF, Leo "has not made clear his views," said The 19th. This is in line with Francis, who during his time as pope "typically avoided highlighting reproductive health."

Political stance

Leo has "shared posts on X about political issues for years, including criticism of the Trump administration's stances on immigration," said CBS News. This includes reposting an article that "criticized Vice President J.D. Vance's response to a question on immigration." Leo also spoke harshly of the first Trump administration's migrant policy several times as a cardinal.

The pope has previously voted in some Republican primaries in his home state of Illinois. However, he is "not registered as a member of a political party," as Illinois does not have party registrations, and his "voter history does not indicate whom he voted for or why," said ABC News.

Church sex abuse

One of the main criticisms of the new pope is that he reportedly swept allegations of church sexual abuse under the rug. Leo was "accused of 'disregarding allegations' of abuse against two priests in Peru" and has a "history of resisting disclosure of abuse information to the public," the watchdog group BishopAccountability told The Guardian.

As a cardinal, Leo "denounced clergy sexual abuse and urged victims to come forward," said USA Today, and reportedly helped shut down the Catholic movement Sodality of Christian Life following abuse allegations. But "survivors are worried he will not take a tough enough stance to eradicate abuse within the church."

What happened

The College of Cardinals Thursday elected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, a Chicago native, as the Catholic Church's 267th pope. Prevost, 69, took the name Pope Leo XIV. He is the first pope from the U.S. — though he spent decades as a missionary, parish priest and bishop in Peru — and the first from the Augustinian religious order. His predecessor, Pope Francis, was the first pontiff from the Americas and the first Jesuit.

Who said what

"We have to look together how to be a missionary church, building bridges, dialogue, always open to receiving with open arms for everyone," Leo said in his first speech as pope, delivered in Italian and Spanish. "We want to be a synodal church, walking and always seeking peace, charity, closeness, especially to those who are suffering."

Francis made Prevost a cardinal and head of the Vatican's office overseeing bishops in 2023. And given their shared compassion for immigrants and the poor, Leo embodies the spirit of a "second Pope Francis," John Prevost, his older brother, told reporters.

The 133 cardinal electors "apparently wanted to keep moving in Francis' direction but with fewer detours and crashes," The New York Times said, so they picked a "mild-mannered pastor, moderate in tone but resolute in his defense of doctrine, one with deep Roman experience and governing chops" as former head of the centuries-old Order of St. Augustine. "He checked all the boxes," said veteran Vatican analyst John Allen.

Conservative Catholics drew hope from the traditional red garments Leo wore at his introduction and liberals are relieved at his similarities to Francis. Catholics from across the ideological spectrum approved of his name, which the Vatican confirmed was a nod to Pope Leo XIII, the late-19th century pontiff credited with developing Catholic social doctrine, a champion of the working class and the rosary and a critic of Marxism and laissez-faire capitalism.

What next?

Pope Leo is celebrating Mass mass at the Sistine Chapel Friday morning with the cardinals who elected him. He is scheduled to hold his first papal press conference on Monday.

For the first time in history, the one in five US adults who identify as Catholic will have a fellow American as their spiritual leader. Although Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, henceforth to be known as Pope Leo XIV, spent much of his religious career in Peru, he was born and raised in Chicago and holds citizenship of both countries.

President Donald Trump was quick to react to the announcement of the conclave's choice, posting on social media that it was "such an honour to realise that he is the first American Pope".

But many were quick to point out that the new Pope has a history of sharing posts online in support of racial justice and gun control, as well as comments critical of Trump and of his vice president, Catholic convert J.D. Vance, for their crackdown on migrants.

What did the commentators say?

Illinois voter registration data appears to suggest that Prevost voted in the Republican primaries in 2012, 2014, 2016 and 2024, said Newsweek – although who he voted for is not public information. That a Catholic Pope would lean conservative is hardly a surprise, but "there's a twist", said Tim Stanley in The Telegraph. On "many bread-and-butter issues, he's probably a progressive".

During his two decades in Peru, Prevost worked with migrants and was "praised" for helping displaced Venezuelans. Even his choice of name is "telling": his 19th-century namesake, Leo XIII, "opposed socialism but supported trade unions", and wrote a "magnificent" text that analysed poverty and injustice. While conservative US Catholics exert "great influence in the judiciary" – six of the nine Supreme Court justices are Catholic – they prefer to "talk about doctrine rather than social action".

Leo is "to the right of his predecessor" on same-sex marriage and transgender rights – but "do not for a minute think he wants to Make America Great Again", said Time. Indeed, he stands to be "an ideological check" on the strain of Maga Catholicism that has been "ascendant in Washington" in recent years.

The election of Prevost "clearly represents a rejection by the Vatican of the intense lobbying from rich Americans to install a pontiff sympathetic" to Trump. There is a "good chance" Trump and Pope Leo will "clash" on immigration, human rights and the environment – especially given the president's "obsession" with an agenda that would "co-opt Christianity in service of his political goals". Within hours of Leo's selection, the Maga-verse "seemed to be gunning" for him. Far-right activist and key Trump ally Laura Loomer posted: "WOKE MARXIST POPE."

To be fair, Leo's criticism of Trump "largely echoes" that of his predecessor, said The New York Times. Pope Francis also openly disagreed with Trump's deportation policies. And so far, the president "doesn't seem to be holding any grudges" against the new Pope. Vance, too, sent his "well wishes".

Leo's first appearance on the balcony of St Peter's will also "reassure more conservative traditional Catholics in the US", said The Irish Times. They will be "similarly reassured" by his views on homosexuality. In 2012 he "lamented that popular culture fostered 'sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the Gospel'", referencing the "homosexual lifestyle" as well as "alternative families comprised of same-sex partners". Indicators of "a strong social conscience" won't "warm the cockles of any 'Maga' hearts", but for traditional American Catholics, "order has been restored to their world".

"I think this will make a big difference to Catholics in America," Craig Burwell, of Connecticut, told Politico. "It'll draw them back to the church. It'll give them a stake."

What next?

For all that has been written since his appearance on the balcony of St Peter's, Pope Leo XIV is still "a complete unknown", said The New Yorker. But the world has time to get to know him: at the age of 69, "he may be Pope for the next quarter century".

The "underlying tension" between Leo and Trump will "colour global affairs and domestic politics" for years, said Time. Catholics make up roughly a quarter of the US electorate: "a higher level of civic engagement than other faiths". They are also "politically pliable": Joe Biden, only the second Catholic president, won 52% of the Catholic vote, but Trump won 59% last year.

The world is "suffering from Trump's American populism", Brandon Gallaher, lecturer in theology at the University of Exeter, told The Irish Times. Leo XIV "shows the possibility of another different American vision".

There has never been an American pope, but Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost could change that. He is on some lists of possible candidates to replace Pope Francis when cardinals gather this week to choose a successor.

"Conventional wisdom" says never to bet on an American pope, said The New York Times. But the Chicago-born Prevost "could scrape together enough votes" to be an exception to the rule, partly because he "transcends borders" and has "spent much of his life outside the United States." He was ordained in 1982, then served two decades in Peru as a "missionary, parish priest, teacher and bishop" while obtaining citizenship in that country before rising in the Vatican hierarchy. If not for his American birth, he would "automatically" be a likely candidate for pope, said Vatican-watcher Marco Politi.

What did the commentators say?

Prevost is a "moderate, balanced figure, known for solid judgment," said The Catholic Herald. The cardinals will be looking for someone who can represent the faith well, stand on the "world stage" with global leaders and who has the skills to deal with the Vatican's ongoing financial problems. Prevost "ticks all three boxes." The question is whether that is enough to make him the first "superpower pope."

When picking a new pope, cardinals should keep in mind that America has the "fourth-largest Catholic population" in the world, said Jos Joseph at The Hill. The Catholic Church could choose a leader who "appeals to the largest Christian denomination" in the world's most powerful country. An American pope would have more influence than even John Paul II had in dealing with the Soviet Union. That would give the church "immense reach into a changing political world."

The next pope "should be an American" to address the Catholic Church's ongoing sexual abuse crisis, said Anne Barrett Doyle at National Catholic Reporter. Because of America's free press and civil justice system, the U.S. Catholic Church has been "forced to adopt more prudent policies on abuse" than their coreligionists in other countries. The American church now has zero tolerance and widespread public disclosure policies. The next pope must make those policies "universal in order to protect children."

What next?

There could be "pushback" to Prevost's candidacy, said The Pillar. Advocates say his handling of abuse cases in Chicago and Peru "should disqualify him from office." What the cardinals think about that "remains to be seen," however. Some cardinals think no former diocesan bishop would be "exempt" from such criticism.

Prevost is not the only American whose name has been mentioned. President Donald Trump supports Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, said Time. But it is "very doubtful that any cardinals will view Trump's endorsement favorably," said Oxford University historian Miles Pattenden. And the odds of any American leading the Vatican are fairly long, said The Chicago Sun-Times. America has immense "political, economic, military power," said Cardinal Blase Cupich. That makes the likelihood of a U.S.-born pope "a stretch."

'College is more affordable than many parents think'

Ezekiel J. Emanuel, Caitlin Zaloom and Julian E. Zelizer at The New York Times

Confusion "about what a college education will cost any given family is creating a disheartening landscape," say Ezekiel J. Emanuel, Caitlin Zaloom and Julian E. Zelizer. Even "flagship public universities are increasingly — and understandably — seen as financially out of reach." For "many families, the actual price of a college education remains unclear, buried beneath complex formulas." But "many universities have expanded need-based aid, determined by household income and family assets, to all admitted students."

Read more

'I created "Arthur." Trump's PBS funding cut is a loss for kids everywhere.'

Marc Brown at USA Today

Kids' programming is the "beating heart of PBS," says Marc Brown. Given that the "unregulated digital landscape for kids can be toxic, dangerous and for profit," public media is "the last safe place for our children." PBS children's shows are "created with child psychologists and education experts to ensure the betterment of all children." It can "provide any child — regardless of means or circumstance — the ability to learn and grow, all while being entertained."

Read more

'The State Department reorganization abroad doesn't go far enough'

Peter van Buren at The American Conservative

The Trump administration is "considering closing 10 embassies," and "any change would be a welcome and important part of the department's reorganization," says Peter van Buren. A "closer look suggests something different, perhaps an attempt by State to game the system." The "changes proposed for State abroad, if true, are too little; they stink of gaming the process." There "should be a hint in all this of the end of an era."

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'Pope Francis opened doors for women in the church. Will the next pope do the same?'

Ellie Hidalgo at the Miami Herald

Pope Francis "made it his mission to bind up the wounded, lift the lowly and proclaim good news to the poor and the marginalized," says Ellie Hidalgo. He "opened doors for women worldwide to participate in local, continental and global listening sessions." Francis "kindled hope and strength to continue constructing pathways of synodal encounter, undeterred by setbacks." There are more "women of courage and commitment who stand ready to proclaim good news" and "create conditions for peace."

Read more

The Catholic Church's conclave to select the next pope will begin May 7, with some wondering if the church will continue down the path of non-European pontiffs by electing an African pope. This speculation opens up new questions of how a pope from Africa could change the continent.

The church has never elected an African pope in its modern history. If it did, it would likely indicate a continuing trend of increased focus on African and Asian church members, who make up a large percentage of the world's Catholics. But it could affect Africa in larger ways, too.

What did the commentators say?

The "question of how Africa's rising Catholic population might shape the next papacy and the church's future has become more timely than ever," said The New York Times. The recently deceased Pope Francis was the first non-European pope in over 1,000 years. The election of an African pope could "usher in an era of conservatism, in line with the traditional views of many African Catholics."

About 280 million Africans, or a fifth of the continent's population, are Catholic, making up 20% of the world's Catholics. The "elevation of an African pope would be not only symbolic but also reflective of the church's evolving global demographic footprint," said Newsweek. It could also help to change perceptions of Africa and African people, as a Black pope would "revive the Christian faith in Africa and change people's views of Africa, by showing that an African can hold this office," said Charles Yapi, a Catholic priest in the Ivory Coast, to Reuters.

But even in a mostly conservative continent, the "elevation of an African cardinal to the papal throne would be widely interpreted as a continuation of Francis' track record of standing up for the poor and oppressed, migrants and civilians fleeing war," said Reuters. However, Vatican analysts are "skeptical that any of them have a realistic chance of becoming pope, partly because none have been subjected to the same level of public scrutiny as most Western cardinals."

Even if the next pope isn't African, as the continent "fast becomes a main population centre for the church," African Catholics will be expecting more "frequent visits" and "speeches from their new leader," said Tafi Mhaka at Al Jazeera. The Catholic Church has "inflicted unimaginable horrors on Africans," and the next pope "must address the role the Catholic Church played in the transatlantic slave trade and the colonization of the continent."

What next?

Some of the African candidates considered potential popes are Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, the archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo; Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana; Cardinal Robert Sarah of Guinea; and Cardinal Ignace Bessi Dogbo, the archbishop of Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Turkson holds mostly liberal views, while Besungu, Sarah and Dogbo are mostly conservative.

But conclaves are hard to predict, so it's unclear if any of these candidates have a real chance. Pope Francis' focus on "advancing and choosing more and more people from Asia and Africa" does "feed these distinct probabilities or possibilities," said Bruce Morrill, the chair of Roman Catholic studies and a professor of theology at Vanderbilt University, to ABC News. But "there really is no way to make any solid prediction."

A cardinal who was stripped of his rights and privileges by Pope Francis after being convicted of embezzlement has abandoned his fight to be admitted to next week's papal conclave.

Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu was the second highest ranking Vatican official until he was forced to resign after being charged with multiple counts of fraud in 2020. However, he had insisted that he should be able to take part in the conclave, despite resigning his rights and privileges.

In a twist worthy of the film and novel "Conclave", the Vatican's secretary of state Cardinal Pietro Parolin "allegedly had" two letters, signed "F" by Pope Francis, apparently indicating that "Becciu could not participate" in the election of his successor, according to Catholic news site The Pillar.

On Monday, following days of uncertainty over his putative participation, the 76-year-old Becciu "withdrew from the conclave during the cardinals' morning general congregation", said Jesuit magazine America.

'Deprived of all rights'

In 2021, Becciu became the first cardinal to be tried by the Vatican's criminal court. He was accused of funnelling Vatican funds to members of his family and losing hundreds of millions of euros, some of it intended for charitable works, in a London property deal.

At a "stormy meeting" after the charges were filed, Pope Francis is said to have "sacked" Becciu from his Vatican office and "deprived him of all rights connected to the role of cardinal", leaving him a cardinal in name only, said The Times.

Becciu was convicted in 2023 on counts of embezzlement, aggravated fraud and abuse of office, and barred from holding public office. His jail sentence of five years and six months is pending an appeal hearing and he is allowed to remain living in a Vatican apartment while the process continues. Becciu strongly maintains his innocence and claims he was the victim of a conspiracy.

A test of strength

Becciu's decision to withdraw ends a "dramatic, if distracting, event on the sidelines of the upcoming papal conclave", said America.

The Italian-born cardinal had argued that his inclusion in a 2022 consistory – a gathering of cardinals – indicated that Pope Francis wanted to reinstate him. The decision to include him was described at the time as a "private act of pastoral mercy". Last week, he told a Sardinian newspaper that there had never been an "explicit will to exclude me from the conclave nor a request for my explicit renunciation in writing".

Opinions among Becciu's fellow cardinals on his eligibility were "mixed", said America. A source close to the case said his argument was "ridiculous", said the National Catholic Register. Italian investigative journalist Maria Antoinetta Calabro said in HuffPost that Becciu "never raised the issue" while the Pope was alive, "perhaps because it would have triggered a public stance by Pope Francis" that would not have gone in his favour.

What happened

Catholics worldwide mourned the death this week of Pope Francis, the first Jesuit to lead the Catholic Church and a strong voice for the marginalized and the dispossessed. Born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, he was also the first non-European pope in over a millennium, and he broke from the conservatism of his predecessors to introduce reforms such as allowing priests to bless same-sex unions, restricting the use of the Latin Mass, and inviting women to attend meetings of bishops. Francis, 88, had long suffered from lung problems, and a bout of double pneumonia had him hospitalized for more than five weeks earlier this year. On Easter, the visibly ailing pope gave a brief audience to Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic convert. Vance, a vocal supporter of the mass deportation effort that Francis once called "a disgrace," said the discussion centered on persecuted Christians; the Vatican said it focused on "migrants, refugees, and prisoners." The pope managed to give a brief Easter blessing to the crowd at St. Peter's Basilica but was too weak to deliver the homily, and he died of a stroke the next day.

Tens of thousands of mourners lined up outside the basilica to view his simple zinc-lined coffin, but unlike most popes, Francis will not be buried in the Vatican. True to his lifetime devotion to austerity—he lived in a two-room apartment rather than the luxurious Vatican palace and rode in a Ford Focus instead of a limousine—he requested a modest tomb at Rome's Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, an Irish-born American citizen, will act as interim head of the church until a papal conclave of cardinals is held to elect a new pope.

What the editorials said

An increasingly turbulent world has lost "a needed voice for peace and human compassion," said the New York Daily News. The Jesuit who once ministered to Buenos Aires slum dwellers, washing their feet, "never let the trappings of the papacy change his worldview." While his condemnations of greed seemed increasingly "against the grain" as society grew "coarser and more ruthlessly individualistic" over his 12-year papacy, he was steadfast in his devotion to the poor and the outcasts. His "many humane gestures" are laudable, said National Review, but a full accounting of his papacy "requires clarity and truth." Francis had a bad habit of "often needlessly characterizing orthodox Christian belief as an enemy of charity." And though he would eventually "dramatically and abjectly apologize" for the church's role in covering up the epidemic of child abuse among priests, he spent years turning a blind eye to the misdeeds of church leaders who were close to him.

What the columnists said

Francis' liberalism had limits, said Joseph Shaw in First Things. His statements on divorce and same-sex unions "stopped just short" of full acceptance. His appointments of women to high positions in the Vatican and elsewhere did not satisfy feminists' demand for female priests. And on abortion, his statements of compassion for women did not soften the Catholic Church's staunch opposition to abortion. At times, his gestures at compromise often "seemed to open rather than paper over" ideological rifts among Catholics.

Yet he put his stamp on the future of the church, said Gaya Gupta in The Washington Post. He appointed 108 of the 135 cardinals who are eligible to vote for his successor, and they are the most diverse bunch in history, with a majority coming from outside Europe. Still, these men will not necessarily "look for a carbon copy" of the late pontiff. Top candidates for the next pope include liberals such as Cardinal Luis Tagle of the Philippines, but also the deeply conservative Hungarian Archbishop Peter Erdo, who has "opposed allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Communion" and equated accepting migrant arrivals with human trafficking. Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, Francis' top deputy, falls somewhere in between.

Papal conclaves routinely "defy the prophecies of even the most seasoned Vatican watchers," said Eric Bazail-Eimil in Politico. Francis himself wasn't on the short list of most observers when he was chosen in 2013. At a time when so much is at stake for the future of a faith beset by scandal, "no ideological faction of the church is at ease." The Catholic Church, with its more than 1 billion adherents, "now stands at a crossroads of Francis' construction."

Pope Francis I, who has died aged 88, was the first Pope from the Americas, and the first from outside Europe for 1,200 years. He was also the first to live at the Vatican around the corner from his predecessor, said The Daily Telegraph, having been elected following the shock resignation of Benedict XVI – and the first Jesuit to lead the Roman Catholic Church.

Known for his belief in social justice, he marked himself out with his informal style. "Buonasera," he famously greeted the crowds gathered in St Peter's Square following his election, aged 76. He dressed simply, eschewing the red shoes and ermine-trimmed cape Benedict had worn. Instead of moving into the papal apartments, he remained in the Vatican guest house; and was soon seen driving around in an old Renault 4. "My people are poor, and I am one of them," he said. He believed that clericalism – the idea that priests stand above the people they serve – was an "evil" at the root of many of the Church's ills, including its failure to tackle clerical abuse.

On the first birthday he celebrated as Pope, he invited three men who lived on the streets near the Vatican to join him for breakfast. And on Maundy Thursday that year, when priests traditionally wash men's feet, Pope Francis washed the feet of the young inmates of a detention centre – two of whom were female, and one Muslim. "As he dried each one, he bent over and kissed it."

His first pastoral visit outside Rome was to the island of Lampedusa, where he met asylum seekers from Africa and condemned the "global indifference" to their fate and that of others like them. He wanted, he said, to bring the Gospel to the "peripheries", to society's margins. He travelled widely, visiting hot spots including Myanmar and Iraq, and appointed 20 cardinals from countries including Rwanda and Tonga that had never previously had them. In his encyclicals, he sought to move the Church on from arguments about sexual morality, and to focus its mission on fighting climate change and global poverty.

Many Catholics adored him, said The Times. Some who had left the Church returned; others looked at it with fresh eyes. But mainstream conservatives were angered by many of his reforms (including his restrictions on the Tridentine Latin Mass beloved by traditionalists). In the US in particular, they objected to his attacks on the excesses of capitalism ("greed looking for easy gain"); and they were "alarmed" by the ambiguity of his statements on moral issues. "Who am I to judge?" he told a journalist in 2013, when asked about gay priests. Though welcomed by progressives, this remark did not signal the start of radical reforms. He opposed gay marriage and gay adoption, and he was steadfast on the sanctity of human life. But he urged priests to welcome gay parishioners; he expressed support for same-sex civil unions; and he said that priests could give same-sex couples spontaneous "non-liturgical" blessings, and that trans people could serve as godparents.

For some Catholics, he often seemed to go too far; for others, not far enough, said The New York Times. A "tough administrator", he reformed the constitution of the Roman Curia, so that he could appoint women to senior positions previously held by clerics, and he opened up synods to lay delegates including women; but he opposed the ordination of women as deacons. The upshot was that conservatives, led often by the likes of the American cardinal Raymond Burke, kept rallying against him, and successfully pushed back on some of his proposals (such as to allow married men to become priests in the Amazon, where there was a severe shortage of clerics); while some liberals felt let down that the revolution had never come. In Germany, there was even talk of a schism. Still, he did not stifle views he disagreed with. He believed in a patient process, of listening and talking before going forward. "Bosses cannot always do what they want," he said. "They have to convince."

Jorge Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires in 1936 into an Italian immigrant family. His parents, who were middle class, though not well-off, spoke Spanish at home, but Jorge learnt Italian from his grandparents. At school, he excelled at chemistry. Outside it, he loved football and the tango. His mother hoped he would become a doctor; but aged 16, he walked into a church and realised, he said, that God was waiting for him there. At 21, he suffered severe pneumonia and had to have part of his lung removed. Soon afterwards, he entered a Jesuit seminary, and after 11 years of training he was ordained.

In 1973, he was appointed to lead the Jesuits in Argentina; three years later, the brutal military junta took over. Two of his priests were arrested while working in a slum area, and tortured during five months of detention. His enemies would later spread rumours that he'd abandoned the pair, said The Guardian. In fact, he had petitioned the military leaders to release them; he'd also helped others to flee Argentina. However, his failure to denounce the junta, or embrace radical liberation theology, alienated him from his order, as did his authoritarian leadership style. As a result, he was sent into a form of internal exile; he emerged with a more compassionate, more consultative approach. In 1992, he was made auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires, in which role he affirmed his commitment to the poor. In 1998, he became archbishop.

He was relieved not to be made Pope in 2005 (he said that a faction had backed him, in a bid to block Cardinal Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict); but when Ratzinger stood down, he was deemed the right man to restore a Church reeling from a series of crises, including the clerical-abuse scandal. In that regard, he committed some serious errors – such as defending a Chilean bishop who had been accused of covering up a priest's abuse. Following a backlash, he admitted to having made a "grave mistake", and reached out to the abuse victims he had accused of slander. He gave survivors of clerical abuse access to documents from Church proceedings for use in lay courts; and he brought in rules obliging Church officials to report evidence of abuse or its cover-up – but only to Church authorities, not civil ones.

His advancing age did not hold him back: one of his last visits, in 2023, was to South Sudan and DR Congo; nor did ill health stop his political interventions. In February, he wrote a letter criticising Donald Trump's plans for the mass deportation of undocumented migrants. "All I am trying to do is advance the Gospel," he once said. "But imperfectly, because sometimes I make mistakes."

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Pope Benedict was an ardent defender of Catholic traditions. Pope Francis, who died Monday, chose a more liberal direction. Which way will the church, famously resistant to change, move under his successor?

"Papal successions are not like presidential transitions," said Anthony Faiola and Michelle Boorstein at The Washington Post. New popes do not "openly set about undoing the legacy" of their predecessors. But much can change in "style, emphasis, guidance and law." Francis backed away from the Latin Mass, allowed priestly blessings of same-sex couples and moved to decentralize the power of the church. But those changes didn't come without controversy, and could be reversed. "These innovations have been contested and rejected by many Catholics," said Rev. Gerald Murray. The next pope could "restate perennial Catholic doctrine."

Leading a church in decline

Francis "bent but did not break doctrinal orthodoxy," said Ed Kilgore at New York magazine. Those who hoped to see "full acceptance of gay or divorced Catholics" or the embrace of women in the clergy were disappointed, but the late pontiff "may have opened doors once firmly closed to future consideration." Francis reshaped the College of Cardinals that will choose his successor, making it more diverse, but he was "less concerned about doctrinal conformity" in his choices, putting both progressives and traditionalists in key positions. Everything is in play: The new pope could "be a protege of Francis, or someone inclined to turn back clocks."

Another challenge is that there is a "declining number of Catholics worldwide," said Axios, with many Latinos shifting instead to Charismatic Pentecostalism. One of the "greatest failures" of Francis is that "he didn't focus on evangelism," said Andrew Chesnut, the Bishop Walter F. Sullivan chair in Catholic Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. The next pope will likely "put some focus on appealing to evangelicals," said Axios.

'The de-Westernization of the church'

The selection of a new pope is "as much political balancing act as spiritual exercise," said Katherine Kelaidis at Vox. The conversation usually focuses on "progressive" and "traditionalist" factions in the "global culture wars" and will likely dominate the conclave that chooses the new pontiff. But there are other factors. "What the average Christian looks like and where the average Christian lives" is quickly changing. The church is in decline in North America and Europe, but rising in Latin America, Asia and Africa. Despite that, the church's "power centers have stayed firmly in the West." With Pope Francis' successor, that could begin to change.

Pope Francis "was not considered a radical" when he was chosen by the conclave in 2013, Molly Olmstead said at Slate. It is doubtful the cardinals "knew what they were ushering in." So there is no guarantee the next conclave will choose a successor "who shares Francis' more progressive ideals." Indeed, the "geographically and linguistically diverse cardinals" whom he put in place "barely know each other," increasing the unpredictability of the process. But Francis' key legacy — a church pivot to the "Global South" and away from Europe — is likely to stick. Whoever comes next, it will be difficult for him to "walk back the de-Westernization of the church."

'Pope Francis' greatest achievement was emphasizing mercy'

Austen Ivereigh at Time

Pope Francis' "legacy was his insistence" on mercy, says Austen Ivereigh. What "truly made Francis different from his predecessors was the bold, radical way he sought to put mercy." He "understood that we are living through what he called a 'change of era,' in which faith is no longer primarily inherited through law, culture, and tribal identity." Francis "made clear it is no longer enough to stay in the abstract, at the level of ideals and generalities."

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'What it means to tell the truth about America'

Clint Smith at The Atlantic

The "history inside" the National Museum of African American History and Culture "still reverberates through our country," says Clint Smith. It is "impossible to understand the contemporary landscape of social, political, and economic inequality without understanding the forces and events that served as its catalysts." This is the "exact sort of story that Trump and many of his allies would like to excise from museums, classrooms, and every other realm of American life."

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'Oklahoma City bombing was 30 years ago, but there are still lessons to learn today'

Kari Watkins and Dr. Susan Chambers at USA Today

The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum is a "testament to our commitment to transforming tragedy into a force for good," say Kari Watkins and Dr. Susan Chambers. While the "mission is to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever, it's also to educate visitors about the impact of violence and offer comfort, strength, peace, hope and serenity." These "words remind us that building, maintaining and programming the memorial and museum, does not diminish the tragedy."

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'Democrats are choosing ideology over electability'

Nafees Alam at The Kansas City Star

The Democratic Party "stands at a pivotal moment," says Nafees Alam. It has "embraced a host of progressive causes — abortion rights, expansive immigration policies, and LGBTQ+ inclusion, to name a few." This "often places them on the minority side of issues where public opinion leans heavily the other way." If Democrats "hope to reclaim electoral dominance and preserve a balanced political system, they must learn to say 'no' to some of their more divisive positions."

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What happened

Pope Francis, the first Jesuit pontiff and first pope from Latin America, died Monday morning. He was 88 and had been in poor health since an extended hospital stay for double pneumonia.

Who said what

"At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father," after a life "dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his church," said Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo, or de facto administrator of the Holy See after a pope's death. "For Pope Francis, it was always to extend the arms of the church to embrace all people, not to exclude anyone." The pope had appeared in public Sunday to bless tens of thousands of people gathered to celebrate Easter Sunday.

During his 12-year papacy, Francis "charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change" and his incremental elevation of women in the church and embrace of LGBTQ+ Catholics, The Associated Press said. He shook up the Catholic Church "without changing its core doctrine," shifting its focus to be a "refuge for everyone."

What next?

Pope Francis' death "will set off mourning around the world and deliberations and machinations to choose a successor" through a "chain of rituals and procedures, many of which have remained unchanged for centuries," The New York Times said. The College of Cardinals will have to decide "whether to choose a new pope who will follow his welcoming, global approach or to restore the more doctrinaire path" forged over "more than three decades of conservative papacies." Francis named 111 of the 136 voting cardinals, The Washington Post said, "making sure the conclave that would pick his successor was more diverse and less dominated by Europeans."

What happened

Pope Francis made his first public appearance in more than five weeks Sunday, waving to well-wishers from his balcony at Rome's Gemelli Polyclinic hospital before being discharged and driven back home to the Vatican to convalesce. The pope had entered the hospital on Feb. 14 with worsening bronchitis, and his subsequent battle against double pneumonia included "two very critical episodes" where his "life was in danger," said Dr. Sergio Alfieri, the head of the pope's hospital medical team.

Who said what

"Thank you, everyone," Pope Francis said from the hospital balcony, his "wisp of a voice" thin and "raspy" from his lung infections, according to The New York Times. The 88-year-old pope looked "frail" and wore nasal oxygen tubes during the drive home, The Associated Press said, but his exit from the hospital "brought tangible relief to the Vatican and Catholic faithful who have been anxiously following 38 days of medical ups and downs and wondering if Francis would make it."

What next?

Doctors have instructed the pope, "who had kept up a grueling schedule before his illness," to "take it easy for at least two months" and avoid large groups and small children due to infection concerns, the Times said.

The death of a pope, the spiritual leader of the world's 1.3 billion Catholics, propels the Holy Roman Church into "its most dramatic moment of flux", said The New York Times.

For that very reason, the period between a pontiff's death and the election of a successor is marked by a series of "carefully choreographed" rituals and moments of "pageantry", designed to communicate order and continuity.

What happens when a pope dies?

The protocol had been "refined over centuries and hundreds of dead popes", said Politico. Firstly, the death is confirmed by the camerlengo, a senior Vatican position currently held by Irish-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell. While doctors will have made a medical confirmation of death, the camerlengo's role is a ceremonial one, in which he calls out the pope's name and receives no response.

The pontiff's body, in a simple white cassock, is taken to his private chapel, where he is robed in red vestments and then placed in a zinc-lined wooden coffin with his symbols of office, the mitre and pallium, beside him, said The New York Times.

Then the camerlengo drafts a document authenticating the pope's death, and the pontiff's private papers are gathered, his apartments sealed off and his "fisherman's ring", used to seal papal documents, is defaced or destroyed with a ceremonial hammer.

What happens between the pope's death and the funeral?

The pope's death will automatically trigger a nine-day mourning period known as the Novendiale. Daily prayers and requiem masses will be held both in the Vatican and throughout the Catholic world.

Since the 13th century, the embalmed body of the deceased pope has been taken, in procession, to lie in state, on a raised pedestal, in St. Peter's Basilica. However, in 2024, Pope Francis "decided to highlight humility over glorification", and rewrote the protocol to do away with the raised platform, Agostino Paravicini Bagliani, a church historian, told The New York Times.

What is a papal funeral like?

The pope's funeral would be usually be held in St. Peter's Square between four and six days after his death, with "mourners packing into the Vatican for the service", said Politico.

His face covered by a white silk veil, the pope is buried with a bag containing coins minted during his reign, and a canister with a "rogito", or deed, summarising his life and papacy.

Until a successor is chosen, the Vatican will be in a transitional period called sede vacante ("vacant seat"), in which power is temporarily vested in the College of Cardinals – although any major decisions will be delayed until the next pope is installed.

What happened

Pope Francis was back on "noninvasive mechanical ventilation" after two episodes of acute respiratory failure Monday, the Vatican said. It was the latest setback in the pope's 18-day battle against double pneumonia at a Roman hospital.

Francis, 88, remained "alert, oriented and cooperative" as "copious" amounts of mucus were extracted from his lungs during two bronchoscopies, where a camera-equipped suction tube was sent down into his airways, the Vatican said.

Who said what

This was the pope's "third serious downturn" since he was admitted to Gemelli Polyclinic hospital with a complex respiratory infection on Feb. 14, the BBC said. The Vatican said laboratory tests suggested the mucus was a response to Francis' original pneumonia, not a new infection.

Monday's episodes were more worrisome than Friday's complication involving vomit the pope inhaled during a coughing fit, Dr. John Coleman, a pulmonary critical care doctor at Chicago's Northwestern Medicine, told The Associated Press. The need to manually extract mucus "means that he is not clearing the secretions on his own," he said. "He's taking little steps forward and then steps back."

What next?

The pontiff's return to a mask forcing air into his lungs shows he "is still in danger," a Vatican official told The Washington Post. It's good news that the infection doesn't appear to be growing, but it's "premature" to discuss when the pope might be discharged. Catholics are holding nightly vigils in St. Peter's Square as the Holy See prepares for Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent without Pope Francis there to lead the liturgical rituals.

'Centering the voiceless: Pope Francis' enduring global impact'

Stan Chu Ilo at Al Jazeera

Pope Francis "believes that those who suffer and who inhabit the existential peripheries of life reflect the true face of God," says Stan Chu Ilo. Our "world can only overcome the polycrisis it is facing today under the guidance of leaders like him." Francis has "demonstrated his unyielding commitment to promoting coexistence and confronting global injustice many times over in the past decade." The world "needs Francis' leadership and message of peace, fraternity and solidarity more than ever."

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'America's most shameful vote ever at the UN'

Bret Stephens at The New York Times

Vladimir Putin has "never had a bigger accomplice in deceit than Donald Trump," says Bret Stephens. By "participating in the moral and factual inversions that Putin has deployed for his invasion of Ukraine, the Trump administration isn't setting itself up as some sort of evenhanded broker to end the war." It is "turning the United States into an accessory to Russia's crimes — or at least to the lies on which the crimes are predicated."

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'America's enemies are rooting for the death of the National Endowment for Democracy'

Peter Roskam at the National Review

America's "most dangerous adversaries have been celebrating what they see as a major victory: a funding freeze that has effectively halted the work of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The "authoritarian regimes in Beijing, Moscow, Tehran, and Havana, the Taliban in Kabul, and terrorist networks are crowing." A "weakened NED means local citizen groups will be less effective in challenging authoritarian crimes." The "loudest voices applauding NED's struggles are those who wish to see freedom fail."

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'Statewide cellphone ban in schools is a lesson in common sense'

The Boston Globe editorial board

Few "distractions in schools today are as pervasive and damaging as cellphones," says The Boston Globe editorial board. State "legislatures and education officials across the country are taking action." The "evidence is clear that classrooms function better without smartphones," and "public opinion largely aligns with educators." That's "why a standardized policy across districts banning devices — including cellphones and tablets — for the duration of the school day" is the "right approach." Schools are for "learning, not scrolling."

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What happened

Pope Francis, hospitalized Friday with bronchitis, has a "polymicrobial respiratory tract infection," the Vatican said Monday, and his "complex clinical picture" will "require an appropriate hospital stay" in Rome's A. Gemelli Polyclinic.

Who said what

The diagnosis essentially "means there's a mix of bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites growing" in the his lungs, The Associated Press aid, and "for someone with the pope's medical history — he lost part of his right lung decades ago and has previously had pneumonia — it's worrying that he's been hospitalized." The Vatican said Monday that Francis was "in good spirits," in stable condition with no fever and had resumed "some work activities."

The 88-year-old pope's "medical challenges have become more numerous with age," including the removal of part of his colon, seasonal respiratory infections and knee problems and sciatica that have "caused a severe limp" and "often required him to use a wheelchair, walker or cane," The New York Times said.

What next?

The Vatican gave no estimate for how long the "workaholic" pope would stay hospitalized, the AP said, but his general audience on Wednesday was canceled and the official Vatican calendar has "no more papal appointments or activities" listed until March 5, Ash Wednesday.

'School choice revs up again in the states'

The Wall Street Journal editorial board

School choice has been "on a roll in Republican-led states, and the momentum is continuing this year," says The Wall Street Journal editorial board. That's "all the more important after the demoralizing recent national test score results." School choice is "crucial to free parents and children from the monopoly control of unions that care first about dues-paying teachers." Republicans can also "use the recent national test results to press for more accountability on curriculum, attendance and graduation rates."

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'Is Congress fine with giving up its war powers?'

Daniel DePetris at the Chicago Tribune

There's a "fundamental power that Congress as an institution has largely deferred to the executive without so much as a protest: the power to declare war," says Daniel DePetris, but "successive U.S. presidents have repeatedly proffered expansive theories on why the president as commander in chief possesses the right to take military action without congressional approval." This "does the nation a grave disservice by upending the Constitution, removing the guardrails so critical to stopping bad decisions."

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'Pope Francis is ready to take on MAGA'

Theo Zenou at Foreign Policy

Pope Francis "clearly doesn't think that Trump has been anointed by God and is more likely to be praying for his failure than his success," says Theo Zenou. The "pope has a history of opposing the U.S. leader." Francis "might look like an easy target," but "unlike other heads of state, Trump can't browbeat him. The reason is simple: The president has no leverage on the pope." Trump "can't slap tariffs on Vatican City."

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'Why voice notes are a small act of love'

Rainesford Stauffer at Time

Based on how many people "describe getting a voice note as a personal, mini-podcast, getting to listen to each other is a meaningful way to stay in touch that liking an Instagram story just isn't," says Rainesford Stauffer. But "voice notes remain somewhat divisive: Though many apps have a transcription feature for voice notes, communicating this way isn't accessible to everyone." It's a "small act of love" to "want to talk to someone — however you choose to."

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An unholy war is brewing in the Catholic Church, said Paola Totaro in The Australian (Sydney). While "Conclave", a film about the "murky web of curial politics", is getting Oscar-season buzz, in the real-world Vatican "a series of events has unfolded behind the Leonine Walls in past months that are just as intriguing". With only one lung, the fragile 88-year-old Pope Francis sparks alarm with "every cough or hospital admission". Around him, the vultures circle – devising strategies to ensure their preferred candidate becomes the next leader of the Catholic Church and its 1.4 billion faithful.

On one side are Francis's progressives, who want to modernise the Church; on the other, conservative traditionalists who fear "a shift too far on issues of capitalism, homosexuality, abortion and the role of women". This week, an unabashed Pope Francis appointed an Italian nun, Sister Raffaella Petrini, to run the Vatican City State – the first time a woman has ever been given the role. Women make better managers than men, said the Pope, adding: "Women have been running things since the Garden of Eden."

It's all part of Francis's restructuring of Vatican affairs, said Mikael Corre in La Croix (Paris). Under his leadership, some 20 women have been appointed to senior positions in the Holy See, "from the governing board of the Financial Information Authority to the Secretariat of State, the Vatican Library and the Museums". The ultimate aim, Francis says, is to incorporate women into every part of ecclesiastical life.

But in doing so, said the Catholic Herald, he risks stirring up an already febrile atmosphere in Rome. A Vatican employee, identified only by the initials G.F., claims the Argentinian Pope has "surrounded himself with Spanish-speaking favourites with progressive agendas", and that the Vatican is in the grip of two distinct lobbies: a powerful gay clique on the one hand, and the left-wing Santa Marta club on the other. To join the latter, says G.F., "you have to be green, pro-migrant and above all pro-Palestinian. For them, Nicolás Maduro is a saint and Donald Trump is a devil."

Francis should "brace" himself for a battle, said John Kenneth White in The Hill (Washington DC), particularly in the US, where a "conservative wave" has flooded the Church. More than half of the country's 3,500 priests described themselves as "conservative/orthodox" or "very conservative/orthodox" in a recent survey; not one priest ordained after 2020 described himself as "very progressive". Meanwhile, President Trump has launched his own "frontal assault on the papacy" by appointing Brian Burch – a firebrand anti-Francis "agitator" – as his US ambassador to the Vatican.

It makes for a dramatic final chapter of a pontificate, said Damian Thompson on UnHerd (London). The next conclave "can't be far off", but for now Francis remains, combative and compulsively secretive. The Cardinals wait patiently, "sharpening their knives".

What happened

President Joe Biden on Saturday awarded Pope Francis the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction, the highest U.S. civilian honor. Biden handed out Medals of Freedom to 19 people earlier this month, including Hillary Clinton, Michael J. Fox, Denzel Washington, Magic Johnson, designer Ralph Lauren, George Soros, Lionel Messi, philanthropic chef José Andrés and U2's Bono, but the pope is the only person upon whom Biden has bestowed the honor "with distinction."

Who said what

Francis is "the People's Pope — a light of faith, hope and love that shines brightly across the world," the White House said. "His mission of serving the poor has never ceased. A loving pastor, he joyfully answers children's questions about God. A challenging teacher, he commands us to fight for peace and protect the planet. A welcoming leader, he reaches out to different faiths. The first pope from the Southern Hemisphere, Pope Francis is unlike any who came before."

Biden had planned to present the pope with the medal on a visit to Rome, but he canceled the trip to oversee the federal response to the Los Angeles wildfires. Instead, he bestowed the honor during a phone call. Biden was the sole recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom with Distinction under President Barack Obama.

What next?

Biden, the second Catholic president, leaves office Jan. 20. The Italy trip was to have been his final presidential trip abroad.

What happened

Pope Francis is seeking clarity on whether Israel's war in Gaza meets the legal definition of "genocide," according to book excerpts published Sunday in Italian newspapers and confirmed by the Vatican press office. Israel rejects that characterization, commonly used by Arab leaders and Palestinian advocates. The International Court of Justice is weighing South Africa's allegations that Israel has violated the Genocide Convention.

Who said what

"According to some experts," Pope Francis said in the upcoming book, "what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide. It should be carefully investigated to determine whether it fits into the technical definition formulated by jurists and international bodies."

That was some of the pope's "most explicit criticism yet of Israel's conduct in its yearlong war," Reuters said. Francis is "usually careful not to take sides in international conflicts," though he has recently "stepped up his criticism of Israel's conduct" in the war. In September, the pope called Israel's attacks in Gaza and Lebanon "'immoral' and disproportionate, and that its military has gone beyond the rules of war," said The Associated Press.

Israel's Vatican ambassador, Yaron Sideman, said the "genocidal massacre" was Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israeli citizens last year, "and since then, Israel has exercised its right of self-defense." Calling the war "by any other name is singling out the Jewish state," he added. Hamas killed 1,200 people on Oct. 7 and abducted 250 more, dozens of whom are still being kept hostage. Israel's military response has killed 43,846 people in Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry, and another 3,481 in Lebanon. Both those numbers include civilians and militants.

What next?

The book of interviews with Pope Francis, "Hope Never Disappoints: Pilgrims Toward a Better World," is scheduled for release on Nov. 19, ahead of his 2025 jubilee year.

What happened

Pope Francis on Saturday approved the final document of his yearslong global synod, or dialogue among the world's 1.4 billion Catholics on the direction of the church. He took the unusual step of saying it speaks for the church, requiring no additional action by him.

Who said what

The final document, approved by 368 delegates after three years of discussion "at every level of the Catholic Church," laid out a "vision for structural reform" that would give "lay leaders, especially women," a greater role and more equal voice in the church, Religion News Service said. The bishops, nuns and laypeople affirmed "there is no reason or impediment that should prevent women from carrying out leadership roles in the church," but the final document ruled out ordaining women as priests and said the question of women deacons "remains open."

Catholic deacons can preside over baptisms, weddings and funerals, but only priests can celebrate mass. Ordaining women deacons was a "fringe proposal pushed by Western progressives" before the synod, The Associated Press said. By the end it had become "something of a litmus test of how far the church was going to go" to include women in leadership roles.

Progressive Catholics "may be disappointed" in the outcome, "but some conservatives were upset about the whole summit from the beginning," the BBC said, "opposed to opening up this consultation process," traditionally reserved for bishops, to lay Catholics.

What next?

The question of women deacons was relegated to a Vatican study group, CNN said, but "for a church which thinks in centuries, what may seem like small steps to those on the outside are major leaps forward for many inside."

What happened

Pope Francis expelled 10 members of Peru's controversial Sodalitium Christianae Vitae (SCV) movement on Wednesday, including a bishop, several priests and multiple lay members. The Vatican said the former members were guilty of "sadistic" abuses of power.

Who said what

The pope's public move against Sodalitium leadership was "unusual" and "astonishing," The Associated Press said, because it listed abuses that have "rarely if ever been punished canonically," like hacking a journalist's communications, and "cited the people the pope held responsible." Those expelled are accused of committing "physical abuse, including sadism and violence," as well as mental and spiritual abuse, and "abuse of authority," the Vatican said in a statement published online by the Peruvian Bishops Conference.

Wednesday's expulsion comes just over a month after the Vatican expelled Sodalitium founder Luis Fernando Figari, who was accused of "physical, psychological and sexual violence, including against minors," Vatican News said. At its height, SCV "represented one of the most active forces for evangelization in South America," a conservative counterweight to Catholic liberation theology.

What next?

It isn't clear "how exactly the expulsions can be enforced," especially "for the laypeople involved," the AP said. But the "very public announcement" shows that Pope Francis was "willing to take an unorthodox approach to interpreting the church's in-house laws to send a message." The Vatican said the pope and Peruvian bishops are "seeking the forgiveness of the victims" and urging SCV to pursue a "path toward justice and reparation."

What has the Pope been doing in Asia? Why is ketamine addiction on the rise? And who will win the race to a trillion dollars? Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days.

A podcast for curious, open-minded people, The Week Unwrapped delivers fresh perspectives on politics, culture, technology and business.

It makes for a lively, enlightening discussion, ranging from the serious to the offbeat. Previous topics have included whether solar engineering could refreeze the Arctic, why funerals are going out of fashion and what kind of art you can use to pay your tax bill.

You can subscribe to The Week Unwrapped wherever you get your podcasts:

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What happened

Pope Francis met with fellow religious leaders yesterday at Southeast Asia's largest mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia. The pope and the mosque's top cleric, Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar, signed a joint declaration urging Catholics and Muslims to encourage their leaders to fight climate change and religious intolerance.

Who said what

The visit to Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population, highlighted two pillars of Francis' papacy: the environment and interfaith dialogue. The declaration he and Umar signed at Jakarta's Istiqlal Mosque urged "all people of good will to take decisive action" to protect the planet from human-caused climate change and said religion should be used to resolve conflicts, never abused to justify violence.

The "Istiqlal Declaration" was the latest of several joint communiqués Pope Francis has signed with Muslim leaders, including on a historic 2019 trip to the Arabian peninsula and a 2021 visit to Iraq. The Jakarta encounter, "rich with symbolic meaning and personal touches," showed the "personal side" of that Muslim outreach, The Associated Press said, "with Francis and Umar — the aged pope and the youthful imam — showing a clear affinity for one another."

What next?

The pope will leave Indonesia on Friday for Papua New Guinea, the next stop in his "ambitious 12-day journey" through Southeast Asia and Oceania, Reuters said. He is scheduled to return to Rome on Sept. 13.

What happened

Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò said Thursday the Vatican was putting him on trial for the "crime of schism" and "denial of the legitimacy of Pope Francis." Viganò, a former Vatican ambassador to the U.S., has denounced the pope in increasingly harsh terms — a liberal "servant of Satan," for example — since publicly calling on him to resign in 2018.

Who said what

Viganò, 83, said he "regards the accusations against me as an honor." Since 2016, he has "slowly moved closer to more conservative and eventually conspiratorial wings of the church and American society," Religion News Service said.

Trials for schism, or rupture with Catholic "unity" under the pope, are "exceedingly rare," The Washington Post said. But following years of increasingly "vitriolic attacks" from conservative clerics, Pope Francis is drawing a line.

What next?

Viganò will be tried in absentia if he doesn't appear in person, and his conviction could lead to defrocking and excommunication. Viganò took "some attitudes and some actions for which he must answer," said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state. "I am very sorry because I always appreciated him as a great worker, very faithful to the Holy See.… I don't know what happened."

What happened

The Vatican apologized Tuesday after Pope Francis was quoted using a homophobic slur during a private conversation about openly gay clergy with a group of Italian bishops last week. 

Who said what

Pope Francis "never intended to offend or express himself in homophobic terms" and "extends his apologies to those who were offended by the use of a term, reported by others," Vatican Press Office Director Matteo Bruni said. Francis reportedly said that "seminaries were already too full of 'frociaggine,' an offensive Italian slang term referring to gay men," The New York Times said. According to some bishops in the meeting, Francis, "as an Argentine, might have not realized that the Italian term he used was offensive," Reuters said.

Since assuming the papacy, Francis has been "widely credited with urging the church to be more welcoming to the LGBTQ community, and he has delivered a mostly inclusive message," the Times said. 

What next?

As Pope Francis "has stated on many occasions, 'There is room for everyone in the church,'" Bruni said.

Pope Francis may have made waves with his announcement that priests would be allowed to bless same-sex couples, an extraordinarily liberal view for the leader of the Catholic Church, but his latest comments on surrogacy are drawing some criticism for being unnecessarily restrictive.

During an address on Monday, Francis said surrogacy turns children into "an object of [human] trafficking." Calling for a worldwide ban on the practice, Francis added that surrogacy was "deplorable" and "represents a grave violation of the dignity of the woman and the child, based on the exploitation of situations of the mother’s material needs."

Gestational surrogacy, described by the Cleveland Clinic as "when another person carries and delivers a child for another couple or person" through in-vitro fertilization, has been denounced by Francis before. His recent comments are by far his strongest words against surrogacy, though, and are generating controversy among people who are both for and against the practice. 

Francis 'couldn't be further from the truth'

Francis' characterization of surrogacy "couldn't be further from the truth," Sunshine Hanson, founder of surrogacy agency Surrogacy Is, told NPR. Hanson told the outlet that describing surrogacy as exploitative is "disrespectful to the women who are doing this."

"I just think that it's so brave for a parent to trust somebody else to carry their baby," Hanson said. "It's a really special and unique relationship that I don't think anybody who hasn't been through it can really fathom."

Francis also called surrogacy the basis of a "commercial contract," which is in line with a common criticism of the practice — it exploits people financially. But Hanson pushed back against Francis' comments, saying surrogacy was "intended to compensate you for the time and the effort and the sacrifice and the struggle of being pregnant."

The Catholic Church has traditionally turned against surrogacy due to religious law, but Francis appears to be taking the stance that it violates human rights. But in doing so, "the pope is failing to recognize how varied and nuanced the experiences of intended parents, surrogates and children are," Danielle Tumminio Hansen, a theology professor at Emory University, wrote for The Conversation. Some women indeed "become surrogates out of desperation and are abused in the process, as the pope says," Hanson added, but others "make the choice for altruistic reasons and never accept remuneration."

And while the Church condemns surrogacy because conception — which occurs via in-vitro fertilization — takes place outside of intercourse, it is actually "the only form of assisted reproduction documented in the Bible," according to Hanson. 

'Ethically thorny'

While many view Francis as an overall liberal Catholic leader, his "statements on surrogacy are an extension of the church's broader teachings on gender and human life," Jill Filipovic opined for CNN, which is "make as many babies as possible but also leave it in God's hands."

"It's a too-simplistic recipe for a complex human desire, vested in our notoriously imperfect and complicated human bodies," Filipovic added. "Who is anyone else to tell a woman what she can and cannot do with her own body?"

However, surrogacy is "among the most ethically thorny reproductive questions" and  "the potential for abuse is high and the negotiating table perilously uneven," Filipovic wrote. This is especially true among wealthy people who are willing to pay poorer women to carry their children, Filipovic said. She also noted that the pope is not alone in condemning surrogacy, as it is banned or restricted in large swaths of Europe and several U.S. states.

"The line between agency and exploitation is not always clear," Filipovic said. But while surrogacy "has too often been a one-way flow of children from poorer countries to richer ones," the problem is the Church's "overly broad, dogmatic and extreme response to surrogacy."

If surrogacy were to be banned globally, it would create "an outcry from people all across the globe who desire to be parents," Stephanie Levich, founder of Family Match Consulting, told People. This could lead to dangerous outcomes as people would pursue surrogacy "[in ways] that could potentially be illegal and less safe," she added. This could lead to large portions of the female demographic being impacted, Levich said. 

The "vast majority of surrogacy cases" result in "incredible and beautiful relationships," Levich told People. "I don’t know how something like that could be considered to be exploitative."

The Pope's controversial doctrinal chief has been accused of blasphemy after the rediscovery of a book he wrote 26 years ago praising "mystical orgasms". Víctor Manuel Fernández's book also depicts a "passionate encounter between Jesus and a young girl", said The Times. The chief is "currently at loggerheads" with traditional bishops after allowing the blessing of gay couples last month.

Woman's costly cocktail shock

A woman's New Year celebrations were "absolutely wrecked" after she mistakenly ordered an "extremely expensive drink", said the Daily Express. Lynsey Bennett, from Belfast, ordered a cocktail that she thought cost £18.90 while at a five-star hotel in London, England, only to "realise to her horror" it cost £1,890. She said her husband was "furious at me so he left the bar and left me there on my own to deal with it". The hotel agreed to waive the bill and Lynsey spent the rest of the night drinking with the hotel manager.

Punch bag record broken

An Indian martial artist broke a Guinness World Record when he spent 55 hours, 15 minutes punching a punch bag, reported UPI. Sidhu Kshetri, 42, was required by the rules to throw at least one punch every 2 seconds and was allowed a five-minute break per hour. "The pain started around the 20-hour mark," he said. "At that point, I reminded myself that it was a test of my limits. I believed that if I stayed emotionally strong, I could endure the pain."

'Palestinians deserve a more representative, accountable, and younger leadership'

Samer Sinijlawi in The New York Times

Mahmoud Abbas should resign, says Samer Sinijlawi in The New York Times. He's 88 years old, and his "leadership as president of the Palestinian Authority has failed to deliver democracy,” safety, or prosperity to his people. If Hamas's rule in Gaza is ending, the Palestinian Authority could be called to unite Gaza and the West Bank. But it will have to change to have legitimacy, and that includes replacing "Abbas and his cronies" with new leaders.

Read more

'Tensions and bad choices abound in the Red Sea'

Bruce Jones in Foreign Policy

Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea could cause "major disruption" in one of the world's most important shipping routes, says Bruce Jones in Foreign Policy. One way to address this is widening the U.S.-led naval coalition aiming to make the waters safe again. That's a tough sell. But globalization makes us more dependent on "sea-based trade," so America will have to resign itself to leading in "projecting naval power" or cede that role to China.

Read more

'The knives are out for home schooling'

Matthew Hennessey in The Wall Street Journal

Pandemic lockdowns gave parents a chance to see "what their kids were doing all day" in school, says Matthew Hennessey in The Wall Street Journal. Many bristled at the "wasted time, woke-infused curricula, and poor instruction," and figured "they could do better." They "liked the freedom" of home schooling, and "kept at it" post-lockdown. Now, teachers' unions and the press are attacking home schooling. They must think too much freedom "is a bad thing."

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'The Pope has had more than a decade to bring the church into the 21st century'

Celia Wexler at CNN

The media hyperventilated when the Vatican announced it would let priests bless same-sex couples, says Celia Wexler at CNN. Journalists called it "shocking" and "radical" progress. But this won't end discrimination against LGBTQ Catholics. The Vatican made clear it wasn't "approving the blessing of a same-sex union, which remains sinful in the church's eyes, but blessing the couples in those unions." Church doctrine still defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

Read more

The Vatican surprised everyone Monday with a document approved by Pope Francis that invites priests to bless same-sex couples, so long as the blessing doesn't imply equivalence with the sacrament of marriage. The declaration from the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith supersedes a 2021 document that rejected the idea of blessing same-sex unions, because "God cannot bless sin." 

The eight-page declaration, "Fiducia supplicans: On the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings," is Pope Francis' "most definitive step yet to make the Roman Catholic Church more welcoming to LGBTQ Catholics and more reflective of his vision of a more pastoral, and less rigid, church," The New York Times assessed. 

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the new head of the Vatican's powerful doctrinal office, said the document was prompted by the pope's recent reply to conservative cardinals about blessing same-sex relationships.

The new declaration doesn't, and can't, change the church's "perennial teaching" that marriage is an "exclusive, stable and indissoluble union between a man and a woman," the document underscored. But it seeks to "broaden and enrich the meaning of blessings" beyond those dispensed in a formal liturgical setting, like a Catholic mass. 

Priests should not bless same-sex or other "irregular" couples in anything resembling a church rite or ritual, use wedding-like gestures or garments or words, or confer the blessing in connection with a same-sex civil union, the document cautions. But in more "spontaneous" situations, "when people ask for a blessing, an exhaustive moral analysis should not be placed as a precondition for conferring it."

Caveats aside, conservative Catholics were not pleased with the new declaration. University of Notre Dame theologian Ulrich Lehner called it the Vatican's "most unfortunate public announcement in decades," and "an invitation to schism." Some LGBTQ Catholics lamented that it did not go further. What is Pope Francis trying to do with this new declaration?

What the commentators said

Pope Francis just put down a "landmark and milestone in the church's relationship with LGBTQ people that can't be overestimated or overstated," said Francis DeBernardo, the executive director of gay Catholic advocacy group New Ways Ministry. "This declaration is proof that church teaching can — and does — change." The conservative LifeSiteNews agreed that the pope is toying with "the unchangeable Catholic teaching that the church cannot bless sinful relationships." 

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — "which has a large conservative contingent," the Times noted — disagreed. "The church's teaching on marriage has not changed, and this declaration affirms that," USCCB spokesperson Chieko Noguchi said.

"Conscientious Catholics" can see that the pope is carefully drawing within the lines of orthodoxy, but other Catholics won't, and "to me, the confusion looks deliberate," Michael Brendan Dougherty wrote at National Review. The underlying message is that "as long as it all remains informal, priests can do what they want" with same-sex blessings. "It's another one of these ways to approve of homosexual relations without actually saying we're approving of them," fellow traditionalist Catholic author Peter Kwasniewski agreed. 

On the other hand, "the new Vatican instructions could force a course correction to a number of Catholic bishops' conferences in Europe" that have published guidelines for more ritualized blessings of same-sex unions, Christopher White suggested at the National Catholic Reporter.

Everybody is making a big deal of this, but "there were no doctrine-based justifications for not doing it, because, in the Catholic Church, they also bless tanks, cars, tractors, even salt," Italian gay Catholic activist Innocenzo Pontillo told The Washington Post. "It's painful, though, that they should still feel compelled to reiterate: Remember, it’s not marriage! Look, we know it already."

What's next?

Catholic priests and bishops will have to interpret what the declaration means. Pope Francis doesn't plan to elaborate on "possible ways to regulate details or practicalities," the document says. "What has been said in this declaration regarding the blessings of same-sex couples is sufficient to guide the prudent and fatherly discernment of ordained ministers."

The pope has given "a much-needed pastoral response to Catholic same-sex couples in loving, committed and self-sacrificing relationships who desire God's presence and help," Fr. James Martin, who advocates for greater LGBTQ acceptance in the church wrote at Outreach. "And as a priest I look forward to blessing same-sex couples," as "I've waited years to do."

"I will never confer a blessing upon two men or two women who are involved in a sexual relationship that is by its nature gravely sinful," said Fr. Gerald Murray, an outspoken conservative in New York. "The pope has placed priests who uphold Catholic doctrine about the immorality of sodomy and adultery into a terrible position."

While priests figure that out, the pope's move "is unlikely to agitate most Catholics in the American pews," the Times reported. According to a 2019 Pew Research survey, 61% of U.S. Catholics who go to mass every week support same-sex marriage.

The Vatican said Nov. 8 that transgender Catholics can be baptized and serve as godparents at a baptism, and that nothing in church law prevents gay or transgender people from serving as witnesses in Catholic weddings. The new document, signed Oct. 31 by Pope Francis and Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the new head of the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog, also clarified that the children of same-sex couples can be baptized. There are, of course, caveats and theological fine print.

The document released by the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, written in Italian and Portuguese, was Fernández's response to six questions from Brazilian Bishop José Negri. The answers reflect Francis' pastoral approach to the papacy and outreach to LGBTQ Catholics, without changing the church's moral teachings on homosexuality and gender.

Updates on baptism

In the Catholic Church, baptism is administered — mostly to young children — to cleanse residual sin and initiate people into the Christian church. Children and adolescents "with issues of a transsexual nature" can be baptized "if well prepared and willing," the document said. And "a transsexual — undergoing hormonal treatment and sex-reassignment surgery — can be baptized, under the same conditions as other faithful, if there are no situations in which there is a risk of generating public scandal or disorientation in the faithful."

"The term 'scandal' in Roman Catholic theology has a specific meaning" that's different than just "moral outrage," NPR reported. According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, scandal is "an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil," tempts a person to commit sin or "damages virtue and integrity."

The question of transgender godparents, as it relates to baptism, "is more complicated," Vatican News reported, because "being a godparent is not a right." Transgender Catholics can "be admitted to the role of godfather or godmother," under "certain conditions," the dicastery document said. 

In borderline cases, transgender godparent candidates could be offered another role in the baptism, such as a witness, the document suggested, or "another person from the family circle might act as guarantor of the correct transmission of the Catholic faith to the baptized person."

Updates on marriage

Same-sex couples cannot be married in the Catholic Church, though Francis left a door open in October to priests blessing same-sex couples — so long as it was clear the blessing was distinct from the sacrament of marriage. But gay and transgender people can act as witnesses at Catholic weddings because nothing "in current universal canonical legislation" prohibits it, the new document said.

What does all this mean, practically?

The Catholic Church still holds that "homosexual acts" are "intrinsically immoral" and "contrary to the natural law." And "while any statement about transgender Catholics is liable to stir conversation among Vatican observers and, especially, Catholics on the internet," Religion News Service noted, this new guidance doesn't change any Catholic teaching or even necessarily break any new ground. 

"There are no doctrinal changes here," prominent canon lawyer Nicholas P. Cafardi told The New York Times. On the other hand, this is "an actual document, not just a passing comment" from the pope, Madeline Marlett, a 26-year-old transgender Catholic in Massachusetts, told the Times. "That gave me a little bit of joy and a little bit of hope."

“In many dioceses and parishes, including in the U.S., transgender Catholics have been severely restricted from participating in the life of the church, not because of any canon law, but stemming from the decisions of bishops, priests and pastoral associates," Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit priest who advocates for more LGBTQ inclusion in the church, told The Associated Press. "The Vatican's statement is a clear recognition not only of their personhood, but of their place in their own church."

The document will make it easier for LGBTQ Catholics to participate in parishes where they are already accepted, and "it's going to be harder for local bishops not to enforce it" in areas where LGBTQ Catholics are not so welcome, Francis DeBernardo, the executive director of New Ways Ministry, told the Times.

Pope Francis is "trying to guide the church into a more welcoming place," Kori Pacyniak, a researcher of the religious experience of transgender Catholics, told The Washington Post. Even though these efforts are "often incredibly slow-going," that "doesn't mean we shouldn't celebrate the small steps along the way."

The Catholic Church is holding a significant meeting at the Vatican this week, which some observers believe could become the major work of Pope Francis's papacy.

The Synod may lay the groundwork for important changes for previously taboo subjects such as married priests and the blessing of gay unions.

Conservative Catholics, especially those in the United States, are watching the meeting "with dread and deep mistrust", said The Washington Post. The word "schism" is even being thrown about, the paper added.

The current phase of the multi-year closed-door assembly – which began in October 2021 – opens today and will run until the end of the month.

What did the papers say?

The meeting's name alone, the "Synod on Synodality", sounds "esoteric" and "mystifyingly meta for many of the rank-and-file faithful", said The New York Times (NYT), but essentially it is a "major workshop for church leaders and lay people on how to work together for the good of the church".

Francis himself has addressed the uncertainties around the meeting, saying in August that he was "well aware that speaking of a 'Synod on Synodality' may seem something abstruse, self-referential, excessively technical, and of little interest to the general public". But, he added, it "is something truly important for the church".

Despite the listening sessions that have been offered around the world and at every level of the Catholic Church, many conservatives feel that the process for the synod has been "stacked against them", the Washington Post said.

The process itself is potentially the most transformative change for the church, "putting into practice the pope's bottom-up view of a collegial and inclusive institution that upends the traditional hierarchy", said the NYT.

In April, Pope Francis also approved changes to the norms governing the Synod of Bishops, which paves the way for women to hold 54 of the 365 votes as the church maps out its plans for the future.

It is not only the process, but also the synod's agenda that has disturbed many conservatives, said The Guardian, "as the Vatican seeks to address some of the church's thorniest issues".

The agenda "calls for concrete steps to promote women to decision-making roles and the 'radical inclusion' of LGBTQ+ Catholics and others who have been marginalised by the church", the paper said. These discussion points have "rattled conservative factions".

Synods themselves are the product of the Second Vatican Council which ran from 1962 to 1965, and act as "an 'advisory' board of sorts to the Pope", explained Euronews. There have been 16 of them since the 1960s, but they have "often garnered accusations of not reflecting the reformative spirit of Vatican II", the news website said.

In response, Pope Francis has "attempted to reform the institution" in an attempt to "breathe new life into the Vatican".

What next?

The landmark three-week synod "may represent a watershed moment for the Catholic Church akin to the Second Vatican Council", said the Irish Times.

Some have also warned it could trigger a new schism. Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, a former leader of the church's doctrinal office who was replaced by Francis, has warned that the assembly could be used as a "hostile takeover".

Not everyone is confident that the meeting will bring about significant changes. Given the broad resistance to Pope Francis's ideas – including the moves to give women voting rights – Kathleen Gibbons Schuck of Women's Ordination Worldwide said she was not expecting the synod to bring about major shifts in the church. "There's an enormous history that we're looking to move to a different place," she told The Guardian.

"Do I really think there's going to be substantial change that comes out of this? Even though I'm typically an optimist, I don't," she said. "It's an incremental change. And I see signs of hope in that change."

Participants will reconvene in Rome in October 2024, after which the pope is expected to issue a document endorsing or rejecting its recommendations. That will come as "a defining moment" for the long-term legacy of Francis, said the Irish Times.

Argentina’s presidential election in October is shaping up as a political and cultural battle between a right-wing populist and… the Pope.

Javier Milei is the politician. The 52-year-old economist was largely unknown before 2021 but came out on top in the presidential primaries in August, having “pledged to wage a ‘cultural battle’ to transform Argentina into a libertarian paradise where capitalist efficiency replaces social assistance”, said The Observer.

Pope Francis, born in Buenos Aires and the former archbishop of the Argentinian capital, is still an influential figure in his homeland and the 86-year-old has been making his feelings known on the political situation there.

In a TV interview in March, Pope Francis commented on the rise of the far-right in Argentina, saying “it is the triumph of selfishness over communitarianism”. And he appeared to refer to the political newcomer Milei specifically when he said: “I am terrified of saviours of the nation without a political party history.”

Francis even made reference to Hitler in the interview, talking about the “new politician, who spoke beautifully, who seduced the people”, said Crux.

The Catholic news site also noted that Milei has variously described Pope Francis as “a ‘communist,’ an ‘imbecile’ and even a ‘leftist son of a b*.’”

A self-described “tantric sex instructor” who bragged about “various threesomes” in numerous TV appearances that built his fame, Milei also claims to be a staunch Catholic, said The Telegraph. He “wants to limit abortion rights in all cases, unless the mother’s life is at risk”, and “blames cultural Marxism for the LGBT movement”, said the paper.

And those far-right, populist views brought Milei 30% of the vote in the country’s August primaries, “ahead of both major political coalitions”.

Juan Grabois, a progressive presidential candidate with close links to the Pope, called Milei a “false prophet”, said The Observer, one who has capitalised on dissatisfaction with Argentina’s “dire economic crisis” and triple-digit inflation rate.

Pope Francis’s intervention is significant, as he is regarded as Argentina’s “most famous native son”, Crux said, but his popularity in Argentina has waned. There was “fervor” in 2013, said Religion Unplugged, when Jorge Bergoglio became the first Pope from Latin America, but a decade later he now “generates divided opinions”.

His uneasy relationship with Argentinian politics has a long history. During his time as archbishop of Buenos Aires, he said the government wanted to “cut my head off” due to “false accusations that he had collaborated with the military dictatorship of the 1970s”, Reuters reported. And he has not returned to his homeland since becoming Pope, the news agency added.

In Argentina, and in Spain, he is “blamed for virtually everything”, said Inés San Martin for Angelus. A 2019 poll by the publicly funded Argentinian CONICET research institute cemented this notion. Some 40% of respondents said they were indifferent to Francis, while 27% suggested he was too involved in politics.

But the Vatican undoubtedly holds historic influence. “For the past two thousand years, the Pope has been a major player in global affairs”, a “peace broker, a mediator, an advocate, and an influence”, said the Council on Foreign Relations’s Gabrielle Sierra.

His governmental arm, The Holy See, also wields political power. The pontiff has diplomatic relationships with 183 countries. This provides him with “access to international relations in a way that no other religious leader could even imagine having”, Timothy Byrnes, professor of political science at Colgate University, told the council.

During the Cold War, Pope John Paul II was seen as being “an instrumental figure in setting the course for the Soviet Union’s demise”, said War on the Rocks, with a “political nonalignment” policy offering “unique access to foreign powers”.

Perhaps the Vatican’s biggest sphere of influence, ironically aligning with Milei’s views, is opposition to abortion. In Argentina in 2018, Francis was reported to “have personally lobbied senators to spur votes against the legislation” to allow elective abortion up to 14 weeks of pregnancy, said The Lancet.

However, he has also “shown solidarity… with migrants, talked about climate change and espoused Catholic Social Teaching that sometimes finds itself at odds with some parts of capitalism”. The number of practising Roman Catholics has dropped in Argentina, but it is still the majority religion, and deeply embedded into national culture.

With the Pope and Milei at odds on key issues, for many Argentinians the presidential election next month will be a question of church or state.

The Vatican quietly launched an investigation into the diocese of Tyler, Texas, and its outspoken bishop, Joseph Strickland, last week, the diocese confirmed to the National Catholic Reporter on Monday. The apostolic visitation "was very confidential," diocesan spokeswoman Elizabeth Slaten told NCR. "The whole thing was conducted by the Holy See. We respect their processes."

An apostolic visitation is commissioned by the Vatican and often centers on whether someone in a leadership position, like a diocesan bishop or monastic abbot, is able to govern in an "appropriate and effective ways," cannon lawyer Mercy Sr. Sharon Euart told NCR. They are often used to "to rein in clerics seen by the Vatican to be problematic," Religion News Service added, and Strickland, 64, is a "conservative firebrand" with "years of controversy" and more Twitter followers than Catholics in his diocese.

Strickland's trollish behavior on Twitter, including attacks on Pope Francis and Democratic lawmakers and support for Covid-19 vaccine deniers, "earned him a personal rebuke in 2021" from the Vatican's papal nuncio to the U.S., Archbishop Christophe Pierre, RNS reported. "But efforts to rein in Strickland through private conversations appeared unsuccessful. If anything, the bishop's comments have grown more strident."

Apostolic visitations are fairly rare, but the Vatican also conducted one into the diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee, in December 2022, after years of complaints about Bishop Richard Stika. Pope Francis accepted Stika's resignation, the Vatican announced Tuesday. Stika, 65, is a decade younger than the usual retirement age for bishops, 75. "For years, questions have swirled around his alleged cover-up of abuse, diocesan finances, morale among priests and the overall administration and management of the diocese," NCR reported.

Archbishop Shelton Fabre of Louisville, Kentucky, will serve as apostolic administrator of the Knoxville diocese until the pope appoints Stika's replacement. Stika and Strickland were both appointed by Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Francis appointed and removed Bishop Martin Holley in Tennessee's Memphis diocese in 2018 for financial mismanagement, after an apostolic visitation.

Pope Francis on Sunday said the Vatican is engaged in a "not yet public" mission to end the war in Ukraine and doing "all that is humanly possible" to return children taken from the country and moved to Russia.

Speaking to reporters, the pope revealed that during his recent three-day visit to Budapest, he discussed the matter with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Metropolitan Hilarion, the Russian Orthodox Church's representative in Budapest. "In these meetings, we did not just talk about Little Red Riding Hood," Francis said. "We spoke of all these things. Everyone is interested in the road to peace."

Francis said he also met with Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal on Thursday, and they talked about a "peace formula." The pope added that he believes "peace is always made by opening channels."

Russia invaded Ukraine in late February 2022, and at the time, Francis did not want to address Russia's aggression "in part because he hoped that keeping the Vatican's traditional neutrality could put him in a position to broker a cease-fire or peace," The New York Times' Jason Horowitz writes. He has since condemned Russia and compared its actions to massacres carried out by Joseph Stalin.

The 86-year-old pontiff also gave reporters an update on his health. In late March, he was hospitalized, with the Vatican saying it was due to a respiratory infection. Francis shared that he felt "a strong pain" at the end of a public audience, and while he "did not lose consciousness ... I had a high fever." Doctors determined he had an "acute and strong" pneumonia, the pope said, adding, "the body responded well to the treatment, thank God."

The cardinals of the Catholic Church arrived at the Vatican's Apostolic Palace to begin the conclave, the secretive process of electing a new pope.

The 133 eligible voting cardinals who will be shut up in isolation in the Vatican until a new pope is elected have "sworn an oath" to keep the details of the process "under wraps for life", said the BBC. The Vatican goes into "total lockdown": the cardinals are unable to contact the outside world, and surrender all electronic devices on entry. The area is also "swept for microphones and bugs" to prevent any leaks.

The death of Pope Francis, who was laid to rest last month, has sparked a succession battle pitting conservatives against progressives. The cardinals who will vote for the next leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics are "less predictable than ever before, with the vast majority having no experience of a papal conclave", said The Guardian. "A much wider geographic spread of cardinals adds to the uncertainty."

For now, "there is no leading candidate", said The Telegraph. "There are so many variables, and the process is so opaque, that forecasting a winner is a risky business."

Typically, a conclave is held 15-20 days after a papal vacancy, according to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.

A conclave lasts as long as it takes for one candidate to receive two-thirds of the cardinals' votes. The longest in history took nearly three years with the election of Pope Gregory X in 1271 while Pope Francis was elected in just one day in 2013.

How is a new pope chosen?

The rituals surrounding the papal succession date back centuries, but the process has been given a modern revamp after a team of Catholic journalists and researchers compiled a new online guide to every cardinal who will choose the next pontiff.

The College of Cardinals Report — a "slick, interactive website", said Crux — features details of all 252 cardinals, including where they stand on issues such as ordaining female deacons, blessing same-sex unions and making priestly celibacy optional.

Out of the 252 cardinals listed in the report, 135 of them are currently under the age of 80 and so eligible to participate in the conclave.

After the death or resignation of a pope, the cardinals are called to convene in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, where they take an oath of secrecy and are isolated from the outside world. During this time, they can discuss the merits of likely candidates. Open campaigning is not allowed, said the BBC, but it is "still a highly political process".

Voting is held through a series of secret ballots, with each cardinal elector writing a name of choice on a piece of paper. A two-thirds majority is required for any cardinal to win, although if the number of cardinal electors is not divisible by three, one additional vote is required. Four rounds of ballots are held each day until one man receives the required majority. Ballot papers are burnt after each session, giving off smoke that can be seen by onlookers outside. If the smoke is black, the cardinals have failed to reach a decision. White smoke signifies that a new pope has been chosen.

What is the conclave?

The group of cardinals who form the conclave that selects next pope "truly is is the world's most powerful electorate" for its size, said the Financial Times. Francis – the first non-European pope since the eighth century – did a "great deal to shape the choice" of the upcoming conclave. Of the 133 cardinals under 80, the vast majority have been appointed by him, according to America magazine. The total number of electors is technically supposed to be capped at 120, but Francis is not the first pope to go over the limit.

Most of the cardinals will have little inkling of the prospective papal candidates ahead of the conclave, said the College of Cardinals Report. Voting for a pope is not like voting in a political leadership contest, where the candidates are publicly scrutinised, often ad nauseam. A small number of the conclave will be curial cardinals, working in the Roman Curia that assists the pope in carrying out his governance of the Church, but the majority will be archbishops, serving in dioceses around the world.

Francis "revolutionised" the College of Cardinals by passing over large archdioceses like Los Angeles, Venice and Milan "in favour of picking men from the peripheries who reflect his pastoral orientation and concern for the poor", said America magazine. "The result will be a conclave very different from the one that elected him. It will be less Italian, less European and less curial but will be more Asian and African."

Whoever becomes the next pope, bookmakers believe there is a 50% chance he will be known as Francis II. Other names being touted include John Paul, Leo and John.

Who are the front runners?

For many Catholic commentators, overt speculation on who the next pope might be while the current one is still alive is disrespectful. But following Francis' death, talks have been turbocharged on the potential papal candidates — known in Italian as the papabili. The front runners span a spectrum of backgrounds and ideological standpoints, so the conclave's eventual choice could well change the future direction of the Church.

But the unpredictability of the process, in which cardinals are sequestered for days of voting, means that all speculation is flawed, said US Catholic. They "do a lot of praying to the Holy Spirit, who is full of surprises".

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Italy: A "consummate Vatican diplomat", 70-year-old Italian cardinal Pietro Parolin served as Pope Francis' secretary of state and is the current favourite to succeed him. He is known for brokering both the US-Cuba thaw, 10 years ago, and the 2018 Vatican-China agreement. Given current geopolitical volatility, the cardinal electors might well see the need for a diplomat, said US Catholic. For 11 years he has survived Francis' "regular savage reshuffles", said Damian Thompson in The Spectator. "He is regarded as a moderate who would be able to repair the damage caused by his boss's outbursts and vendettas."

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Philippines: Filipino cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, 67, has long been a leading papabili among Vatican watchers and bookmakers. He is "media-savvy, charismatic, and joyful" said US Catholic. If elected, he would be the first Asian pope and the "first truly fluent English-speaking pope in history" (at least since Adrian IV, who was born in Hertfordshire and held the office in the 1150s). Cardinal Tagle is comfortable showing emotion and has a playful, folksy manner, said the College of Cardinals Report. His left-leaning politics are similar to Pope Francis' relatively progressive views on social justice issues.

Cardinal Peter Turkson, Ghana: Multilingual biblical scholar Cardinal Peter Turkson, 76, has been described as charming and softly spoken and has long been considered a front runner. However, his relatively liberal views on homosexuality, ecology and social justice put him at odds with some fellow cardinals as well as bishops in his own country of Ghana. While there is enthusiasm for electing a pope from Africa, where the Catholic population is growing, Cardinal Turkson is not generally seen as a unifying candidate.

Cardinal Péter Erdő, Hungary: An award-winning scholar and intellectual, Cardinal Péter Erdő, 72, is more conservative than the current pope and is seen as a potential "consensus choice", said US Catholic. He was brought up under a communist regime — his family fled Hungary with just the clothes on their backs when invading Soviet troops burned down their house in 1956 — and he has since overseen his country's church while Hungarian democracy slides into autocracy, "a possibly applicable skillset these days".

Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Italy: The 69-year-old Archbishop of Bologna is a "progressive who is regarded as having been close to Francis", said The Telegraph. His extensive experience of conflict resolution saw him named Francis' peace envoy for the war in Ukraine. However, his relative youth "may count against him" as cardinals "could be wary of appointing someone whose papacy could last for many years, concerned that the direction he takes the Church would become too entrenched".

Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Italy: The 60-year-old Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem was only appointed a cardinal in 2023, but "has gone from a left field option in the conclave to one of the favourites", said The Independent. Fluent in Italian, Hebrew and English, he has spent decades leading Catholics in the Middle East, putting him in the spotlight at a time when events in Israel and Gaza are at the forefront of world and Church politics. "As well as being a heroic figure with a keen ability as a diplomat he is also a leading Biblical scholar", but his election as pope would be a "significant geopolitical statement by the Church, especially at a time it has been highly critical of Benjamin Netanyahu's government".

And the wild card…

Cardinal Mykola Bychok, Ukraine: The 45-year-old Eparch of Saints Peter and Paul of Melbourne was made a cardinal by Pope Francis last year. He has "spoken eloquently about the suffering of his fellow Ukrainians in the current war with Russia, and his Australian flock is largely composed of Greek Catholic refugees from the Balkan War and the conflict with Russia that broke out in 2014", said Daniel Gallagher, a former Latin Secretary to Popes Benedict XVI and Francis and now lecturer in literature and philosophy at the US' Ralston College, in Crisis magazine. Is Bychock too young to occupy the throne of St Peter? "History says no," and Francis seemed to say the same.

Pope Francis has been hospitalized in Rome with a respiratory infection, the Vatican announced Wednesday.

The 86-year-old pontiff does not have COVID-19 and will need to spend "a few days" in the hospital, the Vatican said, adding that he "is touched by the many messages received and expresses his gratitude for the closeness and prayer."

Francis, who as a young man had part of one lung removed due to a respiratory infection, has had "some breathing difficulties" over the last few days, the Vatican said. He appeared at his weekly general audience earlier Wednesday, but canceled a television interview set for the afternoon in order to undergo tests at the hospital.

This comes ahead of the Vatican's Holy Week activities, which will begin on Palm Sunday. The pontiff's audiences through Friday have all been canceled.

Deepfake images of Donald Trump being arrested and the Pope in a puffer jacket have sparked concern that we could be at a tipping point in being able to distinguish whether something posted online is real or not.

What happened?

Last week, as people across the US waited for the possible arrest of Donald Trump, Eliot Higgins, the founder of open-source investigations website Bellingcat, decided to generate his own images using the artificial intelligence (AI) programme Midjourney, which creates images from simple text prompts.

While Higgins made it clear the images were AI-generated, his posts went viral and were viewed nearly 5 million times in just two days.

In a case of life imitating art, the Independent reported that Trump “appears to be getting in on the fun of sharing AI photos of himself”. The former president responded to Higgins’ posts by sharing an AI-generated image of himself praying.

Just days later an AI-generated image of Pope Francis, wearing a large white puffer jacket, also went viral, racking up millions of views and even fooling misinformation experts.

What are the implications?

“Fears of AI fakery are not new,” said New Scientist. “For several years, we have faced the threat of deepfaked images of people’s faces, produced by earlier generations of AI trained on smaller volumes of information, but they have frequently had tell-tale signs of fakery, such as non-blinking eyes or blurred ears.”

The rapid development of AI technology to render images that look totally realistic means it could be “possible that in one or two years, people will not be able to tell a real image from a fake one – even when scrutinising it closely”, warned the i news site.

Last week appears to have been such an inflection point.

The Trump images have provided “a case study in the increasing sophistication of AI-generated images, the ease with which they can be deployed and their potential to create confusion in volatile news environments”, said The Washington Post.

Henry Ajder, an AI expert and presenter of the BBC radio series The Future Will Be Synthesised, told i news that the trend is concerning, especially if the technology was used for malicious purposes and gets into the wrong hands.

While there is concern AI-generated deepfake images could be used to spread disinformation to distort political processes or change the narrative around the war in Ukraine, for example, they could also be used on everyday people who do not have the resources to stop their spread “to create fake, incriminating images to show people somewhere they shouldn’t be, or used as forms of bribery or humiliation”, said i news.

What can be done about it?

Ultimately, said New Scientist “the rapid rise of AI means some disruption is inevitable”.

In recent years major technology companies have bolstered their policies against deepfakes. In 2019 Facebook-parent company Meta banned users from posting highly manipulated videos “but left the door open for manipulated videos that are meant to be parody or satire”, said The Washington Post. Twitter also “introduced a new rule prohibiting users from sharing deceptive and manipulated media that may cause harm, such as tweets that could lead to violence, widespread civil unrest or threatening someone’s privacy”.

Yet as AI technology gets more and more sophisticated social media companies have failed to keep up investment to detect and enforce these polices. There are some signs AI-generators themselves are starting to take action, with Midjourney and OpenAI, which also developed ChatGTP, working on safety restrictions on the prompts that people can enter to generate images.

However, The Washington Post said the Trump episode “makes evident the absence of corporate standards or government regulation addressing the use of AI to create and spread falsehoods”.

Dr Elinor Carmi, a lecturer in data politics and social justice at City University, London, agreed, saying the image of Pope Francis is “an example of a wider problem of technologies being pushed into our societies without any oversight, regulation or standards”.

Stressing the need for better media literacy of how easy it is to create and spread fake images, Carmi said: “Most of our society has been left behind, not understanding how these technologies work, for what purposes and what are the consequences of that.”

The Vatican and Pope Francis unveiled a new slate of legislation on Saturday that updates existing rules within the Catholic Church to penalize coverups of sexual abuse and hold perpetrators responsible.

The new legislation, laid out in a letter by Francis, allows senior clergymen to be held accountable for dismissing any sexual abuse within their dioceses. These updated guidelines extend penalties to lay leaders who cover up abuse for the first time, and additionally reaffirm that non-consenting adults can also be victims of abuse.

"Crimes of sexual abuse...cause physical, psychological, and spiritual harm to the victims and harm the community of the faithful," Francis wrote in the letter translated from Italian. Francis added that "a continuous and profound conversion of hearts is needed, attested by concrete and effective actions that involve everyone in the Church," in order to stop the ongoing cycle of abuse.

The updated guidelines to hold senior clergymen responsible is "the most significant change introduced in the new version of the normative text," Vatican News reported, and are slated to go into effect on April 30.

The original legislation was penned in 2019 after Francis signed a law requiring all Catholic dioceses to create a "public, stable, and easily accessible" process for reporting and stopping sexual abuse. Later that year, Francis also ended a prior "pontifical secrecy" rule within the Church that The Guardian noted "forbid imposing an obligation of silence on those who report sexual abuse or allege they have been a victim."

However, even with these new guidelines in place, there are still some shortcomings when it comes to full protection for abuse victims. The new laws do not mandate reporting of abuse by lay leaders themselves, nor do they require abuse to be reported to law enforcement, The Associated Press reported.

Pope Francis appealed for peace in South Sudan on Sunday while on the last leg of his high-profile African pilgrimage, in a rare foray to the continent for the religious leader.

The Associated Press reported that Francis spoke before an estimated crowd of 100,000 during a Mass in the South Sudanese capital of Juba. He implored the people of South Sudan to stop the years-long bought of violence that has befallen the country.

"Even if our hearts bleed for the wrongs we have suffered, let us refuse, once and for all, to repay evil with evil," Francis said, per AP. "Let us accept one another and love one another with sincerity and generosity, as God loves us."

The trip to South Sudan marked the last length of the journey to Africa for Francis, where he also visited the Democratic Republic of Congo. He was joined in South Sudan by two other religious leaders: Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and the moderator of the Church of Scotland, Iain Greenshields.

South Sudan is the world's youngest country, having only gained independence in 2011, and the nation has been besieged by civil war and bloody conflicts since its founding. While President Salva Kiir reached a peace deal with opposition leaders in 2018, AP noted that the tenants of that agreement "remain largely unimplemented and fighting has continued to flare."

The goal of the three religious leaders was to try and get Kiir and the opposition to re-engage in peace talks.

"The fact that the three Churches united for the sake of South Sudan, this is the turning point for peace," worshipper Jesilen Gaba told Reuters, adding that she wanted the visit "to be a blessing to us. We have been at war, we have lost many people."

Citizens of the world’s youngest nation will welcome the head of one of the world’s oldest international institutions this week when Pope Francis visits South Sudan.

The Pope is joining the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and the Church of Scotland Moderator, Iain Greenshields, on an “ecumenical pilgrimage of peace”. The first stop will be the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The three church leaders will use the visit to the two conflict-ridden countries to “plead for peace in both lands”, America magazine said, and “hopes are high among the people there that [the] visit may kick-start the struggling peace processes in both countries”.

Clash of ideologies

Overshadowing the trip, however, is a clash of ideologies, especially on questions around LGBT rights in South Sudan, a country that was born in 2011 when it gained independence from predominantly Muslim Sudan.

Before the visit, Pope Francis and the archbishop of Canterbury have both “risked angering local political and church leaders”, The Guardian said, with comments about same-sex relationships that “contrast with deeply conservative views that predominate in South Sudan”.

The Pope has said that laws that criminalise homosexuality are unjust and has pledged that the Catholic Church will campaign against them. Sexual activity between men is illegal in South Sudan and punishable with sentences of up to 14 years’ imprisonment, though as The Guardian noted, there is little evidence of those laws being enforced in recent years.

Welby, too, recently said he was “extremely joyful” at the prospect of Church of England clergy blessing couples in same-sex marriages, although he added that he himself will not deliver those blessings.

Responding to his comments, the head of the Anglican church in South Sudan, Archbishop Justin Badi Arama, said Welby was “failing to defend biblical truth”, and his role as moral leader of the global church had been “severely jeopardised”.

Catholicism on the rise in Africa

For Catholics and Anglicans alike, the visit comes at a critical juncture. Most of the current growth in the Anglican church is coming from sub-Saharan Africa. Similarly, Catholicism is witnessing its fastest ever growth in Africa, with recent statistics showing a 2.1% rise between 2019 and 2020.

In recognition of this trend, the Pope “has often spoken of giving Africa a voice in the church and in the world”, said Stan Chu Ilo, a research professor in world Christianity and African studies at DePaul University in Chicago, on The Conversation.

Yet many wonder how successful this effort will be given that African representation within the Vatican has dropped to a 30-year low and “there are many African Catholics, particularly high-ranking church leaders, who are yet to embrace [Francis’s] reform agenda”, Ilo said.

Welby, meanwhile, faces “African anger” as he prepares for the trip, according to The Times. His commitment to backing blessings for gay couples was branded “alienating” by the Global South Fellowship of Anglican Churches, a traditionalist group that claims to represent 75% of the world’s 80 million Anglicans.

Those criticisms “were led by the Most Rev Justin Badi Arama”, the paper said – the very person who is due to host Welby during the South Sudanese leg of his trip.

Spirit of forgiveness

Despite the controversies, the visit is expected to be an emotional one. In an address to a festival in Belfast last year, Archbishop Welby spoke in moving terms about a retreat he attended in Rome with South Sudan’s warring factions, The Tablet reported.

The retreat ended with Pope Francis bending down to kiss the feet of the South Sudanese leaders in an appeal for them to pursue peace. When he did so, Welby said, “I could see tears running down their faces. Tears were running down every face there, including the BBC cameraman.”

Those tears may prove portentous. Last week, Charles Tai Gituai, head of South Sudan’s Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission – an oversight body established to track implementation of the country’s peace agreement – said that despite the controversies, there is great hope for the trip.

“I hope… the people of South Sudan will find inspiration and a spirit of forgiveness in these visits in order to renew public confidence in the peace process,” Gituai said.

This article first appeared in The Week’s Global Digest newsletter. Sign up for a preview of the international news agenda, sent to your inbox every Monday.

Pope Francis criticized "unjust" laws criminalizing homosexuality in an interview Tuesday. "Being homosexual isn't a crime," he told The Associated Press in a wide-ranging interview at the Vatican, and if it's a sin, so is not being charitable to gay people. This was the first time a pope has publicly condemned laws criminalizing homosexuality, AP reported Wednesday. "Some 67 countries or jurisdictions worldwide criminalize consensual same-sex sexual activity, 11 of which can or do impose the death penalty."

Some Catholic bishops support laws criminalizing same-sex relationships and other discrimination against LGBT people, Pope Francis said, and "these bishops have to have a process of conversion" and work to apply "tenderness, please, as God has for each one of us." The Catholic Church "must" work to put an end to these "unjust" laws, he added.

Pope Francis has not tried to change Catholic doctrine on homosexuality, which holds that homosexual sex is sinful, but he has backed same-sex civil unions and made a point throughout his papacy to "minister repeatedly and publicly to the gay and transgender communities," AP reports.

"We are all children of God, and God loves us as we are and for the strength that each of us fights for our dignity," Francis told AP, paraphrasing the Catechism of the Catholic Church. "Being homosexual is not a crime. It's not a crime. 'Yes, but it's a sin.' Fine, but first let's distinguish between a sin and a crime. But it's also a sin to lack charity with one another, so what about that?" He repeated later that "being homosexual isn't a crime, it's a human condition."

As the pope noted, some Catholic bishops — including in Africa, where Francis is heading at the end of January — support laws criminalizing homosexuality as consistent with Catholic teaching. Other bishops have gone farther than the pope in welcoming LGBT Catholics.

"It is a demonic mystery of the human soul why so many men and women have a profound and visceral animus toward members of the LGBT communities," newly appointed Cardinal Robert McElroy, bishop of San Diego, wrote Tuesday in the Jesuit magazine America. "The church's primary witness in the face of this bigotry must be one of embrace rather than distance or condemnation."

President Biden's absence from Pope Benedict's Jan. 5 funeral has raised rumors and criticism from right-wing media like Newsmax, which claimed Benedict asked Biden not to come. But while the president's decision was ultimately in keeping with the late pope's wishes, his reason for not attending the funeral was not because he was specifically uninvited.

When asked Wednesday about his absence, Biden told Owen Jensen, a reporter from the Catholic television network ETWN, "You know why," before explaining that his presence "takes an entourage of a thousand people to show up" and that it "would move everything in the wrong direction." The Independent described the exchange as somewhat "tense," before noting Jensen has had a history of combative back-and-forths with White House press secretaries regarding issues like abortion.

On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Joe Donnelly would attend the funeral representing the U.S., per Newsweek. Jean-Pierre emphasized that this is "in line with the wishes of the late pope and the Vatican."

According to Catholic News Agency, Vatican representative Matteo Bruni said the pope emeritus had requested that "everything be simple, both with regard to the funeral as well as the other celebrations and gestures during this time of pain." Only official delegations from Italy and Germany were to be in attendance, but some world leaders also planned to go in an unofficial capacity.

In a statement following the pope's death, Biden said Benedict "will be remembered as a renowned theologian, with a lifetime of devotion to the Church, guided by his principles and faith."

Pope Francis asked his audience for prayers for his predecessor, Pope Benedict, on Wednesday at the Vatican, describing the 95-year-old as "very sick," CNN reports.

Benedict, who served as the head of the Church from 2005 until his resignation in 2013, is experiencing a "deterioration due to the advancement of [his] age," a spokesman subsequently confirmed, adding, "the situation at the moment remains under control and continually monitored by his doctors."

In 2018, Benedict, then 90, wrote a letter to the public describing himself as "inwardly … on a pilgrimage toward Home," and the Vatican reported he suffered from a "painful but not serious condition" in 2020.

Pope Francis addressed a question about priests using digital and social media during a gathering of seminarians on Monday, and according to a transcript of the discussion the Vatican released Wednesday, he didn't hold back. The pope said he doesn't use social media because he's too old, but the future priests must use this marvel of science — with limits.

There are dangers in the digital world, including getting lost in the news or listening to music that doesn't allow you to get your work done, and also another danger "that you know well: digital pornography," Pope Francis said. "I'm not going to say, 'Raise your hand if you've had some experience with this,'" the pope assured the seminarians. "But each one of you think about if you have experience or have been tempted with digital pornography. It's a vice that many people have, many lay men and women, and even priests and nuns."

The Devil enters people through pornography, not just "criminal" kinds like child pornography but also "pornography that's a little more 'normal,'" Pope Francis told the seminarians. Pornography "weakens the soul" and pure hearts, and if it's on your phone, erase it. "Excuse me for descending into these details about pornography, but it's a reality: a reality that affects priests, seminarians, nuns, consecrated souls," he added. "Do you understand? Good."

Pope Francis has admitted that “even nuns and priests watch online pornography”, reported The Telegraph. Warning that watching porn is a way of succumbing to the influence of “the devil”, the Pope said “it’s a vice that many people have – many lay people but also priests and nuns”. A person with “a pure heart” should not be looking at porn, he told an assembly of priests and seminarians in Rome. “If you can cancel it from your phone, then cancel it, then you won’t have temptation in your hand,” he added.

Bees count from left to right

A study has found that bees order numbers in increasing size from left to right. “It has already been shown that bees are able to count – at least up to five,” said Martin Giurfa, a professor at the Research Centre on Animal Cognition at Paul Sabatier University in France. The Guardian said the new findings “supported the much-debated theory that the practice of counting from left to right is inherent in all animals, including humans”.

Jerry Lee Lewis is alive

The manager of Jerry Lee Lewis has stated that the rock legend is alive, despite reports of his death. TMZ initially claimed he 87-year-old had died at home in Memphis. However, Lewis’s rep told Page Six: “He’s alive. TMZ reported erroneously off of a bulls*** anonymous tip.” The mix-up comes days after Lewis was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. According to a post on the musician’s official Facebook page he was “too ill with the flu to attend the ceremony.”

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In Oct. 2021, Pope Francis launched an ambitious, audacious project to gather the world's 1.36 billion Catholics in a global synod, or advisory assembly, a process usually reserved for cardinals or bishops. His worldwide synod was so unprecedented the Vatican had to invent a new word for it, synodality, which it defines as "a style, a culture, a way of thinking and being, that reflects the truth that the church is led by the Holy Spirit who enables everyone to offer their own contribution to the church's life."

The pope's two-year-long Synod on Synodality is now at the stage where the synodal conversations at every Catholic church and organization in the U.S. and around the world have been distilled down to national summaries. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops released the U.S. national synthesis report on Sept. 19. Here's a look at the Synod on Synodality, how it works, and what it will tell the pope and the world about the Roman Catholic Church.

What is the Synod on Synodality?

On one level, the Synod on Synodality is a massive prayerful listening session and exercise for building unity and mutual respect and understanding in a very large and diverse global church. But Pope Francis also hopes it will permanently change how the church operates on a parish, diocesan, and global level.

A synod, the Vatican explains, "is a gathering of the faithful in order to listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the church and asking her to be and to do." The synodal process is one "in which people participate in decision making, share responsibility for the Church's mission, and cooperate and collaborate more in the day to day life of the church," the Vatican adds, though the Catholic Church "is neither a monarchy nor a democracy."

"Pope Francis has made clear that the synod is not a parliament, or a convention, or an opinion survey," the Vatican says. "Although it has many elements familiar to political and similar processes — listening, speaking, taking votes — what differentiates a synod is that it is a spiritual process that takes place within the church."

For Pope Francis, this is also "the greatest gamble of this papacy," Fr. Thomas Reese writes at Religion News Service. Under his predecessors, synods "were stage-managed affairs, where the agenda and debate were carefully controlled," and participants used the opportunity mostly to "show their loyalty to the pope and his teaching." Francis has asked for, and gotten, frank feedback from the bishops, he adds. And this global synod "may succeed in bringing greater unity to the church, or it could result in greater conflict and division."

How does the process work?

After Pope Francis launched the synod in Oct. 2021, every Catholic parish, school, association, and other organizations worldwide was invited to organize and hold its own listening and discernment sessions, each of which was documented and sent to the local diocese or archdiocese. The diocese synthesized the contributions from each individual church and sent that document to a regional body, which summarized the diocesan contributions and sent them to national bishops' conferences.

That's the stage the church is at currently. The bishops conferences created national synopses of what their member parishes discussed and discerned, and they will pass it up to a continental assembly of bishops and laity, which will synthesize the national documents and pass it up to the Vatican for the "universal phase" of the synod. The Vatican will release a final document in Oct. 2023.

How big of a task is that?

It is a very large undertaking. The U.S. portion or the Synod on Synodality involved about 700,000 participants in 15 regions made up of 178 diocese and 112 Catholic organizations, all of whom submitted more than 22,000 reports, the USCCB reports. The 18 U.S. Eastern Catholic eparchies submitted their reports directly to the Vatican.

"Many who conducted listening sessions described being transformed by the process of listening to others' stories and hearing about their faith journey," the document from Region XI (Northern California and Nevada) records. "Those who shared their stories, especially those who participated in small group sessions, stated that they felt listened to by the church for the first time."

What did U.S. Catholics say?

The Catholics who participated in the synod said they feel alienated from church leaders but also scared to enter into relationship with each other because of the clergy child sex abuse scandal, and they lamented that the church seems deeply divided along political and ideological lines and over use of the Latin Mass. "Many regional syntheses cited the perceived lack of unity among the bishops in the United States, and even of some individual bishops with the Holy Father, as a source of grave scandal," the U.S. report relayed.

The participants wanted a "more welcoming church in which their 'lived reality' is prioritized over rules and regulations," Dennis Sadowski recaps at Catholic News Service. And they hoped the Catholic Church would do a better job of addressing the needs of the marginalized, including immigrants, racial minorities, the poor, prisoners, addicts, LGBTQ+ Catholics, divorced parishioners, the disabled and sick, and women, "whose voices are frequently marginalized in the decision-making processes of the church," as they U.S. report puts it.

Just as "noteworthy is that many of the priorities of the U.S. bishops got little attention in the listening sessions," Reese writes at Religion News Service. "In the synthesis, there is no mention of the religious freedom of the church being under attack, no opposition to gay marriage or gay teachers in Catholic schools, no concern about trans persons in bathrooms or sports, no desire to prohibit certain people from going to Communion. The word abortion is never mentioned, although 'the unborn and their mothers' are mentioned along with other marginalized groups."

"The most common desire named in the synodal consultations was to be a more welcoming church where all members of the People of God can find accompaniment on the journey," the U.S. synthesis document reports.

As the synod from Region XII (Oregon, Idaho, and Montana) wrote: "People noted that the church seems to prioritize doctrine over people, rules, and regulations over lived reality. People want the church to be a home for the wounded and broken, not an institution for the perfect. They want the church to meet people where they are, wherever they are, and walk with them rather than judging them; to build real relationships through care and authenticity, not superiority."

Does the Synod on Synodality have critics?

Is the pope Catholic? (In other words, yes.) Jonathan Liedl at the National Catholic Register says that with an "abysmally low" 1 percent of America's 66.8 million Catholics participating, the synod can't credibly be called an "accurate portrayal of Catholics' experience of how the church listens," and he argues that synod organizers are unrealistically inflating expectations with "hyperbolic language about what the synod is and what it can accomplish."

The U.S. national synthesis is "as bad as you'd expect," writes Eric Sammons, editor in chief of the conservative Catholic magazine Crisis. "It's full of straw-men," tired cliches, and "properly woke talking points, such as encouraging diversity, lamenting 'marginalization,' overcoming racism, fighting climate change, welcoming 'LGBTQ+ persons,' and empowering women."

This entire misguided Synod on Synodality "institutionally favors endorsing heresy and immorality, and this document reflects that," Sammons adds. "The church is not a democracy; it is a monarch with Jesus as King," and the faithful should not to look to "suburban Catholics in their 60s imbued with the false self-centered presuppositions of modern culture" reshape the church.

"As the synodal process has progressed, conservatives have openly expressed fear while progressives loudly voice their desires. Both sides have used the synodal process to push their agendas," Religion News Service's Reese writes. But "Francis has pushed back on what he terms 'politicizing' the synodal process," which he stresses "should be a time of prayer, listening, and discernment, not a time for pushing agendas."

"Apologetics may be necessary in other regards, but it is a most unhelpful posture for the synodal process," Michael Sean Winters notes at the National Catholic Reporter. "You can't really listen to others if you think you have the answers already."

Will the synod lead to big changes, like women or married priests?

You wouldn't want to bet on that.

The "synodal process should not automatically reject certain topics or positions for dialogue and deliberation merely because they are questions of long-held discipline in the life of the church or reformable Catholic doctrine," Cardinal Robert McElroy, the bishop of San Diego, writes in America Magazine. The lived reality of the Catholic laity is an important "prism that can help to reinvigorate Catholic doctrine and discipline," and our quantum of faith "is not an inert and abstract body of teaching that forms a straitjacket for Christian faith and practice."

But at the same time, "a synodal church is a discerning church, not a parliamentary one," and "its search for God's will cannot be reduced to building majorities or forming coalitions," McElroy writes "It is essential to recognize that synodality is more concerned with nurturing a culture within the life of the church rather than specific policy outcomes."

To put it another way, "when doctrine is involved, the local church is not at liberty to change what it wants, but must consult with the universal church," National Catholic Reporter's Winters adds. "The whole judges the part, and the church of Rome plays a unique role in that universal judgment. Almost all Catholics understand this."

What does Pope Francis hope to learn or accomplish?

The Synod on Synodality is the pope's most ambitious attempt to decentralize power in the Catholic Church and include regular Catholics in directing the life of the church. "One of the ills of the church, indeed a perversion, is the clericalism that detaches priests and bishops from people, making them officials, not pastors," Pope Francis said in September 2021, at the start of the synod.

The goal of the synod, the pope has said, is "to plant dreams, draw forth prophecies and visions, allow hope to flourish, inspire trust, bind up wounds, weave together relationships, awaken a dawn of hope, learn from one another, and create a bright resourcefulness that will enlighten minds, warm hearts, give strength to our hands."

At the same time, "for Francis, you might say that the synodal process is more important than the results," Reese writes at Religion News Service. "For Americans, who are result oriented, this is unintelligible. Francis sees the experience of prayer, listening, and discernment as a way of healing divisions and building the Christian community. If we are not true to the process, the results are meaningless."

"As Pope Francis frequently reminds us, synodality is not a one-time event, but an invitation to an ongoing style of church life," Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, writes in the U.S. summary. "We have taken the first steps of this path, and we have learned much; we have more to learn and more to do."