Pope John Paul II
Today in History

By The Associated Press May. 12, 2021 12:00 AM EDT
Today in History Today is Wednesday, May 12, the 132nd day of 2021. There are 233 days left in the year. Today’s...

The remains of Venezuelan Dr. Jose Gregorio Hernandez popularly known as the "doctor of the poor", sit in an urn backdropped by his portrait, inside the Nuestra Senora de la Candelaria Catholic church, in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, April 23, 2021. Hernandez is set to be beatified by the Catholic church, a step towards sainthood, on April 30th in the Venezuelan capital. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
Venezuela's beloved 'doctor of the poor' to be beatified

By Jorge Rueda Apr. 29, 2021 12:01 AM EDT

Sister Mary Carol Kardell, of the Felician Sisters of North America, sits beside a Bible, rosary beads and goggles during morning Mass at St. Anne Home in Greensburg, Pa., on Thursday, March 25, 2021. Last October the nuns lost one of their own, Sister Mary Evelyn Labik, to the coronavirus. (AP Photo/Jessie Wardarski)
'How many of us will be left?' Catholic nuns face loss, pain

By Matt Sedensky Apr. 09, 2021 12:10 AM EDT

Today in History

By The Associated Press Apr. 03, 2021 12:00 AM EDT
Today in History Today is Saturday April 3, the 93rd day of 2021. There are 272 days left in the year. Today’s...

Today in History

By The Associated Press Mar. 10, 2021 12:00 AM EST
Today in History Today is Wednesday, March 10, the 69th day of 2021. There are 296 days left in the year. Today’s...

FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2004 file photo, Iraqis protest in the streets of the southern city of Basra carrying posters of Shiite leaders including Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, right, the top cleric of Iraq's Shiite majority. On Saturday, March 6, 2021, Pope Francis will visit the 90-year-old Grand Ayatollah who is revered by many Shiites worldwide and whose words hold powerful influence in Iraq and beyond. The pontiff and ayatollah will meet in al-Sistani’s modest home in the Iraqi city of Najaf. (AP Photo/Nabeel al-Jurani, File)
Intense preparations before pontiff meets Iraqi ayatollah

By Qassim Abdul-Zahra And Samya Kullab Mar. 03, 2021 01:20 AM EST

Pope Francis celebrates a Mass with members of religious institutions on the occasion of the celebration of the World Day of Consecrated Life, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, pool)
Pope moves ahead with plans to meet Shiite leader in Iraq

By Nicole Winfield And Samya Kullab Feb. 08, 2021 07:19 AM EST

FILE - in this Sunday, April 14, 2019 file photo, Cardinal Louis Raphael I Sako addresses the faithful during the Palm Sunday service at Mar Youssif Church in Baghdad, Iraq. Iraq’s top Catholic official said Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021 that a deadly suicide bombing in Baghdad hasn’t thwarted Pope Francis’ plans to visit, and he confirmed the pontiff would meet with the country’s top Shiite cleric, Ali al-Sistani, in a significant highlight of the first-ever papal trip to Iraq. The Chaldean patriarch, Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, provided the first details of Francis’ March 5-8 itinerary during a virtual press conference hosted by the French bishops' conference. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban, File)
Pope on Iraq trip: Worthwhile even if most watch him on TV

By Nicole Winfield Feb. 01, 2021 02:05 PM EST

FILE - In this Wednesday, Dec. 23, 2020 file photo, a Catholic pastor receives the first of the two Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccinations at a hospital in Chicago. In a growing consensus, religious leaders at the forefront of the anti-abortion movement in the United States are telling their followers that the leading vaccines available to combat COVID-19 are acceptable to take, given their remote and indirect connection to lines of cells derived from aborted fetuses. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)
Anti-abortion faith leaders support use of COVID-19 vaccines

By David Crary Jan. 10, 2021 09:10 AM EST

FILE - In this December 2005 file photo, Rev. Robert Graetz, second from left, and wife, Jeannie, sing along with Gladys Williams, right, on the Cleveland Avenue bus, during the walk of remembrance to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott in Montgomery, Ala. Graetz, the only white minister to support the Montgomery bus boycott, died Sunday, Sept. 20, 2020. He was 92. (Karen S. Doerr/The Montgomery Advertiser via AP)
Religious leaders worldwide, across faiths who died in 2020

By David Crary Dec. 31, 2020 09:02 AM EST

FILE - In this July 19, 2020, file photo, people gather at a makeshift memorial near the home of Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., in Atlanta. Lewis, who died Friday at age 80, was the youngest and last survivor of the Big Six civil rights activists who organized the 1963 March on Washington, and spoke shortly before the group's leader, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., gave his "I Have a Dream" speech to a vast sea of people. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
Final goodbye: Recalling influential people who died in 2020

By Bernard Mcghee Dec. 07, 2020 12:13 PM EST

Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Vatican: Pope to visit Iraq in March, pandemic permitting

By Frances D'emilio Dec. 07, 2020 07:10 AM EST

Pope Francis celebrates Mass the day after he raised 13 new cardinals to the highest rank in the Catholic hierarchy, at St. Peter's Basilica, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, Pool)
Pope, with new cardinals, warns church against mediocrity

By Frances D'emilio Nov. 29, 2020 06:30 AM EST

Pope Francis attends a consistory ceremony where 13 bishops were elevated to a cardinal's rank in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020. (Fabio Frustaci/POOL via AP)
Pope elevates 13 new cardinals then puts them in their place

By Nicole Winfield Nov. 28, 2020 09:50 AM EST

People demonstrate against police violence and an attempted restriction on abortion rights in Warsaw Poland, Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020. Nationwide protests Saturday were scheduled to coincide with Polish women gaining the right to vote 102 years ago. Weeks of protests against a high court's ruling to further restrict Abortion rights have evolved into the largest protest movement since communism fell 30 years ago.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Police block Warsaw march against abortion ruling, force use

By Vanessa Gera Nov. 28, 2020 04:55 AM EST

FILE - This Sunday, June 2, 2019, file photo shows Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory posed for a portrait following mass at St. Augustine Church in Washington. Pope Francis has named 13 new cardinals, including Washington D.C. Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who would become the first Black U.S. prelate to earn the coveted red cap. In a surprise announcement from his studio window to faithful standing below in St. Peter’s Square, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020, Francis said the churchmen would be elevated to a cardinal’s rank in a ceremony on Nov. 28. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)
Pope names 13 new cardinals, including 1st Black US prelate

By Frances D'emilio Oct. 25, 2020 12:33 PM EDT

Police separate protesting women's rights activists from a member of Ordo Iuris, a conservative anti-abortion organization in Warsaw, Poland, Sunday, Oct. 25, 2020. Protests took part in churches Sunday by women angry about new restrictions on Poland's already strict abortion law.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
Poles protest abortion ban in churches and on streets

By Vanessa Gera Oct. 25, 2020 10:21 AM EDT

FILE - In this photo taken on March 27, 2020, Pope Francis, white figure standing alone at center, delivers an Urbi et orbi prayer from the empty St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican. If ever there was a defining moment of Pope Francis during the coronavirus pandemic, it came on March 27, the day Italy recorded its single biggest daily jump in fatalities. From the rain-slicked promenade of St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis said the virus had shown that we’re all in this together, that we need each other and need to reassess our priorities. (Yara Nardi/Pool Photo via AP )
What happens when pandemic locks down a globe-trotting pope?

By Nicole Winfield Aug. 30, 2020 02:42 AM EDT

President Donald Trump holds a Bible as he visits outside St. John's Church across Lafayette Park from the White House Monday, June 1, 2020, in Washington. Park of the church was set on fire during protests on Sunday night. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)
Embracing religious themes, Trump visits John Paul II shrine

By Jonathan Lemire, Jill Colvin And Darlene Superville, Jun. 02, 2020 12:36 AM EDT

A poll worker wearing a protective shield is seen at the Dunwoody Library on Monday, May 18, 2020, in Dunwoody, Georgia. Georgians were greeted with a few new procedures as they participated in the first day of in-person early voting for the state's June 9 primaries with the coronavirus pandemic still raging. (AP Photo/Ron Harris)
What you need to know today about the virus outbreak

By The Associated Press May. 18, 2020 09:12 AM EDT