The death of Pope Francis sets into motion a series of rituals, some of which go back more than 2,000 years, including how to choose the new pope. Here's what happens next.

In antiquity and now, inconsistency and illogicality lie at the heart of the human effort to imagine what happens when we’re dead ...

"The implications of our multidisciplinary study are huge," said study lead author and anthropologist professor Tim Thompson.

In keeping with ancient custom, each day of the Novendiales includes a requiem Mass following the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani ...

Peruvian nun Alba Socola waited in line for almost five hours with thousands of other Catholics on Wednesday to enter St.

The Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus (lived circa 330 to 395) claimed in his book "Res Gestae" (Latin for "things done" ...

“Over the 4 day course of the viewing and funeral ceremony, the Pope’s chest ‘exploded’ due to build-up of gas in the chest cavity, then the nose and fingers fell off and the body turned a greenish ...