Daniel Burke

Since 1954, an IRS rule had barred houses of worship from explicitly endorsing political candidates.

Pope Leo XIV and Ukraine's President Zelenskyy spoke by phone recently, according to the Vatican.

During his homily, delivered in Italian, Leo XIV said that Christians must serve a world that is often hostile to their beliefs.

Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected pope, the first time an American has led the Roman Catholic Church. Prevost, 69, chose the name Pope Leo XIV.

Black smoke streamed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Thursday morning in Rome, signaling that the 133 cardinal electors have not come to a two-thirds agreement about who the next pontiff should be.

As more than a billion Catholics around the world await the election of a new pope, all eyes are on the Sistine Chapel, where 133 cardinals started the secretive process known as a conclave.

In Pope Francis' autobiography Hope he reiterates themes of his papacy like hatred of war and unchecked capitalism, and a desire for the Catholic Church to be seen as a field hospital, not a fortress.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby has resigned over accusations that he failed to report physical and sexual abuse to the police.