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When Fr Roger Schutz, founder of the ecumenical monastic community at Taizé, in south-east France, attended the April 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul II, he received Communion from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. This raised a few eyebrows at the time -- Shutz was a Protestant pastor -- and gave rise to speculation that "Brother Roger", as he was always known, had secretly converted to Catholicism. This idea was supported by what subsequently came to light: that Schutz had repeatedly received Eucharistic communion from John Paul II and received the Eucharist every morning at the Catholic Mass in Taizé. The question...

One of the Catholic Church’s most senior theologians, and former mentor to Pope Benedict XVI, has launched a stinging attack on the Vatican. Father Hans Küng, 80, a Swiss priest and professor at Tübingen university said it was a “tragedy� for the Catholic Church that Rome had failed to follow the path of liberalisation set out by the Vatican II council in 1965. In his autobiography, My Fight for Freedom, Fr Küng said he was responsible for Benedict XVI’s appointment as a professor at Tübingen 1966 when he was dean of the Catholic theology faculty. Unusually, Father Küng put...

I’m not sure if the timing has anything to do with Pope Benedict’s U.S. trip, but the schismatic traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X chose this weekend to announce its disappointment in the pontiff and its decision not to seek closer ties to Rome now. SSPX leader Bishop Bernard Fellay wrote in a “Letter to Friends and Benefactors� (here in French) that Benedict had not budged in his support for the Second Vatican Council despite his decision last year to allow wider use of the old Tridentine rite Mass in Latin. “The time for an agreement has not yet come,�...

Now that Benedict has come and gone we are in the thick of media analysis of the meaning of it all. Many folk (Rod Dreher is a notable example) were (as I expected) disappointed because the pope didn't "do something" about bishops who have, to say the least, not particularly distinguished themselves in the Scandal. Dreher wanted a "read them the riot act" moment. Others scattered around the secular and mainstream media talked about Benedict "firing" them and so forth. The pope, as you might expect, addressed the bishops and (as you also might expect given his high degree of...

Walking around earlier tonight, the early editions of the New York Post had hit the streets. Lest there was anyone who didn't already see The Visit as a stunning success, the photo of an open-armed, beaming Benedict XVI on the steps of St Patrick's probably changed quite a few minds... a transition seemingly sealed by the blaring headline leading the paper's coverage: A moment of hope, challenge, a steadfast call to unity and relaunching of the American Catholic project -- and, so it's seemed, a transformative journey for the Man in White -- the Pope's weeklong US tour wraps today...

Pope Benedict XVI chided Americans for a moral breakdown he said had fueled the church's child sex abuse scandal, ahead of an open-air mass before tens of thousands here Thursday. Gates opened at Washington's new sports stadium before dawn so that an expected 48,000 people could trickle through stringent security measures to attend the mass at 10:00 am (1400 GMT). Benedict received a rapturous White House welcome Wednesday and met privately with President George W. Bush in the Oval Office, before addressing the pedophile priest scandal that has rocked the US church in a speech to US Catholic bishops. Thousands...

WASHINGTON -- Pope Benedict XVI, in a dramatic move likely to alter forever the image of his pontificate, met this afternoon with five victims of clergy sexual abuse from Boston. The private meeting, which was first reported by the Globe this afternoon and has since been confirmed by the Vatican, was brokered by Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston.

Washington DC, Apr 17, 2008 / 07:36 pm (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI has now raised the topic of the sex abuse scandal three times in the last two days, and on Thursday afternoon, he held a private meetings with a group of sex abuse victims. The director of the Vatican’s Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, told the Associated Press that Pope Benedict and Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, “met with a group of five or six victims for about 25 minutes in the chapel of the papal embassy, offering them encouragement and hope.” According to Lombardi, the Holy Father told the...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Three victims of the sexual abuse scandal that rocked the RC Church described an emotional, frank and ultimately hope-filled meeting with Pope Benedict on Thursday. They were part of a small group of people abused by clergy who were asked to share their stories with the pope in a Washington chapel. "They prayed with the Holy Father, who afterwards listened to their personal accounts and offered them words of encouragement and hope," said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a papal spokesman. The exchanges were frank and unscripted, according to some of the victims. "I told him that he...

Raymond Arroyo, commenting on the odd choices for some of the music in the liturgy at Nationals Stadium, after listening to an absolutely awful conga version of an offertory hymn (including bongos and a kettle drum) just said that "the music in this liturgy, is out of character for papal masses of late. The music has a sort of amazon flavor to it!" Funny and sad. Update: That mass, musically speaking, was one of the oddest things I have ever seen. It was so multicultural that it ceased to have any culture whatsoever! There were so many different bad songs...

Vatican No. 2 says pope will seek healing from US clergy sex abuse scandal AP POSTED: April 9, 2008     VATICAN CITY (AP) _ Pope Benedict XVI recognizes the damage and pain caused by the clergy sex abuse crisis and will seek to heal wounds during his U.S. trip next week, the Vatican's No. 2 official said Tuesday. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, in an interview with The Associated Press, said Benedict will deliver a message of "trust and hope" when he meets American clergy at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. Benedict "will try to open the path of healing...

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- Contrary to what many may think, young people are strongly attracted to Jesus Christ and the Gospel, Pope Benedict XVI told thousands of Spanish youths. The pope urged some 5,000 pilgrims from Youth Mission of Madrid to continue to help their peers discover they are all loved by God and that his is "the only love that never fails and never ends." The pope spoke to the young people packed inside the courtyard of his papal summer residence, south of Rome, Aug. 9. He also greeted thousands of young people who could not fit inside...

Pope Has "Frank" Conversation with Tony Blair Vatican, Jun. 25, 2007 (CWNews.com) - During a June 23 audience with outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Pope Benedict XVI some candid criticism of the British leader's term in office. After the Pope's meeting with Blair-- who was accompanied to the Vatican by his wife Cherie and by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster-- the Vatican press office indicated that the conversation had included a "frank discussion of the international situation, including certain particularly delicate questions such as the conflict in the Middle East and the future of the European Union in the...

Rome, Apr. 30, 2007 (CWNews.com) - More than 1 million copies of the new book by Pope Benedict XVI, Jesus of Nazareth, have been sold in just 2 weeks. The Italian edition of Jesus of Nazareth has sold 510,000 copies, while the German edition has sold 480,000, and the Polish edition 100,000, the latest figures show. The book went on sale on April 16, the Pope's 80th birthday. The English-language version of the book, to be published by Doubleday, is due to appear on May 15.

[...] Nineteen months after being selected pope, Benedict is transforming the Vatican with a different style and a different stance. Beneath his blunt words and rigid style lies a profound divergence from John Paul's buoyant optimism. Pope Benedict believes that the Roman Catholic Church must stand apart from the world of today rather than embrace it. ohn Paul II was the master of the grand overture -- from praying at the Western Wall in Jerusalem to kissing a copy of the Quran -- which dissolved tensions with even his harshest foes. For Benedict, the modern age is defined by growing...

Barroso disappointed at lack of EU support for Pope BERLIN (Reuters) - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso was quoted as saying on Saturday that more European leaders should have spoken out in support of the Pope after he made controversial comments on Islam. "I was disappointed there were not more European leaders who said 'naturally the Pope has the right to express his views'," Barroso was quoted as saying to the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. "The problem is not the statements of the Pope but the reaction of the extremists," the paper quoted him as saying in a preview...

Pope praises murdered Italian nun for pardoning her killers 24/09/2006 - 12:39:17 Pope Benedict XVI today praised an Italian nun for pardoning her killers as she lay dying from an attack in Somalia that may have been linked to worldwide Muslim anger over his recent remarks about Islam and violence. Benedict spoke to pilgrims at his Castel Gandolfo summer palace where, on Monday, he will meet with ambassadors from predominantly Muslim countries in an effort to defuse tensions arising from a speech he gave on September 12 while on a pilgrimage in Germany. Rosa Sgorbati, an Italian missionary who worked...

Benedict XVI's defenders in the last two weeks have mostly insisted that he respects and favours dialogue with Islam and that he opposes attempts to advance any and all religions by violence -- or they have said he was quite right to criticize Islam. Few have made clear that in Regensburg on Sept. 12 the Pope was chiefly making a measured criticism of the modern West; Islam was incidental to the speech. Comically under the noisy circumstances, the English translation bears the arcane-sounding but appropriate title "Three Stages in the Program of De-Hellenization." In other words, one of our problems...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict and Prime Minister Tony Blair discussed on Saturday the importance of discussion between faiths to tackle terrorism. Blair and Benedict, holding talks for the first time, spoke privately in the Pontiff's study for about 40 minutes, a Downing Street spokesman said. "The prime minister and the Pope talked about the challenges of globalisation and the importance of dialogue between the faiths to battle extremism and terrorism," he said. "One of the themes of discussion was how the moderate voices in all the world's major religions need to stand up to religious extremism in all...

"A Warning and a Word of Hope" ROME, MAY 29, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Jewish representatives called Benedict XVI's visit to Auschwitz a warning to humanity to help ensure that such a horror will not be repeated. Giuseppe Laras, president of Italy's rabbis, stated on Vatican Radio that "this visit is a warning to humanity and a word of hope and consolation for all those who suffered." "I have read in Benedict XVI's words the suffering for what occurred, for the responsibilities of Nazism, and in a certain part, also of the German people," said Laras. At the site of the concentration...

Pope's Auschwitz speech seen as moving but incomplete Mon May 29, 2006 9:36am ET WARSAW (Reuters) - Pope Benedict's speech in Auschwitz was the most introspective and moving address of his papacy, but some who heard it still thought he did not go far enough. Ending a four-day pilgrimage to Poland on Sunday, the 79-year-old Pontiff reflected on how hard it was for a German to visit the former Nazi death camp and how challenging the evil committed there was for anyone who believed in a loving God. His bold decision to ask at the infamous death camp the question...

Poles say Benedict passes Polish language test KRAKOW, Poland (Reuters) - German Pope Benedict may have dropped a consonant or two during his speeches delivered in Polish over his four-day trip but his efforts to speak the difficult Slavic tongue won over Polish hearts. "He passed his Polish language exam," said Tadeusz Dymek, 63, one of nearly a million people at his open-air mass on Sunday. "It was clear that he struggled with our consonants but we understood him and I believe he understood us. "After this pilgrimage I can say that this Pope is now my Pope," he added....

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Benedict XVI Addresses Huge Gathering in Krakow KRAKOW, Poland, MAY 28, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI exhorted close to 1 million young people not to be afraid "to lean on Christ," as he is the rock on which they can fulfill their dreams. The meeting took place Saturday at Blonie Park where Pope John Paul II drew massive crowds of Poles when he returned as Pope to the city where he had been archbishop. "The fear of failure can at times frustrate even the most beautiful dreams," Benedict XVI said. "It can paralyze the will, making one incapable of believing that...

"You Are Eloquent Witnesses of God's Mercy" KRAKOW, Poland, MAY 28, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI visited the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Lagiewniki on Saturday, after his visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Kalwaria. At Lagiewniki the Pope prayed at the tomb of St. Faustina Kowalska, where Karol Wojtyla often went as a laborer and later as an underground seminarian. Benedict XVI then went to the basilica, where 800 sick people awaited him. Here is a Vatican translation of his address to them. * * * Dear Brothers and Sisters, I am very pleased to be able to...

WARSAW, Poland, MAY 26, 2006 (ZENIT.org).- Here is a Vatican translation of the address Benedict XVI delivered today around 9 p.m. from the window of the archbishop's residence in Krakow, where he is staying. * * * Dear Brothers and Sisters, Following the practice which arose during Pope John Paul II's visits to Krakow, you have gathered in front of the archbishop's residence to greet the Pope. Thank you for being here and for your warm welcome. I know that on the second of every month, at the hour of my beloved predecessor's death, you come together here to commemorate...

Benedict XVI finds the key to the hearts of Poles 27.05.2006 Pope Benedict XVI is now on his third day of his trip to Poland. Today the pope visited Wadowice, the home town of John Paul II where he prayed in the local basilica, visited his predecessor home and prayed with thousands of people gathered in the main city square. In his speech the pope stated that he wanted to thank God for the pontificate of John Paul II. His holiness continued his voyage to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska where he paid a short visit to Sanctuary of Virgin Mary of Kalwaria....

About 270,000 people on Friday attended a Mass by Pope Benedict XVI in the same Warsaw square where his predecessor had inspired Poland's Solidarity movement against communist rule a quarter-century before.The faithful filled the rain-drenched Pilsudski Square, standing resolutely in ponchos and under umbrellas. Church bells pealed as the pope was driven to the square through streets lined with cheering, waving people. An aide held an umbrella as Benedict ascended a high Mass platform topped by a 82-foot metal cross.In his sermon, Benedict challenged moral relativism, or the view that there are no absolute values.In remarks read in Polish by...

The Vatican pleased with the reception granted to Benedict XVI 26.05.2006 The Vatican spokesman said he is deeply moved by the reception granted the Pope by Poles. Joaquin Navarro Valls said he did not expect such welcome to the successor of Pope John Paul II , but the welcoming crowds and the response to the mass held in Warsaw proved Poles’ devotion to the head of the Holy See. Joaquin Navarro Valls underlined that the visit is very important for Pope Bendict XVI , and added that it was his wish to come to Poland ever since being elected Pope.

Pope Encourages Prayers for Beatification Friday May 26, 2006 9:16 PM By VICTOR L. SIMPSON Associated Press Writer KRAKOW, Poland (AP) - Pope Benedict XVI encouraged prayers Friday for the beatification of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II - an eagerly awaited remark during his visit to Poland on a cause close to the hearts of many Poles. Benedict has referred to the Polish-born John Paul as a great pope, ``my beloved predecessor'' and quoted from him extensively, but Poles were awaiting word on the beatification. Some even hoped that Benedict would announce it during his four-day visit. The pope...

The Pontiff visits places connected with his predecessor 26.05.2006 Pope Benedict XVI begins a visit to places very closely connected with his predecessor. From Warsaw the Pontiff visits the Jasna Gora Monastery in Czestochowa with the Shrine of the Black Madonna so beloved by Pope John Paul II. The Pope has prayed in front of the picture and presented the monastery with a gold rose, a gift made for the Black Madonna Shrine by Pope Paul VI , who not allowed to visit the Monastery in 1966, by the then communist authorities of Poland. Pope Benedict XVI has held a...

Pope pays tribute to Warsaw ghetto uprising Benedict XVI pays tribute Thursday to heroes of 1943 ghetto uprising at Warsaw commemoration site; some attendees disappointed Pope's car 'just passed by monument without slowing' During a detour from his route taking him from Warsaw’s Okecie airport to St. John’s Cathedral in the center of the Polish capital, Benedict’s popemobile drove past the imposing monument to the heroes of the uprising, in a residential quarter built on the site of the former ghetto. As he passed, shortly after arriving in Warsaw, the German-born pope made a sign of blessing. A crowd of...

Pope Benedict celebrates Mass for 270,000 in rain-soaked Warsaw square WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Pope Benedict celebrated Mass for an estimated 270,000 people Friday in a rain-soaked Warsaw square where his predecessor, John Paul II, inspired Poland's Solidarity movement against communist rule during his historic 1979 visit. In his sermon, Benedict challenged moral relativism, or the view that there are no absolute values, and defended the church's unchanging traditional beliefs. In remarks read in Polish by an aide, Benedict warned the faithful against those "seeking to falsify the Word of Christ and to remove from the Gospel those truths which...

Apostolic Journey Begins Thursday VATICAN CITY, MAY 24, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is a program of Benedict XVI's forthcoming trip to Poland. The Holy See published the itinerary. * * * ITALY, Thursday, May 25 Fiumicino airport (Rome) 8:40 a.m. Departure by plane from Fiumicino Airport (Rome) to Warsaw (Poland) * * * POLAND Warsaw 11 a.m. Arrival at the International Airport of Okecie (Warsaw). Welcome ceremony. Address by the Holy Father 11:45 a.m. Transfer by car from the International Airport of Okecie (Warsaw) to the Cathedral of St. John in Warsaw 12:30 p.m. Meeting with the clergy in the Cathedral...

Poland to welcome Benedict XVI with joyous song, strong faith WARSAW (AFP) Poland put the finishing touches on preparations for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI, as people in the overwhelmingly Catholic country focussed on their spiritual readiness to welcome the head of the world's Catholics. "We no longer need to worry about logistics. Now we need to get ready for what will be of utmost importance during his pilgrimage: we must be strong in the faith," Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz said Wednesday after meeting with Cardinal Jozef Glemp, the primate of Poland, on the eve of the papal visit....

Benedict to Honor John Paul II in Poland Pope Benedict XVI to Visit Polish Homeland of His Predecessor, John Paul II, in 4-Day Trip By VICTOR L. SIMPSON VATICAN CITY May 24, 2006 (AP)— Pope Benedict XVI will be a man on a mission when he begins a visit to the Polish homeland of his predecessor Thursday, paying tribute to a pontiff so loved by his countrymen while pressing to keep the goals of his long papacy alive. With stops at Pope John Paul II's birthplace and his Krakow Archdiocese where millions always turned out to greet Poland's favorite son,...

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday that low birth rates in Canada are the result of the "pervasive effects of secularism" and asked the country's bishops to counter the trend by preaching the truth of Christ. Benedict, who has spoken out several times in favor of large families, blamed Canada's low birth rate on social ills and moral ambiguities that result from secular ideology. "Like many countries ... Canada is today suffering from the pervasive effects of secularism," Benedict told visiting bishops from Canada. "One of the more dramatic symptoms of this mentality, clearly evident in your own...

Pope to tell Poles to defend hard-won heritage Mon May 22, 2006 4:34am ET VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Capping a year of tributes to his predecessor, Pope Benedict goes to Poland this week to urge John Paul's countrymen to defend their Christian heritage as they integrate into an increasingly secularized Europe. The 79-year-old German Pope will spend four days in Poland starting on Thursday, visiting all the places that were central to the life and spiritual formation of John Paul, who died on April 2, 2005, after a reign of more than 26 years. Most of the trip takes place...

Pope to bless Catholics who saved Jews from Holocaust on visit to Poland WARSAW, Poland (AP) - Pope Benedict will bless 41 elderly Polish Catholics who risked their lives to save Jews from the Holocaust during his visit next week to Poland, officials said Friday. The German-born Benedict will give his blessing to the group on May 25 as he passes through Warsaw in his popemobile, said Marcin Przeciszewski, head of the Catholic Information Agency. All 41 have been honoured as Righteous Among the Nations by Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. The blessing is a special addition to Benedict's May...

SAME ROAD? China will be watching pope in Poland By Stacy Meichtry When Pope Benedict XVI travels to Poland next week, millions of Polish faithful will be watching his every move, measuring how intensely he pays homage to their national hero, the late Pope John Paul II. A continent away, however, Benedict will have another, smaller audience - China's communist leaders, who do not admire Benedict's faithfulness to his predecessor. John Paul is celebrated in Poland for sparking the country's historic challenge to Soviet communism, but his legacy haunts the government corridors of Beijing. By evoking John Paul's stand against...

Catholics from Moscow to go to Poland for common prayer with Benedict XVI Moscow, May 18, Interfax - A group of Russian Catholics, parishioners of the Moscow cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is going to Warsaw next week for common prayer with Pope Benedict XVI. Vicar of the cathedral Fr. Zbigniew Bartoshewski told Interfax on Thursday that 15 parishioners were planning to go. Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz will lead the pilgrims' group. The pilgrims from Moscow would attend the morning mass in Warsaw on May 26 lead by Benedict XVI and after that tour Chenstohov, Krakow...

German-born Pope Benedict’s visit to Poland will be pastoral, personal By Cindy Wooden 5/17/2006 Catholic News Service (www.catholicnews.com) VATICAN CITY – The memory of Pope John Paul II will be present throughout Pope Benedict XVI's May 25-28 trip to Poland, but the German-born pope's pastoral visit also will focus on his own background. Pope Benedict will visit Pope John Paul's birthplace and will celebrate Mass in Krakow, where his predecessor was ordained to the priesthood and served as archbishop. The new pope also will visit Marian shrines dear to the heart of his predecessor and likely will hear pleas to...

WARSAW, Poland (CNS) -- When Pope Benedict XVI arrives at the Marian shrine of Jasna Gora May 26, he will be stepping in the footsteps of his Polish predecessor and generations of Catholic pilgrims. Visitors to Jasna Gora ("Bright Mountain") are reminded of Pope John Paul II's words when he first returned to communist-ruled Poland in 1979: "So many times we came here to this holy place ... to listen to the beating of the heart of the church and of that of the motherland in the heart of the mother." Twenty-seven years later, much has changed in the surrounding...

Two days before Christmas, I was in a store in Vermont buying a last-minute gift when the owner’s twentysomething daughter walked in. “Thanks for the sweater, mom,” she said. “Kevin really liked his present, too.” “But it’s only the 23rd,” said the bewildered lady. “Mom,” sighed the kid, wearily. “How many times do I have to tell you? We always open our presents on the solstice.” A couple of weeks later, a neighbor of mine in New Hampshire got married. He’s a biker and a tattooist, and he’s deeply spiritual. So he and his bride were married in the middle...

Vatican City, Apr. 19, 2006 (CNA) - Gathered with more than 60,000 pilgrims in Saint Peters square today, Pope Benedict celebrated the one year anniversary of being elected successor of Peter, and asked the faithful to “continue to sustain me and to pray to God to allow me to be a meek and steady pastor of his Church.” The pontiff vividly recalled the day, one year ago, in which “the conclave of cardinals decided to choose my poor person to succeed the lamented and loved great pope John Paul II”, something he called “absolutely unexpected and surprising for me.” “I...

Note: automated translation from Italian to English: OFFICIAL NOTICE Of The PAPAL COUNCIL FOR the UNIT Of the CHRISTIANS APPROXIMATELY The ABOLITION Of the TITLE "PATRIARCH Of The WEST" OF The YEARBOOK PAPAL , 22.03.2006 OFFICIAL NOTICE Of The PAPAL COUNCIL FOR the UNIT Of the CHRISTIANS APPROXIMATELY The ABOLITION Of the TITLE "PATRIARCH Of The WEST" OF The PAPAL YEARBOOK Of The Papal Yearbook 2006 lack, in the enumeration of the titles them of the Pope, the title it "Patriarch of the West". Such absence has been commented in various ways and it demands a clarification. Without the pretension...

The Prefecture of the Papal Household -- still headed, for now, by Milwaukee-born Archbishop James Harvey -- this morning released the annual tally of attendance figures for papal events in 2005. Due to the interregnum, to be precise, the figures accounted solely for events (general audiences, liturgical celebrations and the Angelus) presided over by Benedict XVI as Pope. John Paul II held his last on-the-ground public function on 31 January, the day before he was admitted to the Policlinico Gemelli, when he presided at a general audience in the Paul VI Hall. Any way you slice them, the '05 numbers...

Comments on Psalm 135(136):10-26 at Audience VATICAN CITY, NOV. 16, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI invited his listeners at the general audience to discover the love of God revealed in his works throughout history. Addressing 22,000 people gathered today in St. Peter's Square, the Pope developed the commentary he began last week on Psalm 135(136), a "Paschal hymn" of the Jewish people, which reviews God's action through the history of salvation. It is one of the biblical works that comprise the Liturgy of Vespers, the Church's evening prayer. "We run the danger that the memory of evil, of the evils suffered,...

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 2, 2005 (Zenit.org).- As scheduled, Benedict XVI paid an All Souls Day visit to the tomb of Pope John Paul II in the Vatican Grottoes. A day earlier, the German Pontiff told a crowd in St. Peter's Square of his desire to follow the Christian tradition of visiting cemeteries to pray for deceased loved ones. His intention was to recollect himself "in prayer in the Vatican Grottoes before the Popes' tombs, which crown the sepulcher of the Apostle Peter, and to remember in particular the beloved John Paul II." For Benedict XVI this gesture was an "opportunity...

Vatican, Aug. 31 (CWNews.com) - Vatican officials have confirmed that Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) met with the controversial Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo on August 27. Although the meeting was not intended to be publicized, friends of Fallaci leaked news of the writer's meeting with the Pontiff, and the Vatican verified the reports. Fallaci has been an outspoken critic of immigration trends in Europe, saying that the demographic trend amounts to an "Islamic invasion." She currently faces charges in Italian courts for allegedly insulting the Islamic faith. Fallaci, who suffers from cancer,...