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Pope Leo XIV, the outsider insider: what to expect from the first Augustinian pontiff

By electing Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as Pope Leo XIV, the College of Cardinals has sent a subtle but unmistakable message: The Catholic Church will continue the reformist energy of Pope Francis, but with a fresh calibration toward tradition and doctrinal clarity.  In Prevost, the cardinals have chosen both an insider and an outsider—someone rooted...

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The big question at the conclave: the pope and the Church we should have

As the Vatican’s College of Cardinals gears for the conclave to choose the next pope, the Christian world is rife with speculation as to who will be chosen. The names of “frontrunners” are bandied about, often briefly described as either “conservative” or “progressive” (like the late Pope Francis). Observers also remind us that the next...

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Pope Francis’ funeral is a simplified but still grand celebration of a pastor and disciple of Jesus

Till the end, Francis wished to keep to the simple style he had set for his papacy.   On March 13, 2013, after his election as pope, he broke with tradition when he appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica wearing a plain white cassock. He had chosen not to wear the traditional red ermine-trimmed...

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Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel exhibit opens in Manila

The painted scenes on the ceiling of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel have fascinated me since I received the book “Michelangelo & the Pope’s Ceiling” more than a decade ago. A gift from my then future wife, the 384-page paperback by Ross King recounts the four extraordinary years–from 1508 to 1512—that the genius Michelangelo spent producing...