Francis agrees with his critics: A pope can be wrong
The tables have turned under Pope Francis. And a new type of Catholic has formed: the conservative dissenter. In the past, conservatives prided themselves on loyalty to the pope and being in lockstep with all papal teachings, while progressives called for limits to papal power.
Nice guy or tough guy? The two faces of Pope Francis
To the vast majority, Pope Francis is the compassionate face of Catholicism today. But there is another streak to the pontiff: A willingness to flex papal muscle and lay down the law.
Francis and Benedict: two popes, two divergent approaches to Islam
The global growth of Islam and in particular the rise of Islamic extremism have forced recent popes to set out, with increasing urgency, a strategy for engaging the religion.
In England and Wales, 16,500 weigh in on Vatican synod survey
When the Vatican announced its survey ahead of the Synod of Bishops, the bishops of England and Wales were the first in the world to put it online.