Ex-pope Benedict XVI asks for forgiveness over sex abuse scandal
The 94-year-old expressed his “shame, and deep sorrow” in a letter published by the Vatican
The 94-year-old expressed his “shame, and deep sorrow” in a letter published by the Vatican
He says an editorial error was responsible for his previous assertion that he was not there.
Benedict has lived in a monastery in Vatican City since shortly after his retirement.
While Benedict has sought to ease the crisis in the Vatican, Cardinal Robert Sarah has said the former pope did co-author the book.
Francis is currently considering allowing it in remote locations, such as the Amazon, where communities seldom have Mass.
Benedict has written a 6,000-word essay for Klerusblatt, a German monthly magazine for clergy.
Monsignor Dario Vigano was accused of manipulating a private letter written by Benedict XVI about Pope Francis.
Inside the package Francis Timmons received was a picture of Pope Benedict, a letter about World Family Day and a letter from Pope Francis.
George Ratzinger, Benedict’s older brother, ran the famous Regensburg choir from 1964 to 1994.
Bishop Richard Williamson is planning to consecrate a new Bishop without the Pope’s permission.
Statistics for 2011-12 show a dramatic increase over the 171 priests removed in 2008 and 2009.
He is also quoted as saying that the “charisma” shown by his successor Pope Francis showed that the resignation was “God’s will”.
Kevin Bakhurst said the cost of covering the change of Pope was €100,000 less than on the last occasion in 2005.
The Vatican continues to receive around 600 claims against abusive priests ever year. Today’s comments from Pope Francis were his first on the clerical sex abuse scandal since succeeding Pope Benedict last month.
In his address to the nearly 200,000 pilgrims the newly elected pope promised to embrace the “poorest, the weakest” of humanity.
Cardinals gather for the general congregations today ahead of the start of the conclave to elect the next head of the Catholic Church.
The tweets from the @pontifex Twitter account have been removed, with the account dormant awaiting a new pontiff.
Cardinals will now meet to elect a successor, while the 85-year-old former Joseph Ratzinger will be known as ‘Pope Emeritus’.
The pontiff will depart the Vatican later today to spend the next few months at the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo before he returns to the Vatican permanently to live a life of prayer and academic research.
The 85-year-old enjoys an emotional sendoff, explaining his reasons for retiring and taking a final tour of St Peter’s Square.
Details of Pope Benedict’s life after his reign ends have emerged and include him swapping his trademark red shoes for a brown pair. His Fisherman’s Ring will also be destroyed.
An emotional Pope Benedict XVI has delivered his last Sunday prayer in St Peter’s Square in Rome.
La Repubblica says a report presented in December detailed breaches of the ‘sixth and seventh commandments’.
We need a pope that will listen to the wider church and wider world, writes Fr Seamus Ahearne, who reflects on the previous two popes’ achievements and failures.
Here’s our round-up of the best, the most popular and the most commented-on pieces from the past week. Did you make it in?
Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, the pope’s personal secretary, will keep his old job but will also oversee the new pope’s household.
The life and times of the 265th Pope.
Well he is infallible, right?
Was Benedict referring to Ireland when he spoke of laws that “unjustly alter the balance” between mother and baby?
From Lady Gaga hanging out with Julian Assange to Tupac Shakur’s Coachella performance, here’s our shortlist of the stranger celebrity and political encounters of the year.
He said, “when God is denied, human dignity also disappears”.
Demonstrators held placards condemning homophobia after Pope Benedict said same-sex unions “destabilise marriage”.
Benedict XVI has registered seven accounts, each to allow tweeting in various languages – but won’t start yet.
In a new book, Pope Benedict has pointed out that there were no animals present at Jesus’ birth. Way to ruin the Christmas buzz!
A synod of bishops meeting in Rome was shown a YouTube ‘Muslim Demographics’ video which predicts an Islamic continent by 2050.
Paolo Gabriele, 46, faces up to four years in prison if he is convicted of aggravated theft in the worst security breach in the Vatican’s recent history.
Vatican watchers believe that Pope Benedict could pardon Paolo Gabriele for leaking sensitive papers to a journalist.
Paolo Gabriele is accused of stealing secret documents and leaking them to the press.