FILE - Pope Francis attends his weekly general audience in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. (Andrew Medichini / AP Photo, File)

In a foreign policy address to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, Pope Francis lamented that 2024 had dawned at a time in which peace is “increasingly threatened, weakened and in some part lost.”

Pope Francis, center, sits as the coffin of late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI St. Peter's Square is carrying for a funeral mass at the Vatican, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo / Alessandra Tarantino)

Benedict XVI is considered one of the 20th century’s greatest theologians and spent his lifetime upholding church doctrine. But he will go down in history for a singular, revolutionary act that changed the future of the papacy: He retired, the first pope in six centuries to do so.

Pope Francis released an encyclical on the environment on Thursday. In the 192-page encyclical, the pope makes the case for a partnership between science and religion to fight climate change.  

Cardinal Francis George says he’s asked the Vatican to begin the process to find a successor to take over as Archbishop of the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. George appeared before reporters Friday morning, a few days after undergoing chemotherapy for cancer in his kidney and liver. Read an article and watch a web extra video.

Sir Gilbert Levine came to be known as the "Pope's Maestro" through his relationship with Pope John Paul II, spanning 17 years. He worked closely with the pope to conduct historic concerts around the globe in an effort to bring people of all faith's together, and is known in Chicago for bringing together the Lyric Opera Orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Chorus in their first combined performance in 2012. He  joins us for a conversation.

Pope Francis is quickly putting his own mark on the papacy. We talk with Chicago Tribune religion reporter Manya Brachear about covering the Vatican, the conclave and the selection of the pope.

As the conclave begins, what’s at stake for the Catholic Church? We break down the process of electing a new pope.

As Pope Benedict XVI prepares for his last weeks in office, we speak with Father Don Senior about what it's like to live in Vatican City. 

We continue our conversation with Sir Gilbert Levine, and the miracle he says Pope John Paul II performed on his mother-in-law.

Sir Gilbert Levine (left) and Pope John Paul II

We revisit our conversation with the music conductor known as "The Pope's Maestro" about his 17-year friendship with Pope John Paul II.