Pope Benedict XVI and the Roman Catholic Church. news, opinions, stories and discussion about how Pope Benedict is leading the Roman Catholic Church and the political and social implications of his style, direction, and policies. How...
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Pope Benedict XVI and the Roman Catholic Church. news, opinions, stories and discussion about how Pope Benedict is leading the Roman Catholic Church and the political and social implications of his style, direction, and policies. How will Pope Benedict direct the church in world politics?
Pope Benedict XVI made a one-day pilgrimage Sunday to northern Italy to pay tribute to Paul VI, his predecessor who made him a cardinal. Thousands held umbrellas or pulled jackets tightly about them as a chilly rain fell during Benedict's Mass in Paul VI Square outside the cathedral in Brescia, 90 kilometers (55 miles) east of Milan. A canopy sheltered Benedict from the downpour as he hailed Paul VI's achievements as a reforming pope. In 1977, a year before Pope Paul VI died, he elevated... Read Full Story
This week the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences is holding its first major conference on astrobiology, convened on private Vatican grounds in the elegant Casina Pio IV, formerly the pope's villa. The gathering of prominent scientists and religious leaders from around the world suggests that some of the most tradition-bound faiths are seriously contemplating the possibility that life exists in many forms beyond Earth. The five-day conference is chaired by the religious leader of the... Read Full Story
An ultraconservative British bishop was fined $16,822 (euro12,000) in Germany for denying the Holocaust in an interview with Swedish television, his lawyer said Tuesday. A court in the Bavarian city of Regensburg issued the fine against Richard Williamson for incitement in connection with his Holocaust denial, Williamson's lawyer Matthias Lossmann said. "We received the order of punishment on Monday and my client has time until Nov. 9 to react to it," Lossmann said. He gave no indication how... Read Full Story
Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday urged a "greater opening" by Iran to the international community as he met Tehran's new ambassador to the Vatican. "Iran is a great nation... and its people have a deep religious sensibility," the pope said as he accepted Ali Akbar Naseri's credentials. "That may be a reason to hope for a greater opening and confident collaboration with the international community," he said as a long-running stand-off over Iran's nuclear programme appeared inching towards a... Read Full Story
The Vatican began talks Monday to bring a group of breakaway traditionalist Catholics back under its wing, nine months after the pope created an uproar by rehabilitating one of their bishops despite his denial of the Holocaust. A delegation from the Society of St. Pius X traveled to the Vatican for a first round of meetings aimed at overcoming the deep theological differences that prompted the group to split from Rome following the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council. No... Read Full Story
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court has fined traditionalist bishop Richard Williamson12,000 euros ($17,860) for incitement because he publicly denied the Holocaust, a spokesman for a Nuremberg court said Tuesday. The Bavarian court had Monday approved a request from state prosecutors in Regensburg for the fine but British-born Williamson has two weeks to contest the ruling. "If he decides not to accept it, there will be a hearing," said the court spokesman, adding there was as yet no... Read Full Story
The Vatican begins talks Monday to bring a group of breakaway traditionalist Catholics back under its wing, nine months after the pope created an uproar by rehabilitating one of their bishops despite his denial of the Holocaust. A delegation from the Society of St. Pius X travels to the Vatican for a first round of meetings aimed at overcoming the deep theological differences that prompted the group to split from Rome following the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council. No... Read Full Story
The longtime chief bodyguard of the late Pope John Paul II, who accompanied him in trips abroad and was nearby during the 1981 attempted assassination of the pontiff, has died in Rome at 83. Camillo Cibin was one of the most faithful papal servants. In 2006, he retired as head of the papal bodyguards after a 58-year globe-trotting career in the Vatican's security services. Cibin died Sunday morning at the Pius XI clinic in Rome, Vatican Radio said. It did not give a cause of death. Cibin was... Read Full Story
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican Thursday announced the imminent start of talks with a traditionalist splinter group that includes a bishop prosecutors in Germany want fined for denying the Holocaust. The talks with the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), whose four bishops were readmitted into the Roman Catholic Church in January after two decades of excommunication, aim to rehabilitate fully these staunch critics of modernizing reforms undertaken since the 1962-1965 Second Vatican Council... Read Full Story
Foul-mouthed comedian Sarah Silverman has a new proposal for ending world hunger: Sell the Vatican. In a new profanity-laced monologue making the rounds on YouTube in time for U.N. World Food Day on Friday, Silverman suggests that it's time for the pope to "move out of your house that is a city" and use the proceeds to feed the world's poor. "On an ego level alone you will be the biggest hero in the history of ever!" she said. "Sell the Vatican. Feed the world." The Vatican clearly has no... Read Full Story
