When Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation in February, he made it very clear that he had done so only after intense prayer and that he intended to live the rest of his life praying and studying.

Pope Francis told members of the ordinary council of the Synod of Bishops that he was preparing to publish an encyclical on faith written “with four hands” — his own and those of Pope Benedict XVI.

With a warm embrace, a helping hand, shared prayer, a long discussion and lunch together, Pope Francis spent several hours with retired Pope Benedict XVI March 23 at the papal summer villa.

Pope Francis was elected to succeed Pope Benedict XVI on March 13 by the conclave of cardinals.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI took those who were interested more deeply into the Gospel of Life, writes Anna Krohn

Doustou and fellow seminarians Rhett Williams and Deacons Scott Holmer and Dustin Dought reflects on the pope’s eight-year pontificate and its effect on their lives as young Catholics in interviews at Theological College of The Catholic University of America in Washington.

The period immediately following a pontificate is one of excited speculation, more or less loose, about the identity of the next pope.

The voting by cardinals to elect the next pope takes place behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, following a highly detailed procedure that underwent major revisions by Blessed John Paul II and a small, but very significant change, by Pope Benedict XVI.

Benedict XVI’s papacy has been one of imagination and urbanity hampered by bureaucracy, writes Tracey Rowland

Pope Benedict XVI’s pontificate was marked by strong ties of friendship and esteem with the leaders of the world’s Orthodox and Anglican Christians, but his papacy also coincided with a difficult time in the search for full Christian unity.