The ghost of Pistoia is by now quite experienced at haunting Catholic memories.

President Joe Biden and Pope Francis spoke by phone Oct. 22 to discuss the conflict in Israel and Gaza and facilitating a path to “durable peace” in the region.

Pope Francis again called for a stop to the fighting in Israel and Palestine, as he appealed to both sides: “Brothers, stop! Stop!”

Argentina's leader presidential candidate Javier Milei, a self-described anarcho-capitalist, has derided Pope Francis as “a malignant presence on earth,” denounced him as a “filthy leftist” and charged that the pope had “an affinity for murderous communists.”

In “The Great Divorce,” C.S. Lewis paints a rich, multifaceted picture of the afterlife, one that could teach Christians quite a bit about life on Earth today.

Two Vatican trials are coming to a head this week and both underscore Pope Francis’ power as an absolute monarch and the legal, financial and reputational problems that can arise when he wields it.