Pope to visit Rome synagogue in January as part of Catholic-Jewish dialogue

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.

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 11th, 2009 Archaeologists find early depiction of a menorahJERUSALEM — Israeli archaeologists have uncovered one of the earliest depictions of a menorah, the seven-branched candelabra that has come to symbolize Judaism, the Israel Antiquities Authority said Friday. The menorah was engraved in stone around 2,000 years ago and found in a synagogue recently discovered by the Sea of Galilee.

August 20th, 2009 Egypt unveils restoration of famous synagogueCAIRO — The head of antiquities on Thursday unveiled restoration work under way at one Egypt's most famous synagogues, a project he denied was meant to assuage Jewish anger at the country's culture minister. Culture Minister Hosni Farouk, who is campaigning to be the next head of the U.N.

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.

June 24th, 2009 Obama to visit pope during G-8 visitWASHINGTON — A White House spokesman says President Barack Obama and Pope Benedict XVI will talk about their shared belief in the dignity of all people at their meeting next month. The White House on Wednesday said the two leaders would meet while Obama visits Italy for the G-8 summit.

May 9th, 2009 Pope: Church and Jews share 'inseparable bond'AMMAN, Jordan — Pope Benedict XVI said Saturday that his visit to the Middle East was a reminder of the "inseparable bond" between the Catholic Church and the Jewish people, a relationship that has been strained at times under his leadership. The pope spoke from Mount Nebo, the wind-swept hill overlooking the Jordan valley from where the Bible says Moses saw the Promised Land.

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 9th, 2009 Jordan: Official thanks pope for his 'regret'AMMAN, Jordan — The top religious adviser to Jordan's king thanked Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday for his expression of "regret" after a 2006 speech that many Muslims deemed insulting to Islam's Prophet Muhammad. Prince Ghazni bin Mohammed spoke after giving Benedict a tour of the biggest and newest mosque in Jordan's capital, Amman, his second visit to a Muslim place of worship since becoming pope in 2005.

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 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.

February 11th, 2009 VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI condemned Thursday all forms of anti-Semitism in his first face-to-face meeting with Jewish leaders since the outbreak of a row over a Holocaust-denying bishop. 'It is beyond question that any denial or minimization of this terrible crime is intolerable and altogether unacceptable,' the pontiff said referring to the Nazi mass-murder of Jews.

January 27th, 2009 VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI Wednesday expressed 'solidarity' with the Jewish people and asked four recently reinstated bishops to adhere to the Second Vatican Council which prescribes brotherly relations with Jews. The pope during his general audience said the reality of the Nazi mass murder of Jews, known as the Holocaust, or Shoah, cannot be cancelled through any form of denial.

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.