Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

History will likely view the papacies of Francis and Leo as a transitional era for a Catholic Church slowly adjusting to a world in which the church’s future lies increasingly in the Global South.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 20, 2026

There’s no satisfactory answer to that, although it’s fair to say that the papacies of Francis and Leo represent the first serious efforts to reckon with those more recent crimes.

From Salon • Apr. 5, 2026

The tension between the American nun group and Vatican officials has stretched over the tenure of three papacies, but it took a particularly public turn under the watch of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

From US News • Sep. 9, 2014

The Pope's language is unlike anything heard coming out of the Vatican during recent papacies.

From BBC • Sep. 24, 2013

Byzantine empires, Spanish Armadas, triple-crowned papacies, Russian despotisms, this is the way of them, and will be to the end of the world.

From Westward Ho!, or, the voyages and adventures of Sir Amyas Leigh, Knight, of Burrough, in the county of Devon, in the reign of her most glorious majesty Queen Elizabeth by Kingsley, Charles