Pope Francis announced today that he will hold a consistory on Sept. 30 to create 21 new cardinals, 18 of them electors with the right to vote in the next conclave.

“Having reported on all the synods since 1985,” Gerard O’Connell writes, “I have come to believe that this synod could well be the most transformative event in the Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council.”

In the second part of this exclusive interview with America, Archbishop Frank Leo says Pope Francis “stunned” him by nominating him as archbishop of Toronto.

In this exclusive interview, the new archbishop of Toronto, the Most Rev. Frank Leo, talks about his call to the priesthood, life as a Vatican diplomat and what he learned as secretary general of the Canadian Catholic bishops’ conference.

In a surprise move, Pope Francis has appointed the Argentine theologian and archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández as the new prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In his homily at Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on June 29, Pope Francis called on the 32 new archbishops present to follow the example of Sts. Peter and Paul, whose feast the church celebrates today.