I remember rumours that white smoke had been seen, and based on that information me and my friends quickly gathered around the television to see if this was in fact the case. Yes, there was white smoke, and yes Habemus Papam! Moments later, when Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger emerged on the balcony as Pope Benedict XVI ...read more

Toronto’s Archbishop Thomas Collins released a pastoral message regarding the issue of sexual abuse and the Church. The message was read as the homily at every Mass in all 225 Toronto parishes this weekend. The message was also recorded by Toronto’s prelate: In addition to the video, the Archdiocese of Toronto website includes a written ...read more

A “very intense” meeting with eight Maltese victims of sex abuse led one victim to say that he had “made his peace with the Church” and reported that the meeting left the Holy Father with “tears in his eyes” . This highly-anticipated meeting which took place at the nunciature in Rabat, Malta, today, had not ...read more

Below is the Holy Father’s homily from this morning at the Granaries in Floriana, Malta. The italicized text in brackets was translated from the original Maltese. APOSTOLIC VISIT OF HIS HOLINESS POPE BENEDICT XVI TO MALTA Mass at the Floriana Granaries 18 April 2010 Dear Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ, [My dear sons and ...read more

This evening in Malta, a well-rested Pope Benedict XVI was greeted World Youth Day-style in Rabat, Malta by thousands of cheering faithful, the majority of whom were young people. “In our hearts we already know who you are: you are our Head Shepherd representing the Lord Jesus Christ in our midst”, said Archbishop Paul Cremona, ...read more

The Holy Father received the warmest of welcomes from Maltese dignitaries upon disembarking the Alitalia flight this evening in Malta. Despite concerns that the flight would not take place due to residual hovering ash clouds from Iceland’s volcano eruption this past Thursday, The Holy Father’s plane landed right on schedule with dozens of journalists, Vatican ...read more

Just in time for the fifth anniverary of his election as Pope, a special book has been released looking back at Pope Benedict’s first five years in the See of Peter. The book was released in Italian and German only – fitting, since it was put together by Msgr. Georg Gänswein, the Pope’s personal secretay ...read more

Given the shortage of priests in many dioceses, few Catholics would be surprised by the results of an American survey reporting that 42% of priests feel overwhelmed by their workload. “Why would someone be happy with a celibate life, little pay, long hours and a regular drubbing in the press?”, asks Msgr. Stephen Rossetti, a ...read more

Jack Valero, a senior representative of Opus Dei, is defending the record of Pope Benedict in the pages of The Guardian. Valero addresses then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s handling of laicization cases, including his efforts to more strongly enforce abuse investigations by bringing them under the purview of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in ...read more

Pope Benedict XVI embarks on his first of five Apostolic Voyages for 2010 this weekend. Before he heads to Portugal, Cyprus, Britain, and Spain, he starts it all off with Malta. The visit will celebrate the 1,950th anniversary of St. Paul’s shipwreck on the island that, according to tradition, occurred in the year 60 A.D., ...read more