(RNS) When Al Smith ran for president in 1928, his status as the first Catholic to head a major party ticket was challenged on the basis that he would have to follow papal encyclicals, not the U.S.

On July 25, 1968, St. Paul VI published Humanae Vitae, an encyclical on the regulation of birth and the dangers involved in the use of artificial contraceptive methods and their imposition as state ...

Deep in Hell, in the ninth ring of the eighth circle, Dante encounters a group of souls who have gone to pieces. One is slit “from the chin right down to where men fart”; his entrails dangle between ...

Pope Francis has just released his first encyclical, Lumen Fidei, or “the light of faith.” The first encyclical of a pope is always closely watched, because it frequently signals the way in which he ...

In his much-awaited encyclical on the environment, Pope Francis said that global warming could cause “unprecedented” environmental destruction. Here are five things to know about the document.

Pope Francis' encyclical on the environment is getting a thorough reading in Wyoming, which is the country's top coal-producing state. The letter presents a moral framework for approaching issues such ...

As the world celebrates Earth Day on Wednesday, Pope Francis is planning to use one of the highest forms of papal expression — an encyclical — to promote climate action to save the planet as a moral ...

Given the media coverage since its release, and the political implications of the pope throwing his moral weight behind one side in a high-stakes debate about climate policy, one could be forgiven for ...

As a former teacher, Pope Francis knows how to deliver a stern lecture. On Thursday, he gave one for the ages. While slamming a slew of modern trends – the heedless worship of technology, our ...

Pope Francis blames climate change on apathy, political shortsightedness and a pursuit of profits. In a papal encyclical, he calls climate change one of the principal challenges facing humanity today.