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VATICAN CITY, JAN. 17, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the homily Benedict XVI delivered without notes on Jan. 8, feast of the Baptism of the Lord, the day he baptized 10 infants in the Sistine Chapel. * * * Mass in the Sistine Chapel and Baptisms Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI Dear Parents and Godparents, Dear Brothers and Sisters, What happens in baptism? What do we hope for from baptism? You have given a response on the threshold of this chapel: We hope for eternal life for our children. This is the purpose of baptism. But how...

BOSTON - A Connecticut abortion rights group has angered some conservative Christian groups by selling condom key chains that include an image of Michelangelo‘s Sistine Chapel with God handing Adam a condom. "It‘s an example of depraved morals and contempt for the sensibility of Catholics everywhere," said C.J. Doyle of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts. The $3 key chains sold by Planned Parenthood of Connecticut on its Web site come in 28 designs including an image of a U.S. flag with the stars replaced with the words "Wear with Pride" and a Statue of Liberty holding a condom instead...

Pope Benedict performed the first baptisms of his pontificate on Sunday, using the occasion to launch an impassioned denunciation of irresponsible sex and a "culture of death" that he said pervaded the modern world.Pope Benedict, abandoning his prepared sermon, compared the wild excesses of the ancient Roman empire to 21st century society and urged people to rediscover their faith."In our times we need to say 'no' to the largely dominant culture of death," Benedict said during his improvised homily in the frescoed Sistine Chapel where he was elected Pope last April."(There is) an anti-culture demonstrated by the flight to drugs,...

VATICAN CITY, OCT 21, 2005 (VIS) - Following a concert given in his honor, which was held yesterday evening in the Vatican, Benedict XVI thanked the conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and members of the choir of Ratisbone Cathedral and of the Athestis Chorus. The Holy Father said he felt proud that for thirty years the choir of Ratisbone Cathedral "was led with passion by my brother Georg," adding that "now, under Roland Buchner, it is still in excellent hands." With reference to the music he had heard and to its composers - from Palestrina to Richard Wagner, from...

VATICAN CITY, APR 20, 2005 (VIS) - Following is the complete text of the first message of Pope Benedict XVI which he delivered in Latin at the end of this morning's Mass with the members of the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected as the 264th successor to St. Peter in early evening yesterday. "Grace and peace in abundance to all of you! In my soul there are two contrasting sentiments in these hours. On the one hand, a sense of inadequacy and human turmoil for the responsibility entrusted to me yesterday as the...

First Mass by the new Pope in Sistine Chapel. Procession is going in now. The Pope is using Pope John Paul II's staff.

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 18, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Personal and community prayer, ballots and a retreatlike atmosphere are the characteristics of the conclave that 115 cardinal electors are holding to elect a new pope. Joaquín Navarro Valls, director of the Vatican press office, confirmed that the cardinals moved into the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican guesthouse, on Sunday afternoon and dined together in the evening. They will reside in this House for the duration of the election. This afternoon they processed to the Sistine Chapel, where the voting will take place. By the authority of the cardinal chamberlain and with the outside...

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 17, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is the last installment of biographical sketches of the cardinals who are scheduled to participate in the conclave to elect a new pope. The conclave begins Monday. * * * Jean-Louis Tauran, 62 Archivist and librarian of the Holy Roman Church Jean-Louis Tauran was born April 5, 1943, in Bordeaux, France. He was ordained a priest Sept. 20, 1969. He holds licentiates in philosophy and theology and a degree in canon law. He served as parochial vicar in Bordeaux. In March 1975 he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See and was...

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Roman Catholic cardinals started to move into sequestered lodgings Sunday ahead of a momentousconclave to elect the successor to Pope John Paul II. The 115 eligible cardinals will enter the secretive conclave in the Sistine Chapel Monday with no clear favorite to take over the reins of the 1.1 billion-member Church. Some of the red-hatted "princes of the church" held publicMasses around a rainswept Rome Sunday, refusing to speculate on the vote and underlining the spiritual nature of their quest. "People think that we are going to vote like in an election. But this is something...

ROME, APRIL 15, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The 6,000 journalists, photographers and television cameramen who arrived in Rome to follow John Paul II's funeral and the start of the conclave, are all looking for the same thing: news. The enormous interest the world has to know how the cardinals are preparing for the election of the new pope is running up against the tight control of information on the part of the Vatican. Correspondents and special envoys walk up and down the two halls of the Vatican press office and around St. Peter's Square looking for something, anything. The cardinals are obliged...

Interview With Belgian Bishop André-Mutien Léonard BRUSSELS, Belgium, APRIL 15, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The legacy of John Paul II is not something to look back upon, but to use as a guide and inspiration for the future, says the bishop of Namur, Belgium. Bishop André-Mutien Léonard, philosophy professor the Catholic University of Leuven and member of the International Theological Commission, reflects in this interview with ZENIT on the person of John Paul II, and what expectations Catholics should have now with respect to the conclave. The bishop has dedicated most of his ministry to young people, and in 1999, he was...

VATICAN CITY (AP) _ Workers scaled the roof of the Sistine Chapel on Friday and attached the chimney pipe that will bellow white smoke to alert the world that a new pope has been elected, as the Vatican made final preparations for next week's conclave. Attached by a safety clip and cable, a worker climbed down the tiled roof and uncapped a small top that had covered the chimney. He replaced it with a tall, thin pipe fed to him by another man in dress pants and a tie who was standing in an opening in the chapel's sloped roof....