Elisabetta Pique

Pope Francis prays at the south fountain at the ground zero 9/11 Memorial Sept. 25, 2015, in New York. The pope is accompanied by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. (CNS/Paul Haring)

How Sept. 11 inadvertently paved the way for the future election of Pope Francis

When terrorists wreaked havoc on the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, it forever altered global affairs — including, inadvertently, paving the way for a relatively unknown Argentine cardinal to eventually become Pope Francis.

A bishop casts his vote during last year's fall general assembly of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore Nov. 11, 2019. (CNS/Bob Roller)

Bishops' conference elections: why they matter and what they portend

By Michael Sean Winters
Cardinals from around the world are seen in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel March 12, 2013, as they begin the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI. (CNS/L'Osservatore Romano via Reuters)

'The Election of Pope Francis' is a day-by-day, ballot-by-ballot tale

By Michael Sean Winters

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