Life: My Story Through History is a 2024 autobiography by Pope Francis. [1] [2]
Francis Xavier, SJ, venerated as Saint Francis Xavier, was a Basque cleric. He was a Catholic missionary and saint who co-founded the Society of Jesus and, as a representative of the Portuguese Empire, led the first Christian mission to Japan.
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, known as Francis of Assisi, was an Italian mystic, poet, and Catholic friar who founded the religious order of the Franciscans. Inspired to lead a Christian life of poverty, he became a beggar and itinerant preacher.
Pope Benedict XVI was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as pope occurred in the 2005 papal conclave that followed the death of Pope John Paul II. Upon his resignation, Benedict chose to be known as "Pope emeritus", and he retained this title until his death in 2022.
Mary of Teck was Queen of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 6 May 1910 until 20 January 1936 as the wife of King-Emperor George V.
Pope Leo XIII was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the oldest pope whose age can be validated, and had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Apostle, Pius IX and John Paul II.
Saint Junípero Serra Ferrer, popularly known simply as Junipero Serra, was a Spanish Catholic priest and missionary of the Franciscan Order. He is credited with establishing the Franciscan Missions in the Sierra Gorda, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He founded a mission in Baja California and established eight of the 21 Spanish missions in California from San Diego to San Francisco, in what was then Spanish-occupied Alta California in the Province of Las Californias of New Spain.
The Franciscans are a group of related mendicant religious orders of the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi, these orders include three independent orders for men, orders for nuns such as the Order of Saint Clare, and the Third Order of Saint Francis open to male and female members. They adhere to the teachings and spiritual disciplines of the founder and of his main associates and followers, such as Clare of Assisi, Anthony of Padua, and Elizabeth of Hungary. Several smaller Protestant Franciscan orders or other groups have been established since late 1800s as well, particularly in the Anglican and Lutheran traditions.
Francis Joseph Spellman was an American Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of New York from 1939 until his death in 1967. Spellman previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Boston from 1932 to 1939. He was created a cardinal by Pius XII in 1946.
Doctor of the Church, also referred to as Doctor of the Universal Church, is a title given by the Catholic Church to saints recognized as having made a significant contribution to theology or doctrine through their research, study, or writing.
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.28 to 1.39 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2024. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization. The church consists of 24 sui iuris churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and eparchies around the world. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the chief pastor of the church. The Diocese of Rome, known as the Holy See, is the central governing authority of the church. The administrative body of the Holy See, the Roman Curia, has its principal offices in Vatican City, which is a small, independent city-state and enclave within the city of Rome, of which the pope is head of state and absolute elective monarch.
The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter is a traditionalist Catholic society of apostolic life for priests and seminarians. It is in communion with the Holy See. It was founded in 1988 by 12 former members of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) who left following the Écône consecrations, which resulted in the SSPX bishops being excommunicated by the Holy See.
Pope Francis is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. He is the first pope to be a member of the Society of Jesus, the first from the Americas and the Southern Hemisphere, and the first born or raised outside Europe since the 8th-century papacy of the Syrian pope Gregory III.
The consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by a reigning pope was requested during a Marian apparition by Our Lady of Fátima on 13 July 1917, according to Lúcia dos Santos, one of the three visionaries who claimed to have seen the apparition. Sister Lucia said that at different times the Blessed Virgin Mary had given her a message of promise that the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary would usher in a period of world peace.
Saint Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception, born as Anna Muttathupadathu, was an Indian Catholic nun and educator. She is the first woman of Indian origin to be canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church, and the first canonized saint of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church in Singapore is part of the worldwide Catholic Church, under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Rome. In 2016, the Catholic Foundation of Singapore reported the Catholic population in Singapore to be over 373,000.
Raniero Cantalamessa is an Italian Catholic cardinal and priest in the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin and a theologian. He served as the Preacher to the Papal Household from 1980 until 2024, under Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis.
Joseph was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who, according to the canonical Gospels, was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus.
Chiara Offreduccio, known as Clare of Assisi, is an Italian saint who was one of the first followers of Francis of Assisi.
Joseph William Tobin, CSsR, is an American prelate of the Catholic Church. A member of the Redemptorist order, he has been the Archbishop of Newark since 2017. He previously served as the Archbishop of Indianapolis from 2012 to 2016 and as secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life from 2010 to 2012. He has been a cardinal since November 19, 2016.
The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors is a pontifical commission within the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church instituted by Pope Francis on 22 March 2014 as an advisory agency serving the pope. Since 5 June 2022, the Commission has been part of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, operating with its officials and according to its norms.