Free Republic

Vatican City (dpa) - Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday appointed a new head of the Italian Bishops' Conference as the Vatican and Romano Prodi's government engaged in raging debates over same-sex couples, artificial insemination and terminally ill patients' right to die. In a statement, the Vatican said Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa would replace Cardinal Camillo Ruini as the conference's president. Seventy-six-year-old Ruini had headed the conference for the past 16 years and was seen in Italy as the most influential Church figure after the pope. A conservative, Ruini was active in the media and played a fundamental role in...

After Verona: How to “Restore Full Citizenship to the Christian Faith”Pope Ratzinger and his vicar, Ruini, see in Italy “a rather favorable terrain” for the public rebirth of Christianity in Europe and the world, too. But many do not accept their view. And the archbishop of Milan, Tettamanzi, has placed himself at the head of the opposition by Sandro MagisterROMA, October 26, 2006 – After the five-day conference in Verona, the uniqueness of the Italian Church will be the highly envied object of study in the episcopal sees of Europe and America, especially where Christianity is most in decline. From...

http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=46554Sep. 18 (CWNews.com) - Cardinal Camillo Ruini has announced that he thinks the international outrage surrounding Pope Benedict's speech in Regensburg is being fed-- especially in Italy-- by people who seek to damage the Pope's authority. "We deplore the misinterpretations-- which are not lacking in our own country," the cardinal said at a September 18 meeting of the leadership of the Italian bishops' conference. He promised that the Italian bishops would stand firm with the Pontiff, in the face of attacks that reflect a serious misreading of the Pope's actual text. Cardinal Ruini said that he was "surprised" that many...

Vatican City, Nov. 25, 2005 (CNA) - Pope Benedict, earlier today visited Rome’s Sacred Heart Catholic University, where he described and challenged faculty and students with his vision for a truly Catholic University--one that seeks to recover the synthesis between faith and reason.The university is currently celebrating the inauguration of its new academic year.Prior to the Pope's arrival, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general of the diocese of Rome celebrated Mass with students and faculty from the Milan, Brescia, Piacenza-Cremona, Campobasso and Rome branches of the university.The celebration began in earnest at 11.00 a.m. in the main hall of the "Agostino...

Cardinal Camillo Ruini, vicar general for the diocese of Rome, and concelebrated by the clergy of Rome. Italian Cardinal Camillo Ruini presides over a mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.(AFP/Thomas Coex) Priests take part in Sunday Mass at St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City April 10, 2005. Rome's Cardinal Camillo Ruini tried on Sunday to quell mounting speculation about who will succeed Pope John Paul, urging people to contain their curiosity and let God do his work. REUTERS/Kimimasa Mayama * * * * * PHOTO GALLERY