On the night of his election on March 13, 2013, Pope Francis told the assembled faithful from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica that “tomorrow I wish to go and pray to the Madonna.” And so he did, ...

The decision by Pope Francis to break with tradition and be buried at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome rather than the Vatican is shining a spotlight on the 5th-century basilica dedicated ...