What will a few carbon-dark grains of seed in a stone floor tell us of a place to which millions of people have paid a ...

One of the pits of the olive trees, whose grape seeds and pollen caught in centuries of rock have already begun to draw a strange picture in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre: not tomb and rock alone, ...

The custos of the Holy Land, Father Francesco Patton, lights the first candle of the Advent wreath at the site of the manger inside the Nativity Grotto on Nov. 30, 2024, during the first vespers of ...

The importance of what lies beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre is that the structure is not merely a shrine; it is also a functioning structure being pushed to its limits, obliged to continue ...

Can a handful of olive pits and grape pollen alter the imagination of a known sacred landscape? Beneath the worn stone paths ...

Although traditionally a jubilee only happens every 25 years, the Holy Door is slated to reopen for a special 2033 Jubilee when the Church will celebrate the Holy Year of the Redemption. The Edicule ...

The Roman Catholic Church has entered an agreement to sell its property at 200 West 97th Street on Manhattan’s Upper West ...

In the last two years, National Geographic Explorer Paul Salopek traversed the Chinese countryside, marched along the Korean Demilitarized Zone and fended off grizzly bears in Alaska. Now, his ...

Around the world, trail designers are quietly employing surprising techniques to engineer awe. You’ve probably felt it without even knowing why. Inside the creative science that’s transforming your ...

The Jubilee of Hope will conclude when Pope Leo closes the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica on Jan. 6. Now is an opportunity for us to begin to assess its notable successes and missed opportunities.

Decades ago, India’s tigers were on the brink of extinction. Slowly, their numbers have rebounded. But that ecological success has prompted a dire problem—and a race to save many of them from genetic ...

In all the papal basilicas, the official document of closing the Holy Door has been deposited along with the key to the door and several pontifical medals from the last sealing. The pope closed the ...