While the Vatican has detailed laws and rituals to ensure the transfer of power when a pope dies or resigns, they do not apply if he is sick or even unconscious.

JD Vance was mocked Thursday for offering “cringe” advice to young men he says mainstream U.S. culture now opposes: Crack a beer, tell jokes, and embrace your masculinity. The

Pope Francis woke up and was continuing his therapies Monday after a quiet night, on the 10th day of his hospitalization for a complex lung infection that has provoked the early stages of kidney

Faithful gathered at St. Peter's Square in the Vatican and outside Rome's Gemelli Hospital on Monday (February 24) as Pope Francis remains critically ill but alert, according to the Vatican. Could these jumping mice change how astronauts exercise?

Canon law currently lacks provisions addressing what happens if a pope becomes permanently incapacitated. While bishops have procedures in place for stepping aside due to illness, no equivalent guidelines exist for the papacy.

The pope looms so large in everyday Italian life that there are lots of expressions that make light of even a dark event like his death.

Rome’s diocese invited all the parishes and religious communities of the city to hold a communitarian silent prayer on Wednesday afternoon for the health of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis, who is spending his fifth day in hospital for what doctors described as a "complex" respiratory infection, will not take part in this weekend's Holy Year events, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

Pope Francis, 88, was resting Monday morning, his 10th day at the hospital for a complex lung infection that led to the early stages of kidney insufficiency.

The pontiff's condition is touch-and-go, given his age, fragility and pre-existing lung disease, according to doctors.