The Catholic Sun

Even though Pope Benedict XVI will spend his retirement near Rome and then inside Vatican City, he will not play any role in the upcoming election for a new pope, and he will not interfere with the responsibilities and decision-making activities of the new pontiff, the Vatican spokesman said.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican monastery where Pope Benedict XVI intends to live began its life as the Vatican gardener's house, but was...

Christianity isn’t therapy, proclaimed Jonathan Reyes, director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’s Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development, told more than 2,100 Catholic men gathered a Grand Canyon University for the Men’s Conference.

Catholic Charities offers free Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) to families making less than $50,000 a year. The program is part of Empower-U, which helps those in need break the cycle of poverty.

As much as he astonished the world when he announced his resignation Feb. 11, Pope Benedict XVI's decision seems almost predictable in hindsight. Given his previous statements on the subject and his recent signs of aging, one might say that people should have seen it coming.

During his almost eight-year pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI impressed the world as a teacher, guiding Catholics to the sources of the faith and urging modern society not to turn its back on God.

While the surprise resignation of Pope Benedict XVI is a first for the church in centuries, it also leads to a complicated period of transition that ends in the election of a new pope.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Here is the Vatican's English translation of Pope Benedict XVI's resignation remarks, delivered in Latin, during an ordinary public consistory to approve the canonization of new saints Feb. 11.

From the moment he was elected pope at the age of 78 in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI has kept a schedule that appeared light compared to that of Blessed John Paul II, but busy for a man who had wanted to retire to study, write and pray when he turned 75.

U.S. Catholic Church leaders who awoke to the news of Pope Benedict XVI's announcement that he will retire at the end of February said they were surprised by the news but admired the pontiff's courage and humility for making the decision.