Pope Francis raised the consciousness of bishops, priests and laity around the issues of sexism and unjust discrimination against women in the Catholic Church.

In his final Easter message, Pope Francis expressed pain over the violence and division throughout our world and urged us to rekindle hopes for peace. He held war-torn communities in his heart — not as anonymous places, but as homes to families with faces, names, stories and dreams.

Catholics and non-Catholics alike are riding high on emotions over two words: "Habemus papam." (We have a pope.) However, once the honeymoon is over and reality sets in, enthusiasm for Pope Leo XIV will likely subside as some supporters of the papal concept,

With the papal conclave underway, Maureen H. O’Connell writes that the cardinals who elect his successor should keep in mind Pope Francis' efforts to place women in roles of leadership in the church.

Abuse watchdog groups have expressed concern, but Leo has been lauded by other survivors for his handling of abuse.

Phyliss Zagano, a Hofstra professor who was on a papal panel studying the issue, has high hopes that the next pontiff will continue Francis's work.

Scaraffia cites, in her view, just two positive changes Pope Francis made for women: the promotion of Mary Magdalene to an apostle and the cancelling of a norm that considered abortion a "reserved ...

Among the roughly 1.4 billion Catholics around the world, many are keenly anticipating the upcoming conclave at the Vatican at which members of the College of Cardinals will elect a successor to Pope

Pope Francis named Sister Nathalie Becquart the first woman with voting rights in the Synod of Bishops. Together with author and theologian Steven Millies, she talks about Francis’ legacy and the church’s future as the conclave begins.