Excavations at a central Italian city upended the belief that it served as a “backwater town” during the Roman era, finding instead it was a thriving centre till the 3rd century. The decade-long ...

Pope Francis had died at the age of 88, a senior Vatican official has announced. History's first Latin American pontiff charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated ...

Bells tolled in church towers across Rome after the announcement, which was read out by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo, from the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta, where Francis lived.