Papal conclave

NCR Connections: Cardinal Timothy Dolan, like many Catholics on the right, may have confused the church's next conclave — whenever it may be — with this November's upcoming presidential election.

New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan has sent copies of a book that suggests qualities desirable in a future pope to cardinals across the globe.

Francis, the comic strip: You can't risk a conclave during a pandemic.

While the newly elected Pope John Paul II stood before Catholic cardinals in the Sistine Chapel on the 16th of October 1978, half a world away in Argentina a middle-aged priest named Jorge Mario Bergoglio was following the election on the radio of his car.

Book Review: If you have ever dreamed of being the proverbial fly on the wall during the election of a pope, then Gerard O'Connell's The Election of Pope Francis might make your dream come true.

A high number of bishops in dioceses across the country are reaching the traditional retirement age of 75. The unusual circumstance of such a grouping of openings gives the pope a unique chance to make a long-lasting mark in a relatively short period of time on the direction of the U.S. church. 

Distinctly Catholic: The newly published book by Gerard O'Connell provides an unprecedented, if unverifiable, inside look at the 2013 conclave that made Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio pope.

The cardinals who voted in conclave to elect Pope Francis did so hoping he would reform the scandal-plagued Vatican Curia and make it more responsive to the concerns of the universal church. Six years later, his reform proposals are reportedly to be promulgated at the end of June, although they will probably be leaked earlier. Will they satisfy the critics of the Curia?