VATICAN CITY - With "spiritual freshness and joy" despite his physical frailty, retired Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass and met briefly with his former doctoral students at the Vatican Aug. 24.

A showdown between Pope Francis and a conservative bishop in Paraguay is heating up as the bishop rejected charges that he sheltered a priest accused of sexual misconduct, and claimed that Pope Benedict XVI himself vouched for the suspect cleric just days before his election as pope in 2005.

VATICAN CITY - The Italian cardinal who served as the Vatican’s No. 2 official under Pope Benedict XVI has rejected allegations that he mishandled 15 million euros ($20 million) from Vatican bank accounts.

ROME - The historic “Sunday of four popes” attracted more than 800,000 pilgrims — the largest turnout ever for a canonization Mass — including seven Canadian bishops.

VATICAN CITY - Canonizing two recent popes in the presence of his immediate predecessor, Pope Francis praised the new Sts. John XXIII and John Paul II as men of courage and mercy, who responded to challenges of their time by modernizing the Catholic Church in fidelity to its ancient traditions.

Ninety-five years old, in failing health, evangelist Billy Graham has summoned his energies to write what will almost surely be his last book: The Reason for My Hope. As I read it, I was struck by the extent to which Graham’s prose carries out the “new evangelism” to which Pope Benedict XVI insistently called the Catholic Church.

VATICAN CITY - Blessed John Paul II's deep spirituality and his courage to uphold the truth were clear signs of his sainthood, said his successor, retired Pope Benedict XVI.

VATICAN CITY - With retired Pope Benedict XVI sitting next to him, Pope Francis formally recited separate prayers to consecrate Vatican City to St. Joseph and to St. Michael the Archangel.

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy - With a warm embrace, a helping hand, shared prayer, a long discussion and lunch together, Pope Francis spent several hours with retired Pope Benedict XVI March 23 at the papal summer villa.

On March 13th, the world's cardinals in Rome elected Pope Francis following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. The catholicregister.org has created a special, easy-to-view section to display the news from Benedict's last days, plus all the breaking stories from the Vatican as the cardinals choose the next pope.

ROME - St. Peter's Basilica broke out into sustained applause Tuesday morning when hours before the start of the conclave Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the college of cardinals, thanked God for the "brilliant pontificate" of the 265th successor of St. Peter.

VATICAN CITY - Basilian Father Thomas Rosica is a busy man these days.

VATICAN CITY - The 115 cardinals participating in the conclave will know the identity of the new pope before the rest of the world, but their advance knowledge is likely to last for well over an hour, and even more in the unlikely event that the candidate they choose is not in the Sistine Chapel with them.

Rome - Cardinals exited the final session of their pre-conclave discussions on the state of the Church just before 1:00 p.m. on Monday. Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet smiled and waved to reporters as he strolled through St. Peter's Square and then to lunch.

VATICAN CITY - Though the Vatican has become increasingly savvy with more modern forms of communication, it's still sticking with more primitive methods -- swirling smoke and tolling bells -- to announce whether a new pope has been elected.