Peter's Square in the presence of 15,000 people, the Pope again gave thanks to God ... XVI ideally as a link to the venerated Pontiff, Benedict XV, who guided the Church through the turbulent ...

2013 following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. On Sunday, Francis met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the chief of staff, Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, for the third time at the hospital.

“Pope Benedict XV had this little phrase assigned to him by Malachy, which was ‘religion depopulated’,” said Howells. “Now during his reign, from 1914 to 1922, there was the First World ...

"Pope Benedict XV had this little phrase assigned to him by Malachy, which was 'religion depopulated'," said Howells. "Now during his reign, from 1914 to 1922, there was the First World War ...

Stranger still, he said, was that Francis’ predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, announced his resignation at the same meeting of cardinals, called a consistory, that was also discussing the ...

Francis has said he would consider it, after Pope Benedict XVI "opened the door" to popes retiring, but has shown no signs of stepping down and in fact has asserted recently that the job of pope ...

Thursday will mark the 12th anniversary of when Pope Francis was voted to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, who previously resigned. ABC News' Megan Forrester contributed to this report.

The former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected on the fifth ballot of the 2013 conclave, which was called after Pope Benedict XVI resigned. While Francis has praised Benedict’s humility ...

But it was also at a banal consistory to set dates for canonizations on Feb. 11, 2013, that Pope Benedict XVI announced, in Latin, that he would resign because he couldn’t keep up with the ...

His predecessor, Benedict XVI, took the role at 78 and ... The secret ballot system, introduced by Pope Gregory XV in 1621, aims to reduce overt political influence, though factions inevitably ...

Benedict before him was 78, and was Pope for only eight years before his ... The ballot itself is secret and was introduced on 1621 by Gregory XV to try and avoid overt politicking but the ...