Pope presents Vatican II messages for laypeople to change world

Vatican
Oct 11, 2012

In a gesture recalling how Vatican II sought to enhance the connection between the church and the world, Pope Benedict XVI handed out copies of the council's messages.

Pope seeks advice from top cardinals on credibility crisis

Vatican
Jun 25, 2012

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI asked some of his closest advisers for guidance on how to restore trust and confidence in the Catholic church's leadership amid a scandal over leaks of confidential Vatican papers.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said the pope called two extraordinary meetings June 23 to "deepen his reflections" over the leaks and their consequences.

Paolo Gabriele, the pope's personal butler, was arrested May 23 after confidential letters and documents addressed to the pope and others within the Vatican administration were allegedly found in his Vatican apartment. Many of the documents were published in Italian media over the past several months and in a recently released best-selling book by an Italian journalist.

Gabriele is being held in a cell on Vatican grounds on charges of aggravated theft. He is the only person charged so far in the scandal the Italian media has called "VatiLeaks."

Pope warns of threat to freedom of religion, conscience in US

Jan 19, 2012

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI warned visiting U.S. bishops that "radical secularism" threatens the core values of American culture, and he called on the church in America, including politicians and other laypeople, to render "public moral witness" on crucial social issues.

The pope spoke Jan. 19 to a group of U.S. bishops who were in Rome for their periodic "ad limina" visits, which included meetings with the pope and Vatican officials, covering a wide range of pastoral matters.

Vatican replaces Cardinal Law as archpriest of Rome basilica

Vatican
Nov 21, 2011

VATICAN CITY -- Cardinal Bernard F. Law, former archbishop of Boston, has been replaced as archpriest of the Rome Basilica of St. Mary Major, the Vatican announced.