RELIGION

For centuries, men assuming the top job in the Roman Catholic Church kept their birth names. That changed with Pope John II.

When Catholic cardinals meet to pick a new pope in a papal conclave, they have signaled their progress by sending colored smoke up the chapel chimney.

Whether you're Catholic or not, it's hard to argue with the claim that St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome is an amazing feat of architecture and art.

Easter always happens sometime in March or April—but the date is never the same each year.

You might be used to people wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day, but some sport orange instead. Here’s why.

More than a century ago, Christian health gurus invented cereal to promote a healthy lifestyle free of sin. Little did they know, their creation would eventually be used to promote everything from radio and cartoons to Mr. T and tooth decay.

In 1864, the Jewish poet Ludwig August Frankl named blue and white “the colors of Judah” in a poem not so surprisingly called “Judah’s Colours.”

The tradition of eating ham on Christmas dates back to Nordic animal sacrifices.

For millennia, people have celebrated the longest night of the year with these Yule traditions.

The long wait for the Notre-Dame Cathedral to reopen will be over in December.

Discover the most valuable Hummels that might have been lurking in your grandmother’s curio cabinet for years, including finds from the brand’s special limited-run Disney collection and others.

Christmas has been canceled a fair number of times throughout history.