Pope Watch: Pope Benedict XVI

‘To raise millions for the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, Detroit Cardinal Adam Maida promised donors a world-class landmark in Washington, D.C., with an all-star lineup of famous scholars and door-busting exhibits of priceless artworks like Michelangelo’s Pieta.

The Vatican never sent any such masterpieces, however. The money ran out to hire the famous scholars. And crowds are a tenth of original estimates.’

Read more at Papal center’s spiral costly

‘Pope Benedict XVI will visit Britain in September next year to the delight of the nation’s four million Catholics.

Details of the trip — the first papal tour to Britain for nearly 25 years — are being kept a secret because of security fears, the Daily Mirror said Wednesday.

An anonymous source told the newspaper: “Millions of Catholics across Britain have been waiting a long time for this occasion.’

Read more at Pope to visit Britain next year

‘The sudden recovery of a young French nun suffering from Parkinson’s disease is at the heart of the sainthood case for Pope John Paul II, the Polish priest who heads the inquiry said Monday.

The Vatican needs to confirm a miracle after John Paul’s death for the pontiff to be beatified, the first step toward his possible canonization.

Monsignor Slawomir Oder said in an interview that an official inquiry into the nun’s inexplicable recovery was beginning this week.’

Read more at John Paul’s sainthood centers on young nun

‘The sudden recovery of a young French nun suffering from Parkinson’s disease is at the heart of the sainthood case for Pope John Paul II, the Polish priest who heads the inquiry said Monday.

The Vatican needs to confirm a miracle after John Paul’s death for the pontiff to be beatified, the first step toward his possible canonization.

Monsignor Slawomir Oder said that an official inquiry into the nun’s inexplicable recovery was beginning this week.’

Read more at Priest probes possible miracle in John Paul II saint case

‘Pope Benedict named 15 cardinals Wednesday, including an outspoken critic of China’s record on human rights and two Americans who have played pivotal roles in responding to the clergy sex abuse scandal.

The Americans are Archbishop Sean O’Malley of Boston and William Levada, the former archbishop of San Francisco who now holds a high post at the Vatican.’

Read more at Pope Benedict chooses 15 new cardinals, and two are from U.S.

‘Pope Benedict is widely expected to soon announce his first batch of cardinals, the prelates who help him run the Roman Catholic Church and act as his top advisors.

Some Vatican sources believe he may announce the names of new members of what is arguably the world’s most exclusive men’s club as early as this Wednesday at his general audience.

The ceremony to create the cardinals, known as a consistory, is usually held a month after the Pope makes the announcement. The most likely date for a consistory could be March 25, the Feast of the Annunciation, according to Italian media reports.’

Read more at Pope expected to name new cardinals soon

‘Pope Benedict XVI warned a French Catholic community to be careful about whom it recruits, following a series of headline-grabbing incidents involving its members.

The Congregation of Saint John should learn from past experiences and be more careful to check the religious callings of new monks, the Pope told some 1,800 members of the community present at his weekly audience.’

Read more at Pope urges caution on new converts to French Catholic group

‘A priest who once worked at the Vatican and was purportedly good friends with the late

Pope John Paul II has returned to Canada to face criminal charges involving sex with children decades ago, police told AFP.

Monsignor Bernard Prince, 71, was arrested upon his arrival at the Montreal airport from Italy late Tuesday, said Sergeant Kristine Rae-Cholette of the Ontario provincial police.

An arrest warrant had been issued in October.’

Read more at Ex-Vatican priest returns to Canada to face child sex charges

‘A planned papal trip to Turkey will be a critical test of Christian-Muslim relations, a top Roman Catholic official said Wednesday, citing a priest’s slaying that a Vatican newspaper has linked to protests over cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad.

“Now (the trip) becomes very serious,” Cardinal Walter Kasper, head of the Vatican’s office for Christian unity, told The Associated Press during a gathering of Christian leaders and envoys hosted by the World Council of Churches. ‘

Read more at Vatican Calls Turkey Trip a Critical Test

‘Laura Bush said Pope Benedict XVI expressed concern over violence linked to the prophet drawings in their meeting Thursday, with the pontiff calling for peace and tolerance.

“He talked to me about the worries of terrorism, the worries right now of the violence in Beirut and Damascus and other cities,” Mrs. Bush said after the 20-minute audience in the pope’s private library.

The pontiff, she said, also expressed his hope “and certainly our hope, for peace and for tolerance, for each of us to treat everyone else with respect.”

Benedict also wished Mrs. Bush “a peaceful time” in Turin, where she is heading the official U.S. delegation to the Olympics.’

Read more at First Lady Discusses Terrorism With Pope

‘A busy First Lady Laura Bush will meet with Pope Benedict before leading the official U.S. delegation to the Winter Olympics, the White House said yesterday.

Bush will meet tomorrow with the Pope at the Vatican before paying a courtesy call later in the day on Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. While in Rome, she also will do a breast cancer event at a local hospital.’

Read more at Laura to meet Pope on way to Olympics

‘Have you heard the one about Michael Jackson and the Pope?

Turns out, they haven’t either.

On Monday, an Italian priest who runs a music label specializing in religious songs indicated that Jackson might be one of several artists to sing on a CD made up of Pope John Paul II’s prayers set to music.

“It is only a hope, an idea,” the Rev. Giuseppe Moscati told the Associated Press of his plans for the album, which would be released via the Edizioni Musicali Terzo Millennio label.

He said that his music industry contacts had attempted to discuss the project with Jackson, but “we haven’t met him or heard from him.”‘

Read more at Jackson Not Singing Pope’s Prayers

‘Signalling a change of attitude from his predecessor,

Pope Benedict XVI has suggested the head of the powerful Roman Catholic Jesuit order can step down, an Italian news report said.

In a letter to the worldwide Jesuit order, its General Peter Hans Kolvenbach has said the pope had given permission to call a general assembly in January 2008 to “decide on its government at the highest level.”‘

Read more at Pope hints at change of leader for Jesuits

‘Pope Benedict XVI said Monday that he hoped the blood shed by a Roman Catholic priest slain in Turkey over the weekend would become the “seeds of hope” to build a lasting fraternity between peoples.

Benedict sent telegrams of condolences to church authorities in Italy and Turkey following the killing Sunday of the Rev. Andrea Santoro, 60, who was shot as he prayed in his church in the Black Sea port city of Trabzon, where he was the parish priest for a small Christian community.

Benedict said he hoped “that the blood that he shed will become the seeds of hope for building an authentic fraternity among peoples.”‘

Read more at Pope Prays for Priest Slain in Turkey