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/ 10 March 2008

Vatican lists ‘new sins’, including pollution

Thou shall not pollute the Earth. Thou shall beware genetic manipulation. Modern times bring with them modern sins. So the Vatican has told the faithful that they should be aware of ”new” sins such as causing environmental blight. The Vatican opposes stem-cell research that involves destruction of embryos and has warned against the prospect of human cloning.

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/ 7 January 2008

Vatican calls for mass apology for sex scandals

The Vatican has called on Catholics to atone for the sex abuse scandals that have engulfed their church in recent years by taking part in what may be the largest global prayer initiative ever seen. Cardinal Cláudio Hummes said that every diocese in the world should name a priest to work full-time on the arrangements for the ”perpetual adoration” of the eucharist.

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/ 19 December 2007

Vatican paper criticises Golden Compass

The Vatican newspaper <i>L’Osservatore Romano</i> has criticised the children’s film <i>The Golden Compass</i> starring Nicole Kidman, calling it "anti-Christmas". Co-starring British actor Daniel Craig, the film is a "fantasy saga with 1960s sauce," the paper said in its Tuesday evening edition.

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/ 30 November 2007

Pope: Progress won’t save humanity

Humanity will not be saved by progress, science or political revolution, but only in the collective hope offered by Christianity, Pope Benedict XVI said on Friday in a theological letter setting out his views on faith. The ”Spe Salvi [Saved by Hope]” encyclical is the second of his papacy and intended as a guidance for the worldwide Roman Catholic flock.

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/ 8 October 2007

Pope asked to take action against radio host

The World Jewish Congress on Monday urged Pope Benedict XVI to crack down on a Polish priest accused of broadcasting anti-Semitic views on his radio station. ”Anti-Semitic statements by the Polish priest Tadeusz Rydzyj … should not be tolerated any more,” the congress’s new president, Ronald Lauder, told the pope during an audience.

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/ 11 January 2007

Vatican decries latest death in ‘irresponsible’ Dakar rally

The Vatican decried the death of South African motorcyclist Elmer Symons in the Dakar Rally, the latest of scores of deaths associated with what it called a ”bloody, irresponsible” race. The Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano said in its issue to appear on Thursday that the 29-year-old Symons died in a race that has ”precious little to do with healthy competition”.

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/ 13 December 2006

Olmert asks pope to denounce Holocaust forum

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asked Pope Benedict on Wednesday to denounce personally a conference in Iran questioning the Holocaust, an Olmert aide said, to reinforce criticism of it by the Vatican. The Israeli leader and the head of the world’s one billion Roman Catholics spoke for about 40 minutes at the Vatican.

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/ 19 September 2006

Pope faces Muslim calls for unequivocal apology

Pope Benedict faced a growing chorus of demands on Tuesday for an unequivocal apology for remarks seen as portraying Islam as a violent faith, despite attempts by Western leaders and churchmen to defuse the crisis. Even United States President George Bush got involved, saying on Monday the pope had been ”sincere” when he said sorry to Muslims.

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/ 17 September 2006

Pope seeks to calm storm

The Vatican on Saturday sought to quell the storm engulfing Pope Benedict XVI by claiming that the pontiff ”sincerely regrets” quoting remarks that Islam was ‘evil and inhuman’. In a conciliatory statement, the Vatican’s ”prime minister” said the pope was sorry his comments had offended Muslims around the world.

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/ 16 September 2006

Pope sorry his speech found offensive

Pope Benedict is sorry Muslims were offended by a speech that provoked fury in the Islamic world and led to calls for the leader of the Catholic church to apologise personally, the Vatican said on Saturday. Benedict’s crisis was sparked by a speech in Germany on Tuesday that appeared to endorse a Christian view, contested by most Muslims, that early Muslims spread their religion by violence.

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/ 15 September 2006

Pope’s comments anger Muslims

Pope Benedict XVI faced growing Muslim anger on Friday over remarks in which he linked Islam with violence, with the Pakistani Parliament calling on him to retract the statement. In a university lecture in Regensburg, Germany, on Tuesday, the Pope implicitly denounced connections between Islam and violence, particularly with regard to jihad, or ”holy war”.

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/ 4 May 2006

Vatican slams ordination of Chinese bishops

The Vatican said on Thursday that the ordination earlier this week of two Chinese bishops without its approval was a ”serious violation of religious liberty”. Vatican spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls demanded that Chinese authorities respect the freedom and autonomy of the Roman Catholic church, which says it is the only body that can make such decisions.

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/ 15 April 2006

Pope denounces ‘greedy liar’ Judas

Pope Benedict XVI is trying to combat efforts to rehabilitate Christianity’s most hated villain after the presentation this month of a newly discovered ”gospel according to Judas”. In his first Easter sermon at St Peter’s Basilica, the German pope said the 13th apostle was a greedy liar: ”He evaluated Jesus in terms of power and success. For him, only power and success were real. Love didn’t count.”

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/ 25 January 2006

The pope on love

It may have come as a surprise to many: an ageing theologian known for his conservative stance on sex exploring a highly controversial subject for the Roman Catholic Church — love. And yet, Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical letter offers an enlightened insight into how Christianity views this noblest of emotions.

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/ 12 January 2006

The day the pope was shot

It was the early evening of May 13 1981 and Pope John Paul II was being driven across Saint Peter’s Square at the Vatican in his open white car, as he was every week for his general audience. As usual, the huge plaza was thronged with pilgrims and onlookers, numbering around 20 000. It also contained at least one would-be assassin.

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/ 17 October 2005

Vatican finance chief served five popes

Retired Vatican finance chief Cardinal Giuseppe Caprio has died, the Vatican said on Monday. He was 90. The Vatican said the Italian cardinal died on Saturday. Pope Benedict XVI on Monday praised his service in a condolence message, saying Caprio served five popes in ”delicate and important” offices.

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/ 14 May 2005

Pope sets predecessor on road to sainthood

Pope Benedict on Friday revealed that he had set his predecessor, John Paul II, on the road to possible sainthood just 26 days after the late pontiff’s death. Friday’s announcement — in Latin — that the late pope was to be considered for beatification, the stepping stone to sainthood, broke all records.

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/ 6 May 2005

Work for peace, pope tells Mbeki

Pope Benedict XVI encouraged South Africa to work for peace on the African continent during a private meeting on Friday with President Thabo Mbeki, who has tried to mediate some of the region’s most intractable conflicts. ”Welcome, Mr President, nice to see you,” Benedict told Mbeki in English.

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/ 28 April 2005

Vatican orders ‘Cold War spy’ back to Poland

A Polish monk close to the late Pope John Paul II was ordered back to Poland from the Vatican on Wednesday to face allegations he spied on the pontiff for his country’s communist regime in the closing stages of the Cold War. An official in Warsaw said Father Konrad Hejmo had collaborated with the secret police in the 1980s when the communist government was struggling to cling to power.

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/ 25 April 2005

Anglican archbishop to meet new pope

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, will on Monday become one of the first non-Catholic religious leaders to meet the new pope, at what has become a critical moment for Anglican-Catholic relations following the former’s inauguration of an openly gay bishop in the United States.

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/ 24 April 2005

Thousands gather as pope is inaugurated

In a ceremony replete with solemnity and joy, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday accepted the Fisherman’s Ring and woollen pallium symbolising his leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. ”I am not alone,” he said. ”I do not have to carry alone what, in truth, I could never carry alone.”