Pilgrims have their cameras ready as Pope Benedict XVI makes his way through the crowd in St Peter's Square at the Vatican before a general audience in 2007. The 85-year-old pontiff said he no longer has the energy to exercise his ministry over the Universal Church and will resign at the end of the month. Photo: CNS. The Universal Church will long feel the effects of Pope Benedict's time oc...

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican monastery where Pope Benedict XVI intends to live began its life as the Vatican gardener's house, but was established as a cloistered convent by Blessed John Paul II in 1994. When Pope Benedict, 85, announced on February 11 that his age and declining energies prompted his decision to resign effective on February 28, the Vatican said he would move out to the pap...

In his first month on Twitter, Pope Benedict XVI sent two dozen mini-messages in nine languages, generating more than 270,000 comments and responses from other Twitter users, according to a study conducted by an Italian Jesuit magazine.

Social media need to promote more logic, kindness and Christian witness than bluster, star status and division, Pope Benedict XVI said.

The Vatican launched a new “Pope App” on the eve of the release of the Pope’s World Communications Day message, which is dedicated to social networks as important spaces for evangelisation.

By Francis X Rocca VATICAN CITY - In the Vatican’s latest move to expand its use of media, an article on the meaning of Christmas by Pope Benedict XVI appeared in Britain’s Financial Times newspaper on December 20. “While Christmas is undoubtedly a time of great joy, it is also an occasion for deep reflection, even an examination of conscience,” the Pope wrote. “At the end of a yea...

Mgr Ganswein, one of the most powerful figures in the Church, looks on with Pope Benedict XVI during a meeting in Zagreb in 2011. Photo: Allesandro Bianchi, Reuters By Catholic News Service Pope Benedict XVI will ordain his longtime secretary an Archbishop, 6 January, on the feast of the Epiphany. The pope named his closest aide to be prefect of the papal household, a job that inv...

Pope Benedict is considered to be one of the leading theologians of his era. The final volume in his Jesus of Nazareth series has just been released. It may yet turn out to be his magnum opus, report CNS’s Carol Glatz and Francis Rocca. The Nativity story, like the whole story of Christ, is not merely an event in the past, but has unfolding significance for people today, with implication...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) - Warning that Catholic charitable activity must not become “just another form of organised social assistance”, Pope Benedict XVI issued new rules to strengthen the religious identity of Catholic charities and ensure their activities conform to Church teaching. The Pope’s apostolic letter on the “service of charity,” issued motu proprio (on his own initiative), directs...

The November 21 publication of Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives, which completes Pope Benedict XVI’s popular three-volume series on the life and teachings of Christ, is the latest reminder of the author’s prolific output, now amounting to more than 60 books. One of the most prominent theologians of his generation, Pope Benedict has produced studies in a wide range of specialised...