The giveaway is the heavy gold ring each wears – placed on their finger by whichever pope made them a cardinal. Now, those lunching cardinals are becoming more gossipy, more conspiratorial in tone.

To kiss the ring on the pope’s hand or not to - that ... of an article that included a long history of the rings pope’s wear and their significance. Rorate Caeli, a website read by Catholic ...

I can’t stop watching Pope Francis try to keep people from kissing his ring The Popemobile protects the papal leader in crowds. Keeping his ring safe from kisses is another challenge.