The death of a pope sets in motion a series of carefully orchestrated rites and rituals well before the conclave to elect his successor begins.

As the lights of St. Peter's Basilica were extinguished and silence settled through the sprawling interior, a single flame -- the paschal candle -- pierced through the gloom, rep ...

"There's been so much hatred and anger and vitriol. It was important for us to pray, to hold silence, to sing, to remind ourselves that we have a better nature," said Rt. Rv. Kara Wagner Saherer, ...