When I first saw Giotto’s fresco cycle “The Legend of St. Francis” in the upper church of the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi—a small Italian town two hours from Rome by train—I ...

From the moment it began, Pope Francis’s funeral Mass was, fittingly, as somber as any other — even if the near-400-year-old venue itself was unrivalled. But before prayers started to echo ...

When he was elected Pope, he took the name Francis. The name Francis originates from Saint Francis of Assisi. Francis of Assisi was a poor brother, Franciscan.

His views on art were deeply shaped by the saint whose name he adopted. Like St Francis of Assisi — who appears frequently in Renaissance painting, preaching to birds or receiving the stigmata ...

The pope’s namesake, St. Francis of Assisi — he who helped the poor and embraced the animals, who preached a gospel of simplicity and love — is shown enraptured in prayer, his hands clasped ...

In 1182, St. Francis was born to a wealthy family in Assisi, which rises above a fertile valley in central Italy. Praying in front of a crucifix, he is said to have heard a call to reform the church.

Pope Francis, whose time as head of the Catholic Church was noted for an everyman humility and outreach efforts to people of disparate backgrounds and faiths, has died at 88, the Vatican has ...

The principal of St. Francis of Assisi School in Springfield, Pennsylvania said classes were canceled for the rest of the week after a fire broke out at the building.

Art & Exhibitions Famed 800-Year-Old Hymn by St. Francis of Assisi Gets a Rare Outing in Rome The canticle is one of the oldest works of the Italian literary canon with a known author.

St. Francis is the patron saint of animals and the namesake for the Franciscan monastic tradition. Father Allen Zeth led the assembled crowd through a brief prayer and a reading from Genesis 2:19 ...