Pope calls Africa to take courage, as synod ends

October 16th, 2009 Pope calls for 'determined' action on hungerROME — The world must take "determined and effective" action against hunger after the global economic crisis pushed the ranks of the undernourished to a record 1 billion, Pope Benedict XVI said Friday. Developing countries need more investments, especially in agriculture, to ensure their populations don't go hungry, the pope said in a message to the U.N.

October 13th, 2009 Pope to visit Rome synagogue in JanuaryVATICAN CITY — The Vatican says Pope Benedict XVI will visit Rome's main synagogue in January as part of Catholic-Jewish dialogue. The announcement Tuesday gave no details of the Jan.

October 2nd, 2009 ROME - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has assured Pope Benedict XVI that his government would ensure that blasphemy laws are not used against Christians. During their meeting here, the Pope had asked Zardari to guarantee protection of minority Christians and ensure that a Gojra-like violence doesn't get repeated.

September 26th, 2009 Berlusconi, pope meet 1st time since sex scandalROME — Premier Silvio Berlusconi had his first meeting Saturday with Pope Benedict XVI since the Italian leader was implicated in a sex scandal that broke last spring. Vatican spokesman the Rev.

July 27th, 2009 Vatican says pope fell looking for light switchROME — The Vatican says Pope Benedict XVI was looking for a light switch in the bedroom of his Alpine chalet when he tripped and broke his wrist while on vacation 10 days ago. Papal spokesman the Rev.

July 17th, 2009 ROME - Currently on a summer break, Pope Benedict XVI has broken his wrist and twisted an ankle after slipping in the bathroom. Despite the agony, the Pope, 82, was able to walk to the casualty department of the hospital after arriving with his private secretary, Mgr Georg Ganswein on Friday.

July 8th, 2009 SYDNEY - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd should not be pressuring Pope Benedict XVI to make Australian nun Mary MacKillop a saint, a prominent Jesuit priest said Wednesday. Frank Brennan joined other leading Catholics in criticising Rudd for arranging a meeting Wednesday with the pope at which Rudd said he would encourage the pontiff to have MacKillop canonised.

July 6th, 2009 ROME - Ahead of this week's G8 summit, Irish singer and activist Bob Geldof has joined the Pope in assailing Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi for not being able to deliver the anti-poverty aid to Africa. During a hard hitting interview with Berlusconi, Geldof guest-editor of La Stampa, the Turin daily, forced the Italian PM to apologise for failing by a huge margin to meet his commitments on fighting poverty.

June 22nd, 2009 LONDON - The BBC's appointment of a Muslim head for its Channel 4 religious and ethical output, is being singled out for criticism by the members of General Synod, the parliament of the Church of England. Members have complained to the BBC about the appointment of Aaqil Ahmed, claiming it to be a 'worrying' decision that could undermine BBC's coverage of Cristianity.

May 19th, 2009 LONDON - French First Lady Carla Bruni has launched a scathing attack on Pope Benedict XVI accusing him of 'damaging' Africa with his approach to contraception. The 41-year-old singer and supermodel said that the Church's teachings had left her feeling "profoundly secular".

May 13th, 2009 ROME - The Vatican has involved itself in a fresh public relations fiasco for seeking to rewrite the biography of Pope Benedict XVI by denying that he was ever a member of the Hitler Youth. Even though the 82-year-old German pontiff has admitted in numerous interviews that he was drafted unwillingly into the Nazi youth movement towards the end of the war, his spokesman came up with another version.

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.

March 21st, 2009 ROME - Vatican insiders have said the Holy See is struggling to contain international anger over Pope Benedict XVI's claim on his first official visit to Africa that AIDS "cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems". The Pope's remarks about condoms, and a recent furore over his lifting of the 20-year excommunication of a British bishop who has questioned the Holocaust, has left him looking isolated and out of touch, prompting calls for a radical shake-up of the way the Holy See delivers its message.he Pope is isolated and fails to adequately consult his advisers, said a Vatican source with 20 years' knowledge of the Holy See.

March 18th, 2009 ROME/YAOUNDE - Pope Benedict XVI Tuesday courted further controversy on his first trip to Africa by saying condoms were not a solution to the continent's AIDS problems. AIDS 'is a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which even aggravates the problems,' the pontiff said on board the flight to Yaounde, Cameroon.

December 24th, 2008 ROME - Pope Benedict XVI late Wednesday led the Vatican's Christmas festivities by celebrating the traditional Midnight Mass. Thousands of Catholics, including many foreigners, flocked to St.