The Vatican houses the central government of the Catholic Church and is also an independent city-state. The pope is both the head of the Catholic Church and head of state. In order to govern both, he has the Roman Curia, meaning “court.” In modern terms, the Curia is the papal bureaucracy. It is an extension of the pope’s authority.

Doctrine chief Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández discussed the viability of gender dysphoria, while still condemning gender affirming care, in a speech at a theological conference in Cologne in February,

Pope Francis is resting after sleeping through the night with a ventilation mask as he undergoes hospital treatment for double pneumonia

The author, who remained bedridden for more than 30 years following an incident, claimed to have received visions and revelations from Jesus and the Virgin Mary.

The pope "rested well" and woke shortly after 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, his 20th day in the hospital, the Vatican said.

Since Vatican II ended in 1965, the Catholic Church has seen a massive decline in the United States. Why are people leaving?

Pope Francis’s battle with double pneumonia is the most serious health complication the pontiff has suffered from since taking the Chair of St. Peter in 2013.

The church opposes “the ideology that usually accompanies so many sex-change decisions,” which Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández said is an ideology that claims “omnipotence” and refuses to recognize the reality of one’s body as a gift.