NewsTracker Answers for week of Apr 28, 2025

Q: After the death and funeral of Pope Francis last week, 135 cardinals were preparing to meet in Vatican City to elect the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The state of Vatican City is in Rome. Where is Rome on this map of Italy?

Circle the area on this map

Q: The next pope will rule the world’s smallest sovereign state and the Holy See, the central government of the Roman Catholic Church. How many Catholics are there worldwide?

A. 14 million

B. 140 million

C. 1.4 billion

D. 14 billion

C. About 1.4 billion of the world’s 8.2 billion people are Catholics, according to the Catholic News Agency. Africa has the fastest-growing population of Catholics, now representing about 20% of the total. However, North and South America have the highest proportion of Catholics at 47.8% of the total. Francis was the first pope from the Americas.

Q: Pope Francis was buried Saturday in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, one of the Vatican’s 28 extraterritorial sites inside Italy under terms of the 1929 Lateran Treaty. Which Italian leader signed the treaty recognizing Vatican City as an independent state?

A. Prime Minister Benito Mussolini

B. Prime Minister Giovanni Lanza

C. General Raffaele Cadorna

D. King Victor Emmanuel II

A. Fascist leader Benito Mussolini signed the Lateran Treaty, ending a 59-year standoff between the Vatican and the Italian government. In 1870, Emmanuel II, Lanza, and Cadorna captured Rome from papal control to complete the unification of Italy. Mussolini scored a major propaganda coup by giving the Holy See sovereignty over a 0.17-square-mile parcel of Rome.

Q: After a period of mourning for Pope Francis, the cardinals will meet in a secret conclave in the Sistine Chapel of the Apostolic Palace. Where did Pope Francis live during his papacy?

A. Apostolic Palace

B. House of Saint Martha

C. Papal Palace of Castel Gandolfo

D. Swiss Guard Barracks

B. The Apostolic Palace is the official home of the Pope, containing the papal apartments. However, Pope Francis chose to reside in the much simpler quarters of the House of Saint Martha, a guest house for Vatican visitors. Cardinals will stay in the guest house during the conclave. The Palace of Castel Gandolfo in Italy was a summer retreat for past popes.

Q: Only cardinals younger than 80 may vote for the new pope, who must be elected by a two-thirds majority of the voting cardinals. During the secret voting, the cardinals will be locked alone inside the Sistine Chapel. How will they announce the selection of a pope?

A. Bell ringing

B. Firing a rocket

C. Releasing doves

D. Smoke signal

D. After counting their secret ballots, the cardinals will burn the paper ballots in a chapel stove. Chemicals will be added to the fire to create black smoke if they fail to pick a pope, or white smoke if the new pope has been chosen. Thousands of people will watch for the signal from a chapel smokestack.