9 h. ago Child sexual abuse scandal cast long shadow over Pope Francis’s papacy

Issue threatened to derail Francis’s papacy and dominated his trips abroadPope Francis: cardinals to meet in Rome to set date for funeral – liveIn 2002, the Boston Globe published a series of articles exposing the scale of child sexual abuse in the local Catholic church. It shone a spotlight – the title of a later movie based on the investigation – on the church’s dark shameful secrets.Eleven years later, Francis became pope. Wave after wave of abuse revelations continued to crash at the Vatican’s doors amid mounting anger and revulsion among the faithful and beyond. The issue threatened to derail Francis’s papacy and dominate his trips abroad. He was slow to grasp the scale and systemic nature of the issue and apparently reluctant to take firm action to deal with abusers and those who covered up abuse. Continue reading...

Events

9 h. ago Child sexual abuse scandal cast long shadow over Francis’s papacy

Issue dogged Francis throughout his time as head of Catholic church, with abuse survivors saying he failed to do enoughPope Francis: cardinals to meet in Rome to set date for funeral – liveIn 2002, the Boston Globe published a series of articles exposing the scale of child sexual abuse in the local Catholic church. It shone a spotlight – the title of a later movie based on the investigation – on the church’s dark shameful secrets.Eleven years later, Francis became pope. Wave after wave of abuse revelations continued to crash at the Vatican’s doors amid mounting anger and revulsion among the faithful and beyond. The issue threatened to derail Francis’s papacy and dominate his trips abroad. He was slow to grasp the scale and systemic nature of the issue and apparently reluctant to take firm action to deal with abusers and those who covered up abuse. Continue reading...

Events

14 h. ago Nostradamus's prediction on Pope Francis death and Catholic Church's future

One of the astrologer's prophecies is being linked to the Pope's death yesterday.

Events

22 h. ago Inside Conclave: The cardinals seen as contenders to be the next pope after Francis's death

Former US president Joe Biden has said Pope Francis will be remembered as “one of the most consequential leaders of our time”.

Events

23 h. ago Nostradamus's eerie prediction of Pope Francis's death and future of Catholic Church

Pope Francis died of a stroke today and astrologers are claiming that Nostradamus made a prophecy nearly 500 years ago about his death - and the future of the Catholic Church

Events

24 h. ago Every word of Pope Francis's will including plans for his tomb

Francis proclaimed that the tomb should only have “Franciscus” written on it

Politics

24 h. ago Pope Francis's final testament released as burial wishes detailed – read pontiff's will in full

Pope Francis's final testament has been released by the Vatican, in which he shares his wishes for his burial and expresses gratitude to those who have loved him

Politics

25 h. ago Pope Francis's final testament released by Vatican reveals burial wishes

Pope Francis died following a stroke aged 88 on Easter Monday just a day after greeting crowds in Vatican City and now his final testament has released by the Vatican

Economics

25 h. ago Pope Francis' final hours and how he defied doctors to the end as full death certificate revealed

After a lengthy health battle, Pope Francis died aged 88 on Monday morning from a cerebral stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure - triggering a nine-day mourning period

Events

28 h. ago Mass held in Glasgow for Pope Francis hours after death on Easter Monday

"We are all sad. Today we have lost a father," said Rev William Nolan, Archbishop of Glasgow.

Events

29 h. ago Pope Francis’s social values ‘resonated with Scotland’ – Archbishop of Glasgow

Archbishop William Nolan said the pope ‘was very keen that the church should bring hope to people’.

Politics

31 h. ago Pope Francis's message was to be joyful, merciful and to look forward when lost

Father Gerard Maguiness, who met Pope Francis in February, writes about what the first Jesuit to be Supreme Pontiff meant to him

Events

33 h. ago Pope Francis's wildest moments from aliens vow, Joe Biden 'head butt' to lags' feet kiss

Joe Biden in a moment of skin to skin contact, promises about Martians and an unlikely previous career, the late Pope Francis had a number of moments in his life that might take you by surprise

Politics

34 h. ago Pope Francis's final day in photos: How pontiff spent yesterday celebrating Easter Sunday with the faithful, bringing smiles to the faces of thousands

An aide to the 88-year-old pontiff delivered his 'Urbi et Orbi' benediction from a balcony overlooking the square following mass to mark the holiday.

Culture

37 h. ago Girl on Girl by Sophie Gilbert review – how pop culture turned a generation of women against themselves

The Pulitzer-nominated journalist recounts how modern misogyny has been shaped by a mass culture attuned to male desire and all-pervasive pornographyIn 2021, JD Vance told Fox News that senior Democrat women were just “childless cat ladies”, lacking cultural or social value compared with their married and procreating counterparts. When Taylor Swift looked down the barrel of this insult with a post on Instagram showing her posing with beloved feline Benjamin Button (from Time magazine’s photoshoot naming her 2023’s person of the year), she embraced the role of killjoy, rejecting Vance’s attempt to divide women. But even this gesture of defiance and solidarity was not enough to push back the red tide of misogyny and corruption: Trump was elected to a second term, the US was denied a female leader, and millions of women held their breath.When Sophie Gilbert, a Pulitzer-nominated journalist and critic at the Atlantic, was writing Girl on Girl, the 2025 Trump administration was just a wo...

Politics

3 w. ago Rightwing groups across US push new bans to limit ‘obscene’ books in libraries

Critics say bans would hinder rights as proponents would impose their beliefs on others who don’t share their viewsRightwing groups around the US are pushing legislation that would place new limits on what books are allowed in school libraries in a move that critics decry as censorship often focused on LGBTQ+ issues or race or imposing conservative social values.Caught up in the attempts at suppressing books are classics like The Color Purple and Slaughterhouse Five. Continue reading...

Culture

3 w. ago Mathematician Adam Kucharski: ‘Our concepts of what we can prove are shifting’

The epidemiologist who advised on Ebola and Covid discusses the value of evidence in light of AI and social media, and how the notion of fact has long been divisiveAdam Kucharski is a professor at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. As a mathematician and epidemiologist, he has advised multiple governments on outbreaks such as Ebola and Covid. In his new book Proof: The Uncertain Science of Certainty, he examines how we can appraise evidence in our search for the truth.What inspired you to investigate the concept of proof?Alice Stewart, an influential epidemiologist, used this nice phrase that “truth is the daughter of time”. But in many situations, whether you’re accused of a crime or thinking about a climate crisis, you don’t want to wait; there’s an urgency to accumulate evidence and set a bar for action. We’re entering an era where questions around information – what we trust and how we act – are increasingly important, and our concepts of what we can prove are...

Politics

4 w. ago Pope Francis's doctors almost stopped his treatment so he could die before final miracle plan

Pope Francis had a number of breathing crises during his time in hospital, with a doctor admitting that two of them put the pontiff's life in danger, and medics were close to ending treatment

Events