VATICAN CITY — The world economy needs “new rules” to overcome the current financial crisis and to ensure that “all can lead a dignified life,” Pope Benedict XVI told Vatican diplomats on Monday (Jan. 9). Benedict’s New Year’s address to diplomats accredited to the Holy See traditionally presents the Vatican’s views on global affairs. The Holy See has diplomatic relations with 179 countries, and is a permanent observer at the United Nations. Read full article > >

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Pope tells diplomats that economy needs ‘new rules’

Pope Benedict appoints a married priest to head the first structure in the US for Anglicans converting to Roman Catholicism.

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Pope names US head of conversions

Pope Benedict XVI attacks the commercialisation of Christmas as he holds the traditional Christmas Eve Mass at St Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

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Pope berates Christmas ‘glitter’

Pope Benedict XVI will visit Cuba in 2012, only the second visit by a pontiff to the Communist-run island, Vatican officials say.

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Pope set to visit Cuba next year

Frankenstein stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller jointly scoop the prize for best actor at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards.

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Double win for Frankenstein stars

Pope Benedict wraps up his three-day tour of Africa with an open-air Mass for tens of thousands of people in Cotonou – the heartland of the Voodoo religion.

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Pope’s Mass wraps up Africa visit

The Vatican threatens legal action over the publication of an ad showing Pope Benedict kissing a leading imam on the mouth as part of a Benetton advertising campaign.

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Vatican legal action over kiss ad

The Vatican threatens legal action over the publication of an ad showing Pope Benedict kissing a leading imam on the mouth as part of a Benetton advertising campaign.

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Vatican legal action over kiss ad

Frankenstein actors Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller compete against each other for best actor at this year’s Evening Standard Theatre Awards.

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Frankenstein actors vie for award

German police said on Saturday that they had arrested a man suspected of shooting a security guard shortly before Pope Benedict XVI was about to celebrate Mass.

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Man Arrested Shooting Episode in City Where Pope Holds Mass

Pope Benedict has met German victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and expressed “deep compassion and regret” at their suffering.

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Pope meets German abuse victims

MADRID — A freak thunderstorm on Saturday forced Pope Benedict XVI to cut short his speech to an estimated million young pilgrims gathered for the church’s world youth festival, giving the outdoor prayer vigil at a Madrid airfield a dramatic climax. During the day, firefighters atop fire trucks had sprayed the crowds with water from hoses, and pilgrims sought shade from umbrellas, trees, tarps and tents in a bid to stave off the near 40-degree Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) heat. As night fell, a flash downpour drenched the crowd: with lightening lighting up the night sky, the 84-year-old Benedict was forced to skip the bulk of his speech and merely deliver brief greetings in a half-dozen languages. Read full article > >

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Freak thunderstorm forces pope to cut speech at youth festival prayer vigil after day of heat

As Madrid prepares for Pope Benedict XVI’s visit, 120 priests signed a petition lamenting the cost and what they see as an inappropriate mixing of church and state.

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Madrid Journal: Catholic Clergy Protest Pope’s Visit, and Its Price Tag

Pope Benedict XVI has celebrated Mass, focusing on family values, before tens of thousands of people in the Croatian capital, Zagreb.

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VIDEO: Thousands attend Pope’s Croatian Mass

Pope Benedict XVI celebrates Mass with tens of thousands in Croatia before praying at the tomb of a controversial wartime cardinal.

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Pope celebrates Mass in Croatia