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The article reports that Dario Vigano, head of the Vatican's communications department, has resigned after doctoring a letter from retired pope Benedict XVI to make it appear that he is supportive of his successor, which led to accusations that the Vatican is spreading fake news.

The article reports that the Vatican and Pope Francis have decided to end the investigation and takeover of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, a group of American nuns, ordered by Pope Benedict XVI over concerns about the groups' views on priesthood, birth control, and sexuality. Details are included on an April 2015 meeting between Francis and a delegation from the Leadership Conference of Women Religious at the Vatican.

The article focuses on the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in the wake of scandals over sex abuse and corruption in Italy. It states that the Italian economy is under recession while the record of unemployment is high. It says that the economy and the fate of euro were threatened by government instability while scandals have lessened the spiritual authority of the Roman Catholic Church. Moreover, the government and Vatican were seen to have lost their connection to serve the common people.

The article reports on the decision of the Vatican Palace to address Pope Benedict XVI as emeritus pope in retirement.

The article reports on the use of Pope Benedict XVI of the microblogging website Twitter.com. It mentions that the use of the microblogging website by the Pope is aimed to encourage the 1.2 billion Roman Catholics in the world especially the young people to be closer to the Church. It adds that the Tweets of the Pope will be available in various languages including French, English, German, Italian, and other languages.

The article reports that Papacy computer expert Claudio Sciarpelletti was convicted of obstruction of justice by a Vatican City court as part of a wider investigation into the theft of confidential papal documents leaked to a journalist. It says that Sciarpelletti was found guilty of misleading investigators by providing false testimony after his interrogation. Moreover, he was given a two-month suspended sentence.

The article reports on the second trial related to a security breach at the Vatican wherein computer expert Claudio Sciarpelletti's lawyer argued that his client had no reason to risk his career by helping Paolo Gabriele steal Pope Benedict XVI's confidential records as he did not know him well.

The article reports on the appointments of six cardinals by Pope Benedict XVI in which one of them is Archbishop James Harvey, an American who heads the papal household and employed the butler who was convicted of stealing private documents and leaking them to the press.

ROME -- A mysterious source named Maria. A room furnished with a single chair where sensitive Vatican documents are turned over to an investigative journalist at regular meetings. The arrest of the pope's butler. Perhaps the greatest breach in centuries in the wall of secrecy that surrounds the Vatican. An on-again-off-again scandal that the Italian press has called VatiLeaks burst into the open on Friday with the arrest by Vatican gendarmes of a man, identified in news reports as Paolo Gabriele, the pope's butler, who the Vatican said was in possession of confidential documents and was suspected of leaking private letters, some of which were addressed to Pope Benedict XVI. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ROME -- Striking the tone that once earned him the nickname ''God's Rottweiler,'' Pope Benedict XVI in a stern Holy Thursday homily denounced ''disobedience'' in the Roman Catholic Church, chastising priests who sought the ordination of women and the abolition of priestly celibacy. Referring to recent efforts by clerics in Austria and elsewhere, Benedict said that although such priests claim to act out of ''concern for the church,'' they are driven by their ''own preferences and ideas,'' and should instead turn toward a ''radicalism of obedience'' -- a phrase that perfectly captures the essence of the theologian pope's thought. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Vatican on Monday condemned the most recent ordination of a bishop in China without papal consent, saying that Pope Benedict XVI was ''deeply saddened'' by the illegitimate election that damages the unity of the church. The Vatican said that Paul Lei Shiyin, ordained last week by China's state-controlled Catholic Church as the bishop of Leshan, was not recognized as a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church and risked automatic excommunication. China's church ordained another bishop in November, a point of deep contention between Rome and Beijing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Vatican issued a rare statement on Friday warning people not to be fooled by agencies and Web sites selling tickets for the beatification of Pope John Paul II. It said no tickets were required for the ceremonies, in particular for the beatification Mass, which Pope Benedict XVI is expected to celebrate on May 1. Millions of visitors are expected in Rome for festivities surrounding the beatification of John Paul, which places him one step closer to sainthood. After the Mass on May 1, John Paul's tomb will be moved from beneath St. Peter's Basilica to its interior, where his remains will be on view. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday appointed the president and the governing board of a new financial watchdog aimed at overseeing the Vatican's finances and helping it comply with international policies against money laundering and the financing of terrorists. Benedict announced the new agency in December and on Wednesday appointed Cardinal Attilio Nicora, left, already the Holy See's de-facto finance minister, as its president. The four board members, all laymen, have backgrounds in accounting, law and finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pope Benedict XVI appointed an envoy to Vietnam on Thursday, a step toward normalizing diplomatic relations. The Vatican has no formal diplomatic ties with Vietnam, which has about six million Roman Catholics, but relations have been improving recently. The new papal representative in Vietnam, Msgr. Leopoldo Girelli, is currently Papal Nuncio to Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ROME -- A Roman Catholic bishop was stabbed to death in eastern Turkey on Thursday, a day before he had planned to travel to Cyprus for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI. The bishop, Luigi Padovese, 62, the apostolic vicar of Anatolia, or the Vatican's representative to eastern Turkey, was found dead outside his home in the Mediterranean port of Iskenderun, officials said. The police arrested his driver, who officials said had psychological problems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday accepted the resignation of two Irish bishops, bringing to five the number of bishops to resign since the abuse crisis hit the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. In a statement, the Vatican said that Joseph Duffy, bishop of Clogher, and Francis Lagan, the auxiliary bishop of Derry, stepped down after reaching the retirement age of 75. Bishops are required to tender their resignations at 75, but the pope can decline to accept and, in some cases, he has kept bishops well past that age. In March, Bishop Duffy said that he had known about abuse allegations against a priest in his diocese but that he had not told the civil authorities at the request of the victim's parents, Irish news media reported. The priest was later jailed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Pope Benedict XVI approved sainthood on Friday for Mary Helen MacKillop, who will become Australia's first Roman Catholic saint. Sister Mary of the Cross, as she was known, founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart in Australia. Since 1866, the order has built schools, orphanages and centers for the homeless and the needy in Australia and New Zealand. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Pope Benedict XVI on Monday condemned the abuse of children by members of the clergy. Speaking to Pontifical Council for the Family members, the pope said that while the church has defended children's dignity and rights throughout the centuries, in some cases, members of the clergy had violated those rights. The church, he said, ''hasn't and won't ever stop deploring and condemning'' such behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Pope Benedict XVI, in a visit to Rome's main synagogue, sought to soothe tensions between Catholics and Jews on Sunday, though he and Jewish leaders aired one main point of contention: whether the church did enough against the Holocaust. At least one prominent Italian rabbi boycotted Benedict's visit after a move by the pope last month to advance Pope Pius XII, who led the Roman Catholic Church from 1939 to 1958, one step closer to sainthood. Many Jews, especially in Rome, say Pius did not do all he could have to stop the deportation of Jews. His defenders say his silence was diplomacy aimed at saving more lives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article reports on the first public appearance of Pope Benedict XVI at his final public mass at St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City on ash Wednesday on February 13, 2013 since his resignation announcement in which called for the end of rivalries in the church and of personal sacrifice.

HAVANA -- Just in the past few days, with a visit here by Pope Benedict XVI looming, the Rev. Roberto Betancourt has witnessed firsthand the difficult position Cuba's Roman Catholic Church finds itself in as it wields its newfound influence but still struggles to fill its pews. There are the worshipers who, much to the consternation of a church trying to build its ranks, freely file into Father Betancourt's parish, the Church of Our Lady of Charity in central Havana, to lay flowers at a statue of the country's patroness, but rarely stay for Father Betancourt's Mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses potential challenges facing Pope Francis I in terms of reforming the Vatican, highlighting the effect of his lack of experience within the Vatican. Topics addressed include problems facing the Church during the tenure of Pope Benedict XVI, Francis I's ability to evangelize, and the conclave that elected him as Pope in March of 2013.

The article discusses the impact of Pope Benedict XIV's announcement to resign on February 28, 2013 on the people in Rome, Italy and around the world. It notes the Pope has decided to resign because his poor health condition due to old age claiming he can no longer suited to an adequate exercise. It adds the Pope will become the first pope to do so in six centuries.

MUNICH -- When Pope Benedict XVI was archbishop of Munich and Freising, he was broadly described as a theologian more concerned with doctrinal debates than personnel matters. That, say his defenders, helps explain why he did not keep close tabs on a pedophile priest sent to his archdiocese in 1980 and allowed to work in a parish. Yet in 1979, the year before Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the future pope, approved the Rev. Peter Hullermann's move to Munich, the cardinal blocked the assignment to the local university of a prominent theology professor recommended by the university senate. And in 1981, he punished a priest for holding a Mass at a peace demonstration, leading the man to ultimately leave the priesthood. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

BERLIN -- A widening child sexual abuse inquiry in Europe has landed at the doorstep of Pope Benedict XVI, as a senior church official acknowledged Friday that a German archdiocese made ''serious mistakes'' in handling an abuse case while the pope served as its archbishop. The archdiocese said that a priest accused of molesting boys was given therapy in 1980 and later allowed to resume pastoral duties, before committing further abuses and being prosecuted. Pope Benedict, who at the time headed the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising, approved the priest's transfer for therapy. A subordinate took full responsibility for allowing the priest to later resume pastoral work, the archdiocese said in a statement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]