The current pope is Leo XIV, who was elected on 8 May 2025 on the second day of the 2025 papal conclave. While his office is called the papacy, the jurisdiction of the episcopal see is called the Holy See.
Pope. The 267th bishop of Rome is Pope Leo XIV, who was elected on 8 May 2025. The pope is the patriarch of the Latin Church, the largest of the Catholic Church's 24 autonomous (sui iuris) churches.
The Christianity Today Board of Directors has unanimously elected Dr. Nicole Massie Martin as its next President and CEO during its annual fall meeting. Dr. Martin has more than 25 years of nonprofit, academic, ministry leadership, and church engagement experience.
Thus in little more than a hundred years the structural arrangement by provinces envisaged by the First Council of Nicaea was, according to John H. Erickson, transformed into a system of five large divisions headed by the bishops of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem.
Christ is Lord of all. He is the one true head of the church (Ephesians 1:22; 5:23; Colossians 1:18). He is also King of kings—sovereign over every earthly authority (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:14; 19:16).
Head of the Church is a title given in the New Testament to Jesus. In Catholic ecclesiology, Jesus Christ is called the invisible Head or the Heavenly Head, while the Pope is called the visible Head or the Earthly Head.
Order of precedence
Christian Palestinians constitute one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, and their presence in Palestine dates back to the Roman Era. In modern times, they have been instrumental in shaping a Palestinian national identity, and their influence on Palestinian society far exceeds their numbers.
“Every religion is a way to arrive at God.” “All religions are paths to reach God.” This is a counter-scriptural statement from Pope Francis. The Scriptures teach us the opposite. The gate to heaven is narrow. In Christ's own words: “I am the way and the truth and the life.
Christianity Today's new President and CEO, Dr. Nicole Martin, joins The 700 Club to share her vision for the global media ministry and explain why now is the perfect time to reinvigorate evangelism among today's youth.
Pope Francis did not have any children given his vow of celibacy. However, he was very fond of children and even authored a children's book titled "Dear Pope Francis," in which he answered questions from children around the world.
The Founder: Jesus of Nazareth
Christianity has a historical founder whose existence is verified by outside sources. The most reliable of these sources is the account from Josephus, a first-century Jewish historian born in Jerusalem, who eventually became a Roman citizen.
But by chapter 23, he's pretty angry at the religious leaders. “You blind fools!” he shouts during a chapter-long rant (Matthew 23:17). He calls them hypocrites, snakes and vipers, everything — as the saying goes — but a child of God. We all know that insulting people is incompatible with Christian teaching.
The current pope is Leo XIV, who was elected on 8 May 2025 on the second day of the 2025 papal conclave.
Christianity Today is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. The Washington Post calls Christianity Today "evangelicalism's flagship magazine".
Pope removes Tyler's Bishop Joseph Strickland after opposition to church reforms. Bishop Strickland, a Pope Benedict XVI appointee, has been a fiercely vocal critic of Pope Francis' efforts to reform the Catholic Church.
777 is considered the number of God (or divine perfection) in Christian and biblical traditions because it's a powerful emphasis of the number 7, symbolizing divine completeness, perfection, and holiness, often linked to the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and representing the perfect fulfillment of God's work, contrasting with the imperfection of 666 (Beast). While not explicitly named as God's number, its symbolism stems from the pervasive use of '7' for perfection in the Bible, like creation in seven days, with 777 being a triple reinforcement of this divine attribute.
2025 is the Jubilee Holy Year, the 2,025th anniversary of the Incarnation of our Lord, an "event of great spiritual, ecclesial, and social significance in the life of the Church." The concept of "Jubilee" has its origins in the Book of Leviticus (chapter 25) as a special year of reconciliation, pilgrimage, and coming ...
Bethlehem is now a city located in the Israeli-occupied West Bank of the Palestinian Territories, about ten kilometres south of Jerusalem. So the short answer is: yes, Jesus was a Palestinian, according to modern geopolitics at least.
In early times, Palestine was inhabited by Semitic peoples, the earliest being the Canaanites. According to tradition, Abraham, the common ancestor of the Jews and the Arabs, came from Ur to Canaan.
Christianity officially began in the 1st century CE in Judea, a Roman province found in the eastern Mediterranean. It developed from Jewish traditions and centred on the life and message of Jesus of Nazareth, who preached compassion, repentance, and the promise of eternal life.
In the Catholic Church, authority rests chiefly with bishops, while priests and deacons serve as their assistants, co-workers or helpers. Accordingly, "hierarchy of the Catholic Church" is also used to refer to the bishops alone.
Yes, you can become a nun even if you are not a virgin, as the requirement is a vow of chastity, not physical virginity, meaning no sex after vows; past sexual experiences are generally acceptable if confessed and repented, and widowed women often become nuns. Religious life focuses on a future commitment to celibacy and dedication to God, with past life choices being less critical than one's present spiritual journey and ability to embrace the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.
Catholicism is the main branch of Christianity and the Catholic Church is the largest among churches. About 50% of all Christians are Catholics. According to the annual directory of the Catholic Church or Annuario Pontificio of 2024, there were 1.390 billion baptized Catholics in 2022; that was 1.406 billion in 2023.