Peter of Morrone was an unusual choice for pope. He was not a cardinal, for one, but a Benedictine monk and hermit living in a remote mountainous cave. He was also around 80 years of age. But the ...

One of the Italy’s most famous basilicas, Santa Maria di Collemaggio, was very badly damaged in yesterday’s earthquake in Italy. Founded in the late 1200s by Pope Celestine V — the only pope ever to ...

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis added fuel to rumors about the future of his pontificate by announcing he would visit the central Italian city of L'Aquila in August for a feast initiated by Pope Celestine V, ...

SULMONA, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that "for all our weaknesses" priests have an important role in the world. Benedict did not directly mention the clergy abuse scandal that has rocked the ...

Pope Francis prays in front of the tomb of St. Celestine V, a 13th-century pope who resigned, at the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio in L'Aquila, Italy, on Aug. 28, 2022. (CNS photo/Vatican ...

Pope Benedict XVI leaves office this week, the second pope to resign voluntarily. The first was Celestine V, a hermit who quit in 1294, after a... The Hermit Pope Who Set The Precedent For Benedict ...

The wire services routinely refer to Benedict XVI, now the pope emeritus, as the first pontiff to abdicate in modern times. But few of the news stories go into the classic example of a papal ...

Pope Francis arrives to open the Holy Door of St. Mary in Collemaggio Basilica and start the jubilee of forgiveness, in L'Aquila, central Italy, Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022. Pope Francis will be the first ...

Celestine‘s indulgence was exceptional at the time, given it was available to anyone, regardless of status or wealth, and cost nothing except personal repentance at a time when indulgences were often ...