Last week, Twitter users across the world made a startling discovery: A viral photo of the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall revealed a colossal, looming sculpture that frames the pope during his addresses.
Pope Francis opened a two-day meeting of almost 200 cardinals this morning, Aug. 29, to discuss “Predicate Evangelium,” the constitution for the reform of the Roman Curia.
Celestine V resigned from the papacy in 1294, the last pope to do so voluntarily before Benedict XVI. Francis, in his homily, praised him for this gesture of humility.
Canon lawyers are proposing new laws that will delineate the rules on papal retirement. Retired Pope Benedict XVI has had to trailblaze a path, as the last pope to step down was in 1294.