Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina, was our new Pope. He took the name of Francis. In 2000 years there has never been a Pope Francis.

A genuinely secular state has no place in the finery and stresses of the weird and often wonderful ritual of a wedding, writes Toby Manhire.

White smoke has billowed from a Sistine Chapel chimney to show that a new pope has been elected to replace the frail Benedict XVI as leader of the world's 1.2 billon Catholics.

"I felt I had done my best for them, but I failed. I felt it was a tragedy I had tried to stop and didn't".

The 1888 Gothic revival presbytery beside St Patrick's Catholic Cathedral in Auckland CBD is an earthquake-prone building.

Yesterday was Pope Benedict's last day in office, but the words customarily used to announce that we have a new Pope, "Habemus Papam", are likely to be a long time in coming.

Three priests and a former priest in Scotland have reported the most senior Catholic clergyman in Britain, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, to the Vatican over allegations of inappropriate behaviour.

Whoever takes the helm of the Vatican after the shock resignation of Benedict XVI will inherit a problem on his own doorstep.

Pope Benedict’s resignation has been greeted with surprise, admiration and disappointment from around the world.

John Key is shocked about the Pope's resignation, describing the move by the 85-year-old as a "brave call".

British movie greats Sir Michael Gambon and Alfred Molina are to play unlikely lovers in a new movie.

New Zealand clergy face being interviewed by Australian police as part of a Royal Commission investigating how institutions including churches allegedly covered up claims of child sex abuse.