In 1979, during John Paul II’s first visit to the United States as pope, he met with President Jimmy Carter at the White House. Shortly after that, he invited Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter’s national security adviser, to dinner at the Vatican Embassy …

Efforts to fix the Vatican’s broken finances helped restore confidence among big givers. But the work isn’t finished.

Cardinals, royals and heads of state attended. But many mourners, some of whom slept on the streets overnight, said they came for a pope who had cared for the poor and marginalized.

From “camerlengo” to white smoke, here’s what to know about the words and phrases that guide the process after a pope dies.

Efforts to fix the Vatican’s broken finances helped restore confidence among big givers. But the work isn’t finished.

Two of the five popes before Francis have become saints, but merely serving as pontiff is no longer a guarantee of canonization.