The choice of method, more than any difference in underlying doctrine, is where Pope Francis departed most radically from his predecessors.

“Whoever follows Francis must take up the legacy of Vatican II and of Pope Francis and engage the world without fear because we have the Gospel,” Cardinal Reina said in an interview the Gerard O’Connell.

“I become agitated when they say it’s time for an American, it’s time for an African, it’s time for a South Islander. I think that is so stupid. It’s time for the successor of Peter for 2025. The priority is evangelization.”

“I wish I did not have to vote because I wish that Francis were still alive. But it is a fact that he has left us,” Cardinal Stephen Chow told Gerard O’Connell in an exclusive interview.

In a pre-conclave meeting, an Italian cardinal, and backer of Cardinal Parolin as next pope, attacked Pope Francis for opening positions of responsibility in the church to men and women not in holy orders.

Somehow, incredibly, this celibate, elderly man often doled out some of the best and most valuable parenting advice I’ve received along the way.

All 135 cardinals who are under the age of 80 and have not renounced the right to enter the conclave will have full voting rights.

We need a healthier public square in which people of all backgrounds can work together.

“You don’t do that!” That is what Arturo Sosa, S.J., the superior general of the Jesuits, would say to President Trump about his mass deportation of undocumented migrants if he had the opportunity to meet him.

As he enters his 13th year as pope, Francis stands tall as the moral authority in today’s world, a voice pleading for humanity, peace and respect for the dignity of all people.