For Catholics and non-Catholics alike, fascination with the pope and rituals such as the papal conclave continue to transfix ...

The death of a pope sets in motion a series of carefully orchestrated rites and rituals well before the conclave to elect his ...

More than 250,000 people, including heads of state, royalty and the ordinary Catholic faithful were in attendance for the funeral of Pope Francis.

established rituals and ceremonial practices do capture the imagination,” said Michele Dillon, an expert on Catholicism and professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.