Pope Benedict will receive the a papal pension of €2,500-a-month. The pension is 50 per cent less than that awarded to a retired cardinal. The pope’s pension is almost identical to the maximum Social Security benefit a U.S. retiree could earn if they retired this year. To receive a check that size in the USA, a retiree Read more
The Italian cardinal leading Pope Benedict XVI’s Lenten retreat has stolen the limelight by tweeting and podcasting his reflections, signaling that detachment from the outside world doesn’t have to mean a total media blackout. The high-flying papal retreat preacher Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi is tweeting his talks in Italian and English Twitter accounts, @CardRavasi and @CardRavasi_en. Cardinal Read more
As more than 50,000 supporters jammed into St. Peter’s Square on Sunday for Pope Benedict’s next-to-last weekly blessing, as it emerged the ageing pontiff may have gone blind in one eye, reports the LA Times. New evidence is emerging of Benedict’s declining physical condition. Peter Seewald, a German journalist who has interviewed Benedict on numerous Read more
As days pass since the announcement of Benedict XVI’s resignation, it becomes clear that his decision is one whose profound significance will only gradually become clear. Benedict is a teacher, a writer, a scholar, for whom words are never trivialized. Vatican observers are listening carefully to each of his speeches, and watching every gesture and Read more
As Catholics, the media and people from all around the world try and digest Pope Benedict’s resignation, I think it’s fair to ask ‘why’, and ‘why now.’ Benedict says his health is not up to it. That seems fair. If the Pope says he’s not up to it, I think we have to believe him Read more
Anyone who believes Timothy Cardinal Dolan has a chance of becoming the next pope is smoking funny cigarettes — so says Dolan. At St. Patrick’s Cathedral yesterday, Dolan was asked about rumors that he would be named the first American pope when the College of Cardinals convenes next month to select Pope Benedict’s successor. “I’d Read more
One of the nuns that lived in the monastery where the Pope will retire says his choice shows Pope Benedict’s “great simplicity” because the new papal retirement monastery “is not a work of art or comparable with other Vatican buildings.” “His decision to retire has surprised me, but he is very brave, although he is Read more
Pope Benedict’s decision to live in the Vatican after he resigns will provide him with security and privacy. It will also offer legal protection from any attempt to prosecute him in connection with sexual abuse cases around the world, Church sources and legal experts say. “His continued presence in the Vatican is necessary, otherwise he Read more
The Vatican is considering calls from cardinals to hold a papal conclave earlier than planned, after Pope Benedict XVI steps down on 28 February. Church officials want a successor to be in place before the start of Holy Week on 24 March – the most important event in the Christian calendar. Under current rules, the Read more
Written by Mgr Charles Burns, the Ecclesiastical Adviser at the British Embassy to the Holy See, this free publication explains simply and clearly what happens before, during and after a Papal election. Download PDF