Pope Benedict XVI

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Sudan's Leader Meets Pope, Vows to Honor Ceasefire

In controversial Italy visit, Bashir pledges quiet during October peace talks

(Newser) - Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, in a rare and controversial visit to Italy, promised today to observe a ceasefire in Darfur during October peace talks. Pope Benedict used a meeting with Bashir to stress the importance of human rights, while Italy’s PM voiced “strong concerns” over the four-year genocidal...

Pope Blasts Wasted Weekends
Pope Blasts Wasted Weekends
Sep 10, 2007 8:25 AM CDT

Pope Blasts Wasted Weekends

Sundays are time to reflect on dangers posed by humanity, he says

(Newser) - Pope Benedict has urged Catholics to  keep Sunday special amid the  "mad rush" of the modern world. He encouraged people to set the day aside for reflection on faith and the dangers humans pose to the world, including destruction of "God's creation," an apparent reference to environmental...

Thousands Mourn Pavarotti
Thousands Mourn Pavarotti
Sep 8, 2007 9:24 AM CDT

Thousands Mourn Pavarotti

(Newser) - Modena's main piazza was filled with throngs of Luciano Pavarotti fans today as invited mourners gathered at the cathedral for the tenor's funeral. The service, which was shown on huge screens in the piazza and broadcast live, was attended by an ecclectic group of dignitaries and artists with whom the...

Pope Honors Holocaust Victims
Pope Honors Holocaust Victims
Sep 7, 2007 5:05 PM CDT

Pope Honors Holocaust Victims

Pontiff expresses "sadness, repentance, and friendship" at lives lost to Nazis

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute today to the 65,000 Austrian victims of the Holocaust at the start of his three-day visit to Austria, BBC reports. Alongside Jewish leaders, the pontiff expressed “sadness, repentance, and friendship” at a monument honoring those killed by the Nazis. Benedict tomorrow leads a...

Heaven Can Wait, and So Must Research

Scholars chafe at temporary closing of Vatican Library

(Newser) - Despite rumblings from anxious researchers, the Vatican Library has closed its doors for at least 3 years to undergo renovations after an inspection this year revealed that the structure couldn’t support the weight of its books. Reading rooms were unusually full last week, the BBC reports, as researchers got...

Mass Embarrassment: Priests Need Latin Lessons

Pope restores old rite, but clerics don't know the words

(Newser) - Traditionalist Catholics have lauded Pope Benedict's recent call for more Masses in Latin, but priests are biting their nails—few of them know enough of the language to say a Latin Mass. Even Italian priests face embarrassment in the wake of Pope Benedict 's decision to allow Latin services at...

Pope Pounds Protestants
Pope Pounds Protestants
Jul 11, 2007 5:32 AM CDT

Pope Pounds Protestants

(Newser) - In a remarkable nod to the 16th century, Pope Benedict XVI’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which he once led, said of Protestant denominations, 'it is nevertheless difficult to see how the title of 'Church' could possibly be attributed to them." The document restates Benedict's position...

Pope Gives Go-Ahead to Latin Mass
Pope Gives Go-Ahead to Latin Mass
Jul 7, 2007 5:53 PM CDT

Pope Gives Go-Ahead to Latin Mass

After 4 decades out of favor, rite faces opposition, controversy

(Newser) - Four decades after sweeping reforms intended to make the Catholic Church more accessible, Pope Benedict backed off the best-known change today, lifting restrictions on the Tridentine rite, better known as the Latin Mass. The move is already controversial, Time reports, because it's perceived as a sop to traditionalists—and because...

Man Tries to Hitch a Ride on Popemobile

German vaults barrier in St. Peter's Square, approaches pontiff's car

(Newser) - A German man made a leap of faith in St. Peter's Square in Rome today, apparently attempting to board Pope Benedict's Jeep. A Vatican spokesman said the 27-year-old was trying to "draw attention to himself" when he dove over a barricade toward the slow-moving Popemobile; the man was immediately...

Brazil to Subsidize Birth Control
Brazil to Subsidize Birth Control
May 29, 2007 7:50 AM CDT

Brazil to Subsidize Birth Control

Cheaper pills give poor women same right to family planning, says president

(Newser) - Just weeks after Pope Benedict XVI decried contraception as a threat to the future of Latin America on his visit to Brazil, Brazil's president announced that the government would subsidize birth control pills at private pharmacies so poor women can have "the same right that the wealthy have to...

Pope Backtracks on Muslims
Pope Backtracks on Muslims
May 29, 2007 5:31 AM CDT

Pope Backtracks on Muslims

Benedict rebuilds demoted department the leads dialog with Islamic world

(Newser) - The Pope applied some salve to wounded relations with the Muslim world yesterday after neglecting and then appearing to slander Islam in a speech last fall. In a surprising reversal, Benedict XVI announced he is restoring the Vatican department responsible for Muslim affairs, which he demoted in importance last year.

House Dems Slam Pope's Threat
House Dems Slam Pope's Threat
May 15, 2007 8:08 AM CDT

House Dems Slam Pope's Threat

(Newser) - A group of House Democrats bridled at Pope Benedict's recent suggestion that politicians who support abortion rights should be excommunicated, The Hill reports. Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut led 18 legislators in condemning the Pope's comment, which "offends the very nature of the American experiment," according to their...

Pope: Marxism, Capitalism Hold Latin America Back

Also, contraception and secularism

(Newser) - Pope Benedict XVI blamed both capitalism and Marxism for Latin America's problems in a speech yesterday in Brazil, the world's most Catholic nation. Benedict blamed Marxism for "a painful destruction of the human spirit," but also worried that capitalism gives rise to "degradation of personal dignity through...

Brazilians Gather To Hail New Saint
Brazilians Gather To Hail New Saint
May 11, 2007 7:39 AM CDT

Brazilians Gather To Hail New Saint

Pope Benedict visits Sao Paulo to canonize one of their own

(Newser) - Up to a million spectators will flock to Sao Paulo today to see Pope Benedict XVI canonize the first saint born in Brazil. Friar Galvao, a Franciscan monk who died in 1822, wrote Latin prayers on slips of rice paper that he rolled into "pills," which appeared to...

In Brazil, Pope Talks Tough On Abortion

Benedict makes first visit to world's largest Catholic population

(Newser) - Pope Benedict brought the Catholic Church's stern anti-abortion message to Brazil today, weeks after Mexico City legalized the practice and as Brazil faintly contemplates doing the same. The Pope is on his first trip to Latin America—the fastest-expanding corner of his flock, but also one of the most precarious—...

King Cozies Up to Pope
King Cozies
Up to Pope
Mar 22, 2007 11:20 AM CDT

King Cozies Up to Pope

Don King gets ringside seat, offers Benedict XVI a boxing belt

(Newser) - A tonsorially tamed Don King took the stage Wednesday in front of an atypical audience–the Pope. The legendary boxing promoter, who spent four years in jail for manslaughter, was denied a personal audience with his Holiness, but did manage to hand the pontiff a handwritten set of prayer requests–...

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