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ROME, February 14, 2013 – On the evening of an unremarkable Thursday in Lent, at 8 p.m. on February 28, Joseph Ratzinger will take the step that none of his predecessors had dared to take. He will place upon the throne of Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Which another will be called to take up. There is the power of a revolution in this action that has no equal even in centuries long ago. From that point on, the Church enters into unknown territory. It will have to elect a new pope while his predecessor is...

Please, do not laugh. Barack Obama has the same qualifications to be Pope, as he has to be a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, or President of the United States. If Obama can win the Nobel Peace Prize, then we cannot say with 100 percent certainty, that he cannot become Pope. Stranger things have happened. As far as I am aware, one does not need to be a Cardinal in order to become Pope. The job is open to any Baptized male Catholic. Two Popes, Benedict IX (1012 - 1056) and John XII (930 - 964), become Popes when...

News hit the Net yesterday afternoon that lightning had struck The Vatican twice, just hours after Pope after Pope Benedict XVI's sudden resignation. As a lightning photographer and weather photo hoax buster, I investigated to see if the photo was real. #PHOTO: Lightning strikes St Peter's dome at #Vatican on day the #Pope announced resignation, by Filippo Monteforte twitter.com/AFP/status/301...— Agence France-Presse (@AFP) February 11, 2013 When the picture first started circulating on Facebook, Meteonetwork Puglia e Basilicata ONLUS (a division of Associazione MeteoNetwork Onlus) and commenting members of the Facebook page thought that the photo might be faked (loose internet...

ROME — A day after Pope Benedict XVI stunned Roman Catholics by announcing that he would resign at the end of the month, the Vatican disclosed new details about his physical well-being on Tuesday, saying he had been fitted with a heart pacemaker a decade ago but that had not influenced his decision to become the first pope in almost 600 years to step down. The disclosure about the device, whose existence was not widely known, came as the Vatican grappled with a series of logistical questions raised by a decision that gave Benedict just 17 days to wind up...

An Evangelical Looks at Pope Benedict XVI Russell Moore With Pope Benedict XVI’s shocking resignation this week, evangelical Christians might be tempted to see this the way a college football fan might view the departure of his rival team’s head coach. But the global stakes are much, much higher. As Pope Benedict steps down, I think it’s important for us to recognize the legacy of the last two bishops of Rome that we ought to honor and conserve: an emphasis on human dignity. As a Baptist Christian, I disagree with Rome on many things, of course, and some of those...

True to form, CNN, Reuters, and other media outlets used the announcement of Pope Benedict XVI's retirement to dwell on ancient sex scandals, opposition to gay marriage, and a host of other things the media have never liked about a Pope who would not hew to whatever worldview the chattering classes embraced at the moment. "As a Catholic, I'm not buying this," tweeted hysterical chatterer, Piers Morgan, a "modern world" Catholic by his own lights. "Popes don't just quit because they're tired. What's going on here??" I am not sure I know either, but I am pleased to see the...

Pope Benedict was cheered by conservatives for trying to reaffirm traditional Catholic identity but liberals accused him of turning back the clock on reforms and hurting dialogue with Muslims, Jews and other Christians. The 85-year-old German-born pontiff announced on Monday he would step down at the end of the month because of the effects of old age meant he was unable to complete his ministry. It was a decision that stunned Church officials and Catholics around the world, but one that he had hinted at in the past.

In a nearly unprecedented move Pope Benedict XVI will step down at the end of the month. Twitter was buzzing with the news and, sadly, gutter sludge crawled out of the cracks.Vile fake retweets are coming in.RT @Pontifex f**** this, i'm done.— Max Vedel (@SoGreeen) February 11, 2013 Steady on old boy. RT @pontifex: f**** you and f**** your s***ty job!!!1!!— Ben (@ben_postgate) February 11, 2013 RT @Pontifex: f**** the lot of ya. Go to h**l. c**ls.— something in the way (@AllApologies_) February 11, 2013 But even more repugnant are the despicable death wishes and disgusting tweets from morally bankrupt cretins.AP...

<p>Pope Benedict XVI is to resign from the head of the Catholic Church on February 28, the Vatican confirmed in a statement on Monday, after he said he no longer had the strength to fulfill his duties adequately.</p> <p>A Vatican press conference started at 11.40 a.m. London time. A Vatican spokesman said the decision "took us by surprise".</p>

No pope has resigned in almost 600 years. But Pope Benedict’s surprise announcement is not entirely unprecedented. More than 260 men have reigned as Pope since Saint Peter was martyred in Rome in the third decade after the death of Christ, and at least four of them have resigned. We spoke to medieval historian Doctor Donald Prudlo, Associate Professor of History at Jacksonville State University in Alabama, about the history of papal resignations. Listen: Vatican Radio: It’s been centuries since a Pope has resigned the See of Peter. Can you tell us about the last Pope to resign? Dr....

Pope Benedict XVI 'is to resign' Breaking news The Pope is to resign at the end of this month in an entirely unexpected development, reports from the Vatican say.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was elected as the successor to Pope John Paul II on April 19th 2005.On April 24th, he celebrated the Papal Inauguration Mass in St. Peter’s Square, during which he was invested with the Pallium and the Ring of the Fisherman.On May 7th he took possession of his Cathedral Church, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran.During his Papacy Pope Benedict XVIth has undertaken 24 apostolic journeys abroad. The first was to Cologne in Germany in occasion of the 20th World Youth Day in August 2005. The most...

Are we headed towards an apocalypse? First an asteroid comes close to the Earth, then the British start eating horse and now … the Pope resigns. Resigning is something that Popes very rarely do. That last time it was done voluntarily was by Celestine V in 1294; Gregory XII stepped down under political pressure in 1415. By contrast, John Paul II remained in his position regardless of his declining health – a testament to the man’s extraordinary will power.

Dear Brothers, I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations, but also tocommunicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world,...

The 40th March for Life is being held today in Washington DC. Here’s the Facebook page. Lifesite News has a schedule of today’s events. Organizers say today’s rally in the nation’s capital may bring more anti-abortion activists to the streets than last year’s estimated 400,000. Pope Benedict XVI tweeted out his support for the march early this morning...

On the subject of religious controversy, 2013 started off with a bang, not a whimper. Hobby Lobby, the craft chain owned by a Christian couple, chose to defy the odious HHS mandate pioneered by the administration of President Barack Obama. This edict seeks to bring religious groups to heel by requiring all employers to cover contraception and abortifacients in their health-care plans. For its defiance, Hobby Lobby faces atmospheric fines of $1.3 million dollars per day. What could motivate such response from this company, traditionally associated less with political battles than knick-knacks and sewing kits? David and Barbara Green, the...

The gender theory, which is behind the homosexual revolution and the attack on the family was highlighted in Pope Benedict’s Christmas message to Vatican prelates this morning. “There is no denying the crisis that threatens,” the family “to its foundations – especially in the Western world,” he said. Crediting the Chief Rabbi of France, Gilles Bernheim, for the research, Pope Benedict XVI said “the attack we are currently experiencing on the true structure of the family, made up of father, mother, and child, goes much deeper” than was originally believed. “While up to now we regarded a false understanding of...

Pope Benedict XVI has urged people never to loose hope in peace this Christmas, even in situations of conflict such as Syria, or nations afflicted by terrorism such as Nigeria, because the “Truth has sprung out of the earth”, with the birth of Christ. Below the full text of Pope Benedict XVI’s Message this Christmas “Veritas de terra orta est!” – “Truth has sprung out of the earth” (Ps 85:12). Dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world, a happy Christmas to you and your families! In this Year of Faith, I express my Christmas greetings and good...

Dear Brothers and Sisters! Again and again the beauty of this Gospel touches our hearts: a beauty that is the splendor of truth. Again and again it astonishes us that God makes himself a child so that we may love him, so that we may dare to love him, and as a child trustingly lets himself be taken into our arms. It is as if God were saying: I know that my glory frightens you, and that you are trying to assert yourself in the face of my grandeur. So now I am coming to you as a child, so...

Pontiff Responds to Request by Major Newspaper to Comment on the Christmas SeasonVATICAN CITY, DEC. 20, 2012 (Zenit.org).- Following a request by the Editorial Office of the Financial Times, Pope Benedict XVI has written an article for the major newspaper. The Financial Times had requested the Holy Father's comments on the occasion of Christmas following the publication of his recent book on the infancy of Jesus Christ. In a communique by the Holy See Press Office, Pope Benedict accepted the request willingly "despite the unusual nature of the request." "It is perhaps appropriate to recall the Pope's willingness to respond...