An exclusive interview with Archbishop Costelloe about the legacy of Pope Francis and what he hopes for from the conclave

The conclave to elect the next pope will open on May 7, Vatican officials announced today. The cardinals meeting in plenary assembly (called general congregations) in the Vatican decided the date this morning, April 28.

Francis has always been known as “the pope of surprises.”

Pope Francis’ face was forever hidden from the world when his coffin was closed at 8 o’clock on Friday evening, April 25, just as the sun was setting over Rome. 

So many mourners lined up to see Pope Francis lying in state in a simple wooden coffin inside St. Peter’s Basilica that the Vatican kept the doors open all night.

My wife and I lost a friend on earth, Gerard O’Connell writes, but we now have a friend in heaven.

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.

Just halfway through his period of convalescence, Pope Francis not only appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Easter Sunday to give the Urbi et Orbi blessing—to the city of Rome (“urbi”) and to the world (“orbi”)—but he also drove among the crowd in his jeep.

Asked how he was living this Easter period, given his condition and convalescence, Pope Francis replied, “As best I can!”

Pope Francis, 88, will visit Rome’s Regina Coeli prison “in a private way” on Holy Thursday afternoon if his health condition allows it.