“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.

As we prepare for a new papacy, an important question faces the church: What foundations do we inherit from Pope Francis’ bold reimagining of Catholic moral theology? How will the church carry forward the vision he nurtured—a vision both thoroughly traditional and courageously new?

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

Pope Francis centered the poor and elevated joy in the mission of the church. These characteristics help us understand what a field hospital church is about. As a field hospital, the church’s structures and actions should always be in service of its mission.

A person’s heroes often point to their values. In Pope Francis’ case, the people he singled out for their heroic virtues reveal a great deal about his papal priorities.

“Pope Francis entered the papacy as a Jesuit, governed as one and died as one,” Father James Martin writes.

Pope Francis published official documents on the environment, the family, young people and more. Here is a list of some of his major documents.

When the cardinals voted to elect Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the 265th successor of St. Peter on the evening of March 13, 2013, few of them imagined what kind of pope he would be.

In several chapters of his new book "Hope: The Autobiography," Pope Francis directly addresses readers, looking back on his pontificate and urging all to keep the hope.

In “a note of accompaniment” to the final document, the pope made clear that Catholic bishops throughout the world are to lead their churches in building a synodal and missionary church in the 21st century.