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At the Angelus, Benedict XVI invites prayers for Week dedicated to Christian Unity (18-25 January). This year's theme, "What the Lord requires of us" (cf. I 6.6 to 8), was chosen and developed by an ecumenical group in India. On January 25, Vespers at St. Paul Outside the Walls, along with representatives of the Christian Churches. A prayer for peace for "an end to the massacres of unarmed civilians, to all violence, and to find the courage of dialogue and negotiation."Vatican City (AsiaNews) - "One of the most serious sins that disfigures the face of the Church is its visible...

Pope Benedict XVI has weighed in on a heated debate over gay marriage, criticising new concepts of the traditional family and warning that mankind itself was at stake. "In the fight for the family, the very notion of being – of what being human really means – is being called into question," the Pope said in Italian during an end-of-year speech. "The question of the family ... is the question of what it means to be a man, and what it is necessary to do to be true men," he said. The Pope spoke of the "falseness" of gender theories...

Pope Benedict leads Corpus Christi procession in Rome on June 7, 2012. Rome, Italy, Jun 7, 2012 / 05:35 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Benedict XVI says the Second Vatican Council did not reject Eucharistic adoration outside of Mass, including the Corpus Christi procession that he led this evening in Rome. “One unilateral interpretation of the Second Vatican Council has penalized this dimension, restricting in practice the Eucharist to the moment of celebration,” the Pope said during his homily for the Feast of Corpus Christi on June 7. “In this case, the accentuation placed on the celebration of the Eucharist acted...

Patriarch Gregorios III Laham Rumors of a papal trip to Lebanon have been confirmed by the head of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, which will welcome Pope Benedict XVI at the start of his Sept. 14-16 visit. “We came to him and now he's coming to us,” said Patriarch Gregorios III, a major participant in the 2010 synod of bishops that brought many Arab Church leaders to the Vatican. He confirmed recent talk of a papal visit during a March 15 press conference at the Melkite Catholics' headquarters in Rome. The Pope “will come to support Christians so that...

In a new book, Father Amorth, the exorcist for the diocese of Rome, gives a bizarre account of how he and two assistants brought a pair of "possessed" Italian men to one of the Pope's weekly audiences in St Peter's Square in May 2009. In his book, "The Last Exorcist – My Fight Against Satan", he claimed the mere presence of the pontiff cured the men of their demonic afflictions. Father Amorth said his two female assistants escorted the two men into St Peter's Square as the Pope was driven between crowds of faithful in the white "Popemobile" jeep. The...

Jubilee Medal of St. Benedict  The medal of St. Benedict is a very powerful sacramental with exorcizing properties; the exorcism is written right on it. First a little history: St. Benedict of Nursia, Italy (A.D. 480-543), the twin brother of St. Scholastica, is considered to be the Father of Western monasticism, and his "Rule of St. Benedict" came to be the basis of organization for many religious orders (his own Order has its cradle at Monte Cassino, Italy, about 80 miles South of Rome). At any rate, in order to understand the symbology of the Medal, you must know of...

Susan Sarandon, who won an Oscar for playing a nun, has called Pope Benedict XVI a Nazi. In response, the Catholic League has called her dumb. Actor Bob Balaban was interviewing Sarandon, 65, onstage Saturday at Long Island's Bay Street Theater when she mentioned she sent the pope a copy of Sister Helen Prejean's book "Dead Man Walking." "The last one (John Paul II), not this Nazi one we have now," she said. When Balaban raised an eyebrow at the remark, Sarandon merely repeated it. Some in the audience laughed. "Perhaps only in the Hamptons could Sarandon get a laugh...

There is one front page news story that will certainly not go unnoticed: that is, that the Pope is thinking about resigning during the Spring of 2012. Journalist Antonio Socci has confirmed the same in the Italian daily, Libero.  "For now,” Socci writes, “he is saying that this may be true (Joseph Ratzinger’s personal assumption), but I hope the story does not reach the news. But this rumor is circulating high up in the Vatican and therefore deserves close attention. The Pope has not rejected the possibility of his resignation when he turns 85 in April next year.”  Socci recalls...

In his address before the German parliament, Benedict XVI offers ways to renew politics and social life for the world. Positivism is limiting because it marginalises the ethics and culture of politics and society. Berlin (AsiaNews) – “A German pope in the German capital” is the greeting that welcomed Pope Benedict XVI in his first state visit to his native land (the third of his pontificate). The visit began this morning in Berlin and will continue until Sunday, bringing the Pontiff to Erfurt and Freiburg. However, in his addresses the German pope speaks to the entire world and what he...

Pope Benedict XVI. "The Church is sick, and it's the sickness of the Roman system," says theologian Hans Küng. SPIEGEL: Professor Küng, your former faculty colleague Joseph Ratzinger is coming to Germany this week for a state visit. Do you have an audience scheduled with him? Küng: I didn't request an audience. I am fundamentally more interested in conversations than audiences. SPIEGEL: Does Benedict XVI even talk to you anymore? Küng: After his election to be pope, he invited me to his summer residence, Castel Gandolfo, where we had a four-hour friendly conversation. At the time, I hoped it would...

Five years ago today (one day after 9/11’s fifth anniversary), a soft-spoken, 79-year-old former professor visiting his old university in Germany delivered a speech to a group of academics. In 30 minutes, it was all over. forty-eight hours later, the world exploded. To say that Benedict XVI’s Regensburg lecture was one of this century’s pivotal speeches is probably an understatement. It’s not every day a half-hour lecture generates mass protests and is subject to hundreds of learned (and not-so-learned) analyses for weeks on end. In retrospect, however, we can see Regensburg taught us many things. Leaving aside the response of...

Pope Benedict XVI has urged Catholics to read the Bible while on vacation, particularly the lesser known books of sacred scripture."This seems to be a good thing to do on the holidays: take a book of the Bible, so you have some relaxation and, at the same time, enter into the great expanse of ​​the Word of God and deepen our contact with the Eternal," said the Pope in his Wednesday General Audience address at his holiday residence of Castle Gandolfo, 15 miles south of Rome, Aug. 3. Pope Benedict noted how "each of us needs time and space...

Pope : Vatican must ensure Caritas charity groups are “completely in accord” with Magisterium by John-Henry Westen ROME, May 27, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an address to 400 participants of the General Assembly of Caritas Internationalis - the umbrella group for Catholic charity groups such as Development & Peace in Canada - this morning, Pope Benedict XVI stressed that since Caritas groups are distinctively linked with Bishops they have the responsibility of letting themselves “be guided by the Church’s Pastors.” Benedict XVI added: “The Holy See is also responsible for following its activity and exercising oversight to ensure that its...

As efforts to legalize same-sex “marriage” proceed in the United States and countries around the world, Pope Benedict issued strong remarks on Jan. 14, saying that gay “marriage” perverts the “essence and goal of the family.” Addressing officials from the city of Rome and the Italian region of Lazio, Pope Benedict said that legislation and policies that promote same-sex unions end up “penalizing” heterosexual couples, “who, not without effort, seek to maintain stable emotional ties which are juridically guaranteed and publicly recognized.” “To this end,” he stressed, “the various components of society must agree on the objectives of education, in...

 Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,I am pleased to welcome you, the distinguished representatives of so many countries, to this meeting which each year assembles you around the Successor of Peter. It is a deeply significant meeting, since it is a sign and illustration of the place of the Church and of the Holy See in the international community. I offer my greetings and cordial good wishes to each of you, and particularly to those who have come for the first time. I am grateful to you for the commitment and interest with which, in the exercise of your demanding...

Pope Benedict has called on immigrants to respect the laws and national identity of their host countries. He said that every country had the right to regulate the flow of migration and immigrants had a duty to integrate.The Pope's comments are likely to add to the Europe-wide debate about integration of foreigners.The Vatican traditionally identifies with migrants and refugees and recently criticised France for deporting 1,000 Roma (gypsies) to Romania and Bulgaria.During the summer, about 200 camps were dismantled.The policy aroused a sharp response from the EU and prompted the Pope to tell French pilgrims they should "accept legitimate human...

Video: Muslim demonstrators shouted “Pope Benedict, you will pay, Islam is on its way”, “Sharia is on its way”, “Justice is on its way” (a lot is coming our way, it seems) and threatened that Sharia would be “declared” against all who insult Muhammad. They shouted to the Pope, “Watch your back,” swore that he will “burn in hell” and claimed that he “deserves the death penalty.”

Pope Benedict XVI yesterday stopped to give a police dog an unexpected pat while thanking some of the 2,000 members of the West Midlands Police who had helped to protect him during his visit. After meeting the seminarians of England, Wales and Scotland at Oscott College, Sutton Coldfield, the Pope saw Jake, a black Springador who acts as an explosives sniffer for the police. Wading through a crowd of public servants the Pope was greeted by the dog, who appeared to enjoy the attention....

The Holy Father today received the Letters of Credence of Walter Jurgen Schmid, the new ambassador of Germany to the Holy See. The Pope began by mentioning Fr. Gerhard Hirschfelder, a martyr priest who died under the Nazi regime and who is due to be beatified in Munster on 19 September. He also referred to the beatifications of four other priests and the commemoration of an Evangelical pastor, scheduled for 2011. "Contemplating these martyrs", said Benedict XVI, "it emerges ever more clearly how certain men, on the basis of their Christian convictions, are ready to give their lives for the...

Mormon talk show host Glenn Beck has added an event called “Divine Destiny” to his Washington, DC rally schedule where “nationally-known religious figures from all faiths will unite to deliver messages reminiscent to those given during the struggles of America's earliest days.” Beck continues: I have met with the biggest leaders of faith in the country privately and I have asked them to help me put differences aside and to reach out with one another so we can remind people to get down on their knees for our brothers' shield in our danger's hour.You will fully understand on 8...