As cardinals gather to elect Pope Francis’ successor, they are facing debates over whether the church most needs change or constancy.

How will history judge Pope Francis’ legacy? It seems reasonable to predict that for many progressive Catholics and others who hoped he would prove to be a revolutionary, his papacy will be remembered as a disappointment. Although Francis …

Months into his papacy in 2013, Pope Francis was asked about gay priests, and he responded, “Who am I to judge?” Across the United States, Catholics and non-Catholics alike took a collective gasp. For years the Roman Catholic Church in the United …

“Who am I to judge?” Pope Francis uttered those words in July 2013, just four and a half months into his papacy, when he was asked about gay priests, and the remark was greeted by some observers as a revelation and revolution. At long last, the Roman …

Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina was my pick to be elected pope. I was wrong. It was 2005, and the Argentine cardinal, a South American Jesuit known for riding the bus, ticked many of the boxes that church experts told me needed to be …