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Who was St. Francis of Assisi? Here's why Pope Francis named himself after the Italian saint

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who was elected as the 266th pope on March 13, 2013, took an unprecedented step of adopting the name Francis. The Argentine-born was the first Jesuit pope and history's first ... read more

Saint Francis’s ‘Canticle of the Creatures’ at 800 endures as vision of redeemed creation

From then on, for the remainder of his life, Saint Francis lived with a vision of the natural world as redeemed in Jesus Christ. As he received that vision, “spontaneously he broke into this song of ... read more

Buried in Assisi, New Saint is ‘True Disciple’ of St. Francis, Rector Says

Soon-to-be St. Carlo Acutis is a fresh "shoot" budding from the 800-year-old spiritual "vine" of Sts. Francis and Clare in Assisi, said the rector of the shrine housing the millennial teenager's tomb. read more

Pope Francis’ example is one all of humanity benefits by following

When Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the first pope to take the name Francis, it wasn’t a symbolic flourish, it was a solemn declaration of mission. By invoking St. Francis of Assisi — a saint who ... read more

Crowds flock to newest Catholic saint in Assisi — a millennial teen whose ordinariness is the draw

ASSISI, Italy (AP) — Pilgrims have been pouring into this medieval hilltop town to venerate not only two of the Catholic Church's most celebrated saints, Francis and Clare, but its newest — Carlo ... read more

Will Pope Francis Be Made a Saint?

Three of the five popes before Francis have become saints, but merely serving as pontiff is no longer a guarantee of canonization. By Elisabetta Povoledo Reporting from Vatican City Although three of ... read more