The World from PRX

Catholic Church

Pope Francis arrives for leading a prayer for peace inside St. Peter's Basilica, at The Vatican, Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. 
Sacred Nation
Roman Catholic Church remains inconclusive about reforms for women, LGBTQ after monthlong meeting wraps
Pope Benedict XVI greets the crowd from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, soon after his election, April 19, 2005.
Religion
Pope Benedict XVI was an icon of conservative Catholicism, theology professor says
Pope Francis meets the Canadian Indigenous people as he arrives at Edmonton's International airport, Canada
Justice
Pope set for historic apology for school abuses in Canada
Eneas Espinoza, who says he was sexually abused multiple times when he was a child, by several catholic priests in Chile
Sexual violence
A growing number of clerical sexual abuse survivors are coming forward in Latin America
Side view of a cross section of a human brain in glass
Science
How the West came to dominate our brains
Rev. Giuseppe Corbari in a small town in Lombardy printed out pictures of his congrgants and placed them on the pews so he'd feel less alone. 
COVID-19
Amid lockdown, churches find creative ways to keep in touch with the masses
Shadows of tourists are cast across a papal crest on the floor
Conflict & Justice
Unsealed records of Pope Pius XII could shed light on Vatican’s turbulent postwar years
Pope Francis bows his head in prayer. Around him are other members of the clergy wearing red caps
‘Why don’t you don’t rise to the occasion?’ clergy sex abuse advocate asks of Vatican conference
Pope Francis is shown wearing white while sitting behind a microphone.
Religion
Pope opens child sex abuse conference, promising ‘concrete’ remedies
pope
Religion
‘The conservatives have declared war’: Inside the accusations upending the Catholic Church
Women from a haberdashery shop hold up their new Pope Francis Ireland flag
Religion
For Irish Catholics, there’s both enthusiasm and anxiety about Pope Francis’s visit
Saint Patrick Catholic Church is seen in York, Pennsylvania, Aug. 18, 2018
Religion
A new chapter, with the same old words, in the Catholic child abuse scandal
Pope Francis delivers a speech
Religion
Vatican finally responds to shocking and scathing Pennsylvania investigation of priest sex abuse
pope
Vatican changes catechism, says death penalty is inadmissible
secondary school Colaiste Raithin
Education
Ireland is asking what role the Catholic Church should play in public education
pope
Vatican document suggests married priests, women could minister in the Amazon
bishops
Religion
Vatican, China near agreement on bishops, but controversy remains
pope
Conflict
In Chile, Pope Francis defends bishop in sex abuse scandal
A man exhibits on his chest photos of Pope Francis to sell outside St. Jose Cathedral ahead of the papal visit in Temuco, Chile, Jan. 14, 2018.
Lifestyle
As the pope arrives in Chile, Chileans question their allegiance to the church
Boston's Roman Catholic Cardinal Bernard Law leads a prayer service for Boston area Catholic youth in Newton, Massachusetts, before joining them on a nine-hour bus ride to Toronto to see Pope John Paul II and attend World Youth Day July 23, 2002.
Religion
The late Cardinal Law will be remembered as the face of the Catholic Church’s child sexual abuse crisis
A mural signed by "TV Boy" and depicting Pope Francis and U.S. President Donald Trump kissing, is seen on a wall in downtown Rome, Italy May 11, 2017.
Religion
President Trump and Pope Francis are polar opposites, but …
Jacques Fesch was arrested in Paris on February 25, 1954 after having committed a hold-up at a currency exchange stand. While fleeing the scene, he killed a policeman and wounded three persons.
Belief
Jacques Fesch killed a cop in the 1950s. Here’s why the French Catholic Church wants to make him a saint.
Marie Collins (2nd from right), who served as a memer of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, watches as Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley (right) speaks during their briefing at the Holy See’s press office at the Vatican in Rome on May 3,
Justice
The Vatican is ‘all words, no action’ on addressing child sex abuse
Trust, Faith & Trump
Full Episode
A couple kiss each other in front of the cathedral during a march in support of gay marriage, sexual and gender diversity in Mexico City, Mexico on September 11, 2016. There have been counter-demonstrations, against same-sex marriage, held in Mexican citi
Global Politics
Gay marriage is legal in Mexico, but Mexicans are still fighting over whether it should be allowed
Mother Teresa statue in Kolkata
Belief
Songs and celebrations in Kolkata for Mother Teresa’s sainthood
priests
Justice
The ‘Spotlight’ abuse scandal didn’t end in Boston. In South America, it’s still unfolding.
Is this the end of the pope's honeymoon period?
Belief
Pope Francis’ efforts to stop church child abuse are falling apart
A couple kiss in front of the Pantheon during a demonstration of supporters of same-sex civil union in Rome.
Justice
Protesters in Italy tell lawmakers it’s time to ‘wake up’ and recognize same-sex unions
Pope Francis arrives to lead a special audience to mark 50th anniversary of Synod of Bishops in Paul VI hall at the Vatican on October 17, 2015.
Belief
When the Vatican speaks on matters of doctrine, it will be in Italian
Pope Francis waves to the crowd from the Speaker's Balcony on the West Front of the Capitol as he stands with Vice President Joe Biden (L) and Speaker of the House John Boehner (R) after concluding his address before a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress o
Belief
Francis is challenging America’s political power brokers
Jorge Mario Bergoglio (center) now known as Pope Francis visiting a Buenos Aires slum in 1998.
Conflict
Was Pope Francis silent during Argentina’s Dirty War?
Pope Francis waves as he departs Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, in a Fiat 500 after arriving for his first trip to the United States.
Technology
A short story about the long history of the Popemobile
Rodas, Cuba
Belief
After Francis, will things improve for Cuba’s Catholics?
President Barack Obama and First lady Michelle Obama were there in person to welcome Pope Francis at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland for the pontiff's first visit to the United States on September 22, 2015.
Belief
Pope Francis wants the Vatican to serve the people
Pope Francis
Belief
Why I’m joining 50,000 Latinos greeting Pope Francis in Washington, DC, this week
Accused child sex abuser Father Jan Van Dael plays with the hair of a boy collecting a soup donation, in a slum outside Caucaia, Brazil.
Belief
South America has become a safe haven for the Catholic Church’s alleged child molesters. The Vatican has no comment.
Francis greets the crowd outside of the Vatican in Rome on September 5, 2015.
Belief
Everybody loves Pope Francis, even atheists
Students at Our Lady Queen of Angels, an elementary and middle school in East Harlem that is preparing for a brief visit by Pope Francis when he comes to NYC in late September.
Belief
As the Pope’s US visit nears, these fourth-graders prep their questions
Bernard Law 2
Belief
The pope promises accountability to victims abused by the church. Where is Cardinal Law?
Posters supporting a No vote on Ireland's same-sex marriage referendum are displayed in the Temple Bar area of Dublin on May 19, 2015.
Global Politics
Same-sex marriage divides Irish opinions, but looks set for approval
Pope Francis holds up a plaque with an image of Saint Theresa during a meeting with journalists on his flight from Colombo, Sri Lanka, to Manila in the Philippines on January 15, 2014.
Belief
Pope Francis says religious freedom trumps the right to free speech
Pope Francis sits next to Hindu leader Ndu-Kurukkal SivaSri T. Mahadeva during the Interreligious Encounter in Colombo, Sri Lanka on January 13, 2015.
Global Politics
Pope Francis shows pugnacious side: You’d better not insult my mother
Pope Francis delivers a "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and world) message from the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Christmas Day of 2014.
Belief
Pope Francis was a huge story in 2014, but a veteran Vatican reporter says the media got a lot wrong
A bishop takes a picture with a tablet during the Synod on the Family. The Roman Catholic assembly has softened its traditional Catholic stance against gays, suggesting "accepting and valuing their sexual orientation."
Belief
The Catholic Church changed only its tone on gays, but that’s still a big deal
Visitors to the Vatican often overlook the historical significance of the building's floors, which are frequently made from re-purposed bits of ancient history.
Culture
You’d better watch where you walk the next time you visit the Vatican
Peter Ferris Cochran, center, stands with his wife and children near their home in Emerald Isle, North Carolina.
Conflict & Justice
An American man discovers his roots — in a deadly Irish home for unwed mothers
A 19th century German missionary built a model of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, color coded to indicate which areas belonged to which community.
Lifestyle & Belief
Pope Francis hopes to heal Christian rifts, at a Jerusalem church torn by Christian rifts
Leo Kurcz, 89, prays at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Chicago, Illinois on April 10, 2008. Hispanics still make up the majority of Catholics in the US. But a new national survey from the Pew Research Center reveals that the Catholic share of H
Lifestyle & Belief
Are Latinos in the US sticking to Catholicism?
Leo Kurcz, 89, prays at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Chicago, Illinois on April 10, 2008. Hispanics still make up the majority of Catholics in the US. But a new national survey from the Pew Research Center reveals that the Catholic share of H
Lifestyle & Belief
Are Latinos in the US sticking to Catholicism?
Pope Francis waves to faithful as he arrives to lead an audience with the family members of victims of the mafia at the San Gregorio VII church in Rome. A woman shows a picture of her son with the words, "Where is my son?"
Lifestyle & Belief
When the pope denounces the mafia, there’s a reason it is news
Pope Francis reaches out to greet the faithful in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican on March 26, 2014.
Lifestyle & Belief
Pope Francis led this Argentine to embrace his faith once more
Pope Francis reaches out to greet the faithful in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican on March 26, 2014.
Lifestyle & Belief
Pope Francis led this Argentine to embrace his faith once more
In a new Frontline documentary, director Antony Thomas goes inside the Vatican to reveal secrets of the institution.
Lifestyle & Belief
A Frontline documentary exposes the Vatican’s ‘secrets’ under Pope Benedict
Pope smiling in Feb 2014
Lifestyle & Belief
Will the Pope shift the church’s stance on divorce?
Lifestyle & Belief
The UN criticizes the Vatican over its handling of child abuse cases
Global Scan
Woody Allen is in the spotlight again over old accusations
Pope Francis
Lifestyle & Belief
A UN committee on children’s rights grills the Vatican over clergy sexual abuse
Pope Francis after his selection in March.
Lifestyle & Belief
Time’s ‘Person of the Year’ has moved fast to rebrand Catholicism
Lifestyle & Belief
Video: Church’s view of democracy is limited in Poland