Poles marks 30th anniversary of late Pope John Paul II’s first pilgrimage with giant cross

October 3rd, 2009 Germany marks 19th anniversary of reunificationBERLIN — Germany celebrated the anniversary of its reunification Saturday with festivals, concerts and parades across the country. In the capital, tens of thousands of people watched a massive-scale street performance featuring a pair of giant marionettes suspended by cranes marching slowly through downtown.

October 1st, 2009 Pope Benedict XVI to attend WWII concertVATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI will attend a concert marking the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II being performed by young musicians from around the globe. The Vatican says the Oct.

September 30th, 2009 Czech trip was low-key, but pope is 'very happy'PRAGUE — Pope Benedict XVI wrapped up a low-key pilgrimage to the fiercely secular Czech Republic on Monday, reaching out to nonbelievers and calling on an increasingly diverse Europe to embrace Christian teachings. Throughout the three-day visit, the crowds were contained, and so was the pope's rhetoric.

September 23rd, 2009 UK reports: Pope Benedict XVI to visit BritainLONDON — Pope Benedict XVI next year will make the first visit to Britain by a pontiff in decades, British media reported Wednesday. Journalists traveling to New York with Prime Minister Gordon Brown reported on the planned visit.

September 6th, 2009 Pope: religion should build peace, fight racismVITERBO, Italy — Pope Benedict XVI marked the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II on Sunday by saying religion should promote peace and fight racism and totalitarianism. The German-born Benedict said the memory of one of the worst conflicts in history should serve as a warning to never repeat such a "barbarity" as the Holocaust and the extermination of millions of innocents.

August 9th, 2009 Pope: Nazi concentration camps a symbol of evilCASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy —Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that Nazi concentration camps were "extreme symbols of evil" and hell on earth. The German-born pontiff, who was forced to join the Hitler Youth, was remembering two saints who had died at the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz.

July 17th, 2009 VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI was taken to a hospital in northern Italy on Friday after slipping and falling during his vacation in the Alps, a Vatican spokesman said. Benedict "slipped and got hurt" but "it doesn't seem to be serious," the Rev.

July 17th, 2009 Pope Benedict XVI fractures wrist in a fallVATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI broke his right wrist in a fall during his vacation in the Italian Alps and is being treated in a local hospital, officials and the Vatican said Friday. The pope, 82, fell in his room in a chalet overnight and despite the accident, celebrated Mass and had breakfast before going to the hospital, a Vatican statement said.

July 13th, 2009 Pope on vacation in the Italian AlpsLES COMBES, Italy — The Vatican says Pope Benedict XVI has traveled to a village in the Italian Alps for two weeks of vacation. It says the pontiff was flown to Turin on a plane Monday and then traveled on to Les Combes, in a region near the French border, by helicopter.

May 13th, 2009 Pope gunman wants to convert to ChristianityANKARA, Turkey — The gunman who shot Pope John Paul II says he would like to convert to Christianity at a baptism ceremony at the Vatican after his release from prison in January. In comments relayed by his lawyer on Wednesday, Mehmet Ali Agca also says he wants to visit the grave of Pope John Paul II, meet with Pope Benedict XVI and produce a television documentary on the Vatican.

May 13th, 2009 Pope gunman: I want to convert to ChristianityANKARA, Turkey — The man who shot Pope John Paul II says he would like to convert to Christianity at a baptism ceremony at the Vatican soon after his release from prison in January, his lawyer said Wednesday. Over the years, Mehmet Ali Agca has made frequent claims that he is the Messiah or Jesus Christ, raising questions about his mental health and leading to speculation that he had converted to Christianity.

May 9th, 2009 Pope in Israel seeks closer Jewish-Catholic bondIn a wall of the tiny museum at Rome's majestic central synagogue hangs a copy of the 1555 edict of Pope Paul IV that confined the Jews to the ghetto, branding them as killers of Christ. The display stands as an permanent reminder of the tortured two-millennia history of Jewish-Catholic relations — an estrangement that only in the past 50 years has begun to heal.

May 8th, 2009 Pope heads to Mideast on 'pilgrimage of peace'ROME — Pope Benedict XVI has set off for the Middle East on a self-proclaimed pilgrimage of peace. Benedict's plane took off from Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport at about 9:50 a.m.

May 2nd, 2009 Pope: I go to Holy Land as 'pilgrim of peace'VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday that he is going to the Holy Land next week as a pilgrim of peace in a region marked by injustice, mistrust and fear. Benedict's eight-day pilgrimage, which begins Friday, will take him to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories.

February 14th, 2009 JERUSALEM - Pope Benedict XVI will pay an official visit to Israel in May this year, outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced Sunday. 'The entire Israeli government welcomes the visit,' Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev said.