Pope Benedict opened a synod of Roman Catholic bishops on Africa by denouncing the West’s materialism and lack of moral values, which he said were contaminating the world’s poorest continent like “toxic waste”.
Pope Benedict XVI left Prague on Monday afternoon after a three-day visit in Czech Republic. He hailed the fall of communism in eastern Europe on Saturday, shortly before the 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.
Pope Benedict XVI had minor surgery on Friday after he slipped in the bath and broke his wrist. The 82-year-old Roman Catholic leader is in good health and has since returned to his holiday home.
The Vatican said on Wednesday that the ordination of priests belonging to the Lefebvrist schism, scheduled for the end of June, would be "illegitimate".
In this edition: Lebanese voters talking openly of perks and bribes in the upcoming general election; Kuwaiti women on the campaign trail; and Pope Benedict XVI's heavily scrutinised trip to the Holy Land.
Pope Benedict XVI called for a two-state solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and spoke out vigorously against the Holocaust as he ended his tour of the Middle East with a farewell ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.
Pope Benedict XVI will complete a Middle East pilgrimage on Friday with prayers at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, a day after holding mass for tens of thousands in the Galilee town of Nazareth.
Benedict XVI is winding up his first voyage as pontiff to the Holy Land. How did a pope born in Nazi Germany fare in Israel? What message did he have for Jews, Muslims, and Palestinian Christians at a time of growing entrentchement on all sides?
