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A controversial New Zealand church has rolled out a publicity stunt in time for Christmas - with a billboard showing the Virgin Mary holding a positive pregnancy test.
Auckland's St Matthews in the City Church launched its festive advertising campaign to 'avoid the sentimental and trite' and 'spark thought and conversation'.
Vicar Glynn Cardy said: 'It's real. Christmas is real. It's about a real pregnancy, a real mother and a real child. It's about real anxiety, courage and hope.
Earlier work: The Church's first ad campaign in 2009 saw Joseph in bed with Mary.Controversial: St Matthew in the City Church in Auckland, New Zealand, has launched this billboard depicting Virgin Mary and a positive pregnancy test, on its building
A file photo from July 29, 2009 showing Space Shuttle Endeavour's payload bay with Earth in the background. Endeavour and space station crews gathered on May 21, 2011 for an unprecedented conversation with Pope Benedict.
The shuttle Endeavour and space station crews gathered today for an unprecedented conversation with Pope Benedict, who asked how the space programme can promote peace and if the astronauts pray while in orbit.
“I think it must be obvious to you how we all live together on one Earth and how absurd it is that we fight and kill each one,” the pope said.
“When you are contemplating the Earth from up there, do you ever wonder about the way nations and people live together down here, about how science can contribute to the cause of peace?” he asked,” he continued, via a televised link from the Vatican.
The pope added his personal wish for the recovery of Endeavour commander Mark Kelly’s wife, US Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in an January 8 assassination attempt that killed six and injured 12 others.
“Thank you for mentioning my wife, Gabby,” said Kelly. “We fly over most of the world and you don’t see borders, but at the same time we realise that people fight with each other and there’s a lot of violence in this world and it’s really an unfortunate thing.”
The shuttle commander agreed that people fight for many things, such as the ongoing struggle for democracy in the Middle East and for resources such as energy.
“The science and the technology that we put into the space station to develop a solar power capability, pretty much gives us an unlimited amount of energy and if those technologies could be adapted more on Earth, we could possibly reduce some of that violence,” Kelly said.
The pope also had a personal message for space station flight engineer Paolo Nespoli, whose mother died on May 2.
“How have you been living through this time of pain on the International Space Station? Do you feel isolated and alone, or do you feel united amongst ourselves in a community that follows you with attention and affection?” the pope asked, speaking in Nespoli’s native Italian.
“Holy Father, I felt your prayers and everyone’s prayers arriving up here,” Nespoli replied, also in Italian.
“My colleagues aboard the space station were very close to me at this important time, for me a very intense moment,” Nespoli said. “I felt very far, but also very close.”
Astronaut Roberto Vittori, also from the Italian Space Agency, demonstrated microgravity by flipping a coin given to him by the pope, a symbol of the Vatican’s involvement in the mission, the next-to-last for NASA’s space shuttle programme.
The coin will be returned to the pope after Endeavour lands, now scheduled for June 1.
“To live aboard the International Space Station, to work as an astronaut is extremely intense, but we all have an opportunity when the nights come to look out and, more, to look down at Earth. Our planet, the blue planet, is beautiful,” Vittori said.
“I do pray,” he added. “I do pray for me, for our families, for our future.”
The pope asked the astronauts about the environmental health of the planet, as viewed from space.
“On the one hand, we can see how indescribably beautiful the planet that we have been given is, but on the other hand we can really clearly see how fragile it is,” said NASA astronaut Ron Garan, a member of the live-aboard station crew.
“For instance, the atmosphere, when viewed from space, is paper-thin. And to think that this paper-thin layer is all that separates every living thing from the vacuum of space and is all that protects us is really a sobering thought,” Garan said.
What the astronauts find hopeful, Garan added, is the space station itself, a US$100 billion (RM301 billion) project of 16 nations that took more than a decade to build 355 kilometres above the planet.
“That just shows that by working together and cooperating, we can overcome many of the problems that face our planet,” he said.
Before the pope’s call, the Endeavour astronauts spent an hour surveying a 3.3-inch long section of the shuttle’s heat shield damaged by a debris impact during launch May 16.
The crew used the shuttle’s robot arm to sweep a sensor-laden boom over the damaged ceramic tile, located on the ship’s belly. NASA does not expect the damage to be a concern for re-entry, though the astronauts are trained to make repairs if it turns out to more serious than suspected.
Heat shield damage caused the 2003 Columbia accident, which killed seven astronauts.
Endeavour arrived at the space station on Wednesday to deliver the US$2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer particle detector and spare parts. The crew plans four spacewalks during their 12-day stay, the second of which is scheduled for tomorrow.
Philippine President Benigno Aquino III (centre)receives a miniature belt and souvenir shirt from Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and his wife Jinky during a courtesy call at the Malacanang premier guest house lobby in Manila November 20, 2010.
Philippine politicians resumed debating today a reproductive health bill that is increasingly seen as a test of the political will of President Benigno Aquino, a champion of the measure, and the Catholic Church which fiercely opposes it.
The Church has a high-profile politician arguing its case: Manny Pacquiao, the world’s best pound-for-pound boxer and a neophyte lawmaker, came out against the bill which would improve access to contraception and sex education.
“I am totally against the RH (reproductive health) bill,” Pacquiao, 32, a father-of-four, told reporters after meeting members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.
“Let’s listen to God and not an ordinary man. We should educate people on how to plan their family, but, in accordance with God’s teachings. The RH bill will not end poverty. We must stop corruption if we really want to help our poor people.”
Opponents of the bill have linked the use of contraception to abortion, which is illegal in the Philippines and would remain so. Supporters, including Aquino, say it aims to improve maternal health and family planning to help alleviate poverty.
Aquino’s support is seen as improving the bill’s chances of passing, after the Church has successfully blocked a number of previous versions. But a protracted battle could also erode his personal support and sideline other legislative plans.
Politicians are wary of upsetting the Church, which is not afraid to preach politics from the pulpit, and analysts say the bill could be Aquino’s toughest test — despite an opinion poll showing a clear majority of Filipinos support the measures.
“He can’t risk antagonising further the church and losing altogether its support, because his mother and his predecessor were shored up by the church during their difficult times,” Joselito Zulueta, an analyst on church issues, told Reuters.
“In the cases of Ferdinand Marcos and former President Joseph Estrada, the church’s opposition to their regimes was very decisive.”
Both Marcos and Estrada were forced from office with the backing of the Church, in 1986 and 2001 respectively. The presidency’s of Aquino’s mother, Cory, and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo were strengthened by the Church’s backing.
Aquino pledged last month to push for the enactment of the reproductive health bill, even at the risk of his excommunication from the Church.
Church leaders walked out of talks on the bill last week, and the war or words escalated after a senior bishop compared Aquino with ousted dictator Marcos for warning against calls for civil disobedience by opponents of the bill.
About 80 per cent of the population, which is nearing 100 million, are Roman Catholics, including Aquino.
People pass by a photo of late Pope John Paul II at the Old town of Krakow.
The late Pope John Paul moved a major step closer to sainthood today at a ceremony that drew more than a million people, the largest crowd in Rome since his funeral six years ago.
Here is a timeline of the pontificate of John Paul.
October 16, 1978 — Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Krakow in Poland elected as first non-Italian pope in 455 years.
June 2-10, 1979 — Returns to his communist-ruled homeland, a trip seen as a factor in the rise of the Solidarity movement.
May 13, 1981 — Shot by Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca in St Peter’s Square. Surgery saves his life.
April 13, 1986 — First pope since the times of the apostles to visit a synagogue; calls Jews “our beloved elder brothers”.
December 1, 1989 — Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev visits the Vatican and invites Pope John Paul to make a trip to the Soviet Union, an offer the pope was never able to take up because of resistance by the powerful Russian Orthodox Church.
April 21, 1990 — Flies to Czechoslovakia to hail collapse of communism with President Vaclav Havel.
October 31, 1992 — After 359 years, Pope rehabilitates Galileo, condemned by the Church for saying earth turns around the sun.
December 7, 1992 — Issues the Roman Catholic Church’s new universal Catechism — the first in nearly five centuries.
December 28, 1993 — Vatican and Israel forge full diplomatic ties after 2,000 years of Christian-Jewish hostility.
October 31, 1997 — Says Christians failed during the Holocaust.
March 13, 2000 — Asks pardon for the Church’s sins against Jews, heretics, women and minorities.
March 20-26, 2000 — Visits Holy Land, calls for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
May 8, 2001 — In Syria, becomes first pope to enter mosque.
November 22, 2001 — Makes apology for sexual abuse by priests.
August 2002 — Makes last poignant visit to Polish homeland.
January-March 2003 — Campaigns to avert US invasion of Iraq.
April 2, 2005 — Pope John Paul dies.
April 8, 2005 — Funeral is global media event.
May 2005 — Successor Pope Benedict XVI eases timing rules, putting John Paul on fast-track to sainthood.
June 2005 — Sister Marie Simon-Pierre Normand, a French nun, prays to late pope and says it cures her of Parkinson’s disease.
January 14, 2011 — Benedict declares Normand case a miracle and sets John Paul’s beatification for May 1. A further miracle after that date is needed for canonisation, which would make him a saint.
April 29, 2011-Pope John Paul’s coffin is exhumed ahead of his beatification. It will be placed before the main altar inside the basilica. The closed coffin will remain there for viewing and veneration non-stop until everyone who wants to can see it.
April 30, 2011 — Up to 200,000 people attend an evening prayer vigil in the Circus Maximus, the huge oval once used by the ancient Romans for chariot races.
May 1, 2011 — Pope John Paul is beatified in a ceremony in St Peter’s Square that drew more than a million people.
May 2, 2011 — A mass of thanksgiving is to be held in St Peter’s Square. Once everyone who wants to view the coffin has done so, his remains will be moved to their new resting place in a side chapel of St Peter’s Basilica.
Pope Benedict leads his first mass of the New Year in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican today, January 1, 2011. Benedict will host a summit of world religious leaders in Assisi in October to discuss how they can promote world peace
Pope Benedict, worried over increasing inter-religious violence, will host a summit of world religious leaders in Assisi in October to discuss how they can better promote peace, he announced today.
Benedict told pilgrims and tourists in St Peter’s Square the aim of the meeting would be to “solemnly renew the commitment of believers of every religion to live their own religious faith in the service of the cause for peace”.
He made the announcement hours after a bomb killed at least 17 people in a church in Egypt in the latest attack on Christians in the Middle East and Africa.
The Assisi meeting will take place on the 25th anniversary of a similar encounter hosted by the late Pope John Paul in 1986 in the birthplace of St Francis.
That meeting was attended by Muslim and Jewish leaders and heads of many other religions, including the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists, and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
John Paul called on all nations and groups in conflict to silence their weapons during the meeting. Most groups adhered.
A main theme of the 1986 summit was the public repudiation of the concept of violence in the name of God.
“Humanity ... cannot be allowed to become accustomed to discrimination, injustices and religious intolerance, which today strike Christians in a particular way,” Pope Benedict said in his New Year’s Day homily to 10,000 people in St Peter’s Basilica on the day the Church marks its World Day of Peace.
“Once again, I make a pressing appeal (to Christians in troubled areas) not to give in to discouragement and resignation,” he said.
Hours earlier, in the northern Egyptian city of Alexandria, a bomb at a Coptic Christian church killed at least 17 people and wounded 43 as worshippers gathered to mark the New Year. The Egyptian Interior Ministry said it may have been the work of a foreign-backed suicide bomber.
The attack in Muslim-majority Egypt was the latest against Christians that has worried Church officials.
On Christmas Day, six people died in attacks on two Christian churches in the northeast of Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, and six people were injured by a bomb in a Roman Catholic Church on the island of Jolo in the Philippines.
In a message issued last month for the January 1 peace day, the pope said Christians were the most persecuted religious group in the world today and that it was unacceptable that in some places they had to risk their lives to practise their faith.
In November, 52 hostages and police officers were killed when security forces raided a Baghdad church to free more than 100 Iraqi Catholics captured by al Qaeda-linked gunmen.
The Vatican fears that continuing attacks, combined with severe restrictions on Christians in countries such as Saudi Arabia, are fuelling a Christian exodus from the region.
A record 100,000 Austrians are expected to leave the Roman Catholic Church this year after abuse scandals which have badly damaged its image, a newspaper reported today.
Some 57,000 quit the church in the first six months of the year, Austrian daily Der Standard reported, citing figures from local state authorities. This is already more than the full-year total for 2009 when 53,216 walked out.
A spokesman for Vienna’s Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, who will release official figures in January 2011, was not available for comment.
Hundreds of reports of child sexual abuse in Austrian Catholic institutions were triggered by the resignation of an arch-abbot in Salzburg in April after he admitted to sexually abusing a boy 40 years ago.
The abuse crisis has hit the United States and several other European countries, including the pope’s native Germany.
The church plays an important role in Austria, a conservative Alpine country of eight million, where around two-thirds of people described themselves as Catholic in 2008.
Pope Benedict (picture) rebuked Schoenborn in June after he publicly accused a peer of having covered up sexual abuse.
The Pope's visit to Britain will not be affected by a leaked memo suggesting it could be marked by special "Benedict" condoms, the Vatican has insisted.
The Foreign Office has apologised over the paper after a "brainstorm" which also said the Pope could bless a gay marriage or open an abortion clinic.
UK newspaper reports have quoted Vatican sources as saying the September visit could now be in doubt.
But Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said: "For us the case is closed."
Noting the Foreign Office's apology, Mr Lombardi told the ANSA news agency the incident would have "absolutely" no impact on the Pope's 16 to 19 September visit.
The Foreign Office has stressed the internal memo by a junior civil servant containing "naive and disrespectful" ideas for marking the visit did not reflect its views.
Details of the document emerged after it was obtained by the Sunday Telegraph.
It prompted the UK's ambassador to the Vatican, Francis Campbell, to meet senior officials of the Holy See to express regret on behalf of the government.
The junior civil servant responsible for responsible for setting up the brainstorming and circulating its results said in a cover note: "Please protect; these should not be shared externally. The 'ideal visit' paper in particular was the product of a brainstorm which took into account even the most far-fetched of ideas."
The civil servant had since been put on other duties, the Foreign Office said.
Hard line call
Peter Forster, the bishop of Chester, argued that the memo is symptomatic of a greater problem between religion and the secular government.
"I think that Christianity has been so much a part of the furniture of our society that it tends to be neglected and taken for granted," Dr Forster told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"There's a 'familiarity breeding contempt' in some circles of society about our Christian heritage which leads to the distasteful events we had yesterday with that memo."
The ideas were attached as one of three "background documents" to a memo dated 5 March 2010 inviting officials in Whitehall and Downing Street to attend a meeting to discuss themes for the papal visit.
It suggested Benedict XVI could show his hard line on the sensitive issue of child abuse allegations against Roman Catholic priests by "sacking dodgy bishops" and launching a helpline for abused children.
The document went on to propose the Pope could apologise for the Spanish Armada or sing a song with the Queen for charity.
Pope Benedict XVI's visit is expected to take in Birmingham, as part of the planned beatification of Cardinal John Newman, and Scotland.
It will be the first papal visit in the UK since John Paul II's visit in 1982.
Pope Benedict XVI leads his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican April 21, 2010.
Pope Benedict, who has come under fire from victims' groups for using vague language about the Roman Catholic sexual abuse crisis, Wednesday publicly promised Church "action" to counter the scandal.
In the past month since the sexual abuse crisis has exploded, with allegations mushrooming in the United States, Austria and his native Germany, he has used vague terms such as how the Church was "wounded by our sins" or needed "penance."
Speaking at his general audience, he used the word "abuse" in public for the first time in more than a month, a period in which the scandal has spread extensively and developed into the greatest crisis of his five-year pontificate.
Summarizing his weekend trip to Malta at his weekly general audience in St Peter' Square, Benedict said:
"I wanted to meet some people who were victims of abuse by members of the clergy. I shared with them their suffering and with emotion I prayed with them, promising them action on the part of the Church."
Victims groups had demanded the pope say something directly in public instead of using indirect reference and generalities.
A statement Sunday in Malta after his meeting with eight abuse victims said the pope promised them the Church would do "all in its power to investigate allegations, to bring to justice those responsible for abuse and to implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people in the future."
That was one of the clearest statements yet from the Vatican that it wanted local bishops to cooperate with civil authorities in prosecuting priests who abused children.
HUNDREDS OF CASES
Hundreds of cases of sexual and physical abuse of youths in recent decades by priests have come to light in Europe and the United States in the last month as disclosures encourage long-silent victims to finally go public with their complaints.
Many cases date back so far that the statute of limitations has expired.
In the past month, the pope himself was accused of turning a blind eye in 1980, when he was archbishop of Munich in Germany, to the case of a priest who was sent there for therapy after sexually abusing children and soon transferred to parish work.
His deputy has taken responsibility for that decision.
As Benedict marked the fifth anniversary of his pontificate Monday, the Vatican was swept up in another potentially explosive case.
Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, a former Vatican official who congratulated a French bishop for hiding a sexually abusive priest in 2001, told a conference at the weekend in Spain he acted with the approval of the late Pope John Paul.
Last week the Vatican spokesman indirectly confirmed that a 2001 letter Castrillon Hoyos sent to the bishop posted on a French website was authentic and was proof the Vatican was right to tighten up its procedures on sex abuse cases that year.
A U.S. victims group has demanded that the archdiocese of Washington rescind an invitation to Castrillion Hoyos to lead a mass this weekend in the American capital to mark the start of the sixth year of Benedict's papacy.
Lawsuit: Bishop Norberto Rivera (left) and Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony (right) are accused of shuttling a paedophile priest between the US and Mexico in the late 1980s to shield him from prosecution
A Mexican citizen has filed a lawsuit in California accusing Roman Catholic cardinals in Mexico City and Los Angeles of conspiring to shelter a Mexican paedophile priest in both countries.
The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Los Angeles, alleges that then-Bishop Norberto Rivera, head of the Diocese of Tehuacan, and Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony shuttled Father Nicolas Aguilar Rivera between the US and Mexico in the late 1980s to shield him from prosecution.
Parishioners in both countries complained he had molested young boys. Aguilar Rivera was defrocked last summer and remains at large in Mexico, where he was believed to be living out of his car in Puebla.
He has been wanted by US authorities on 19 felony counts of lewd conduct since he fled his temporary post in Los Angeles in 1988 and returned to Mexico.
Once back in Mexico, Aguilar Rivera continued to work as a priest for at least another decade and molested more young boys in Mexico City and in the Diocese of Tehuacan, in central Mexico, attorneys said. One of those boys is the plaintiff.
'This priest was not only a rapist, but remained a priest and at large and was allowed to rape this child and many others,' lawyer Jeff Anderson said.
'He was raped by this priest as a child in Mexico after both cardinals knew this priest posed a serious risk of harm.'
Father Hugo Valdemar, Cardinal Rivera's spokesman, said the Mexican cardinal was not responsible for the priest's wrongdoing and said suing the cardinal made no sense.
Tod Tamberg, a spokesman for Cardinal Mahony, said any allegations that the Cardinal helped cover up Aguilar Rivera's crimes were 'ludicrous'.
Judges have thrown out two previous lawsuits filed against the Mexican cardinal in the US, saying a Mexican citizen cannot sue another Mexican citizen in US court. Mahony settled his portion of an earlier lawsuit in 2007.
Lawyers filed the suit, seeking damages and a jury trial in the US, under the 221-year-old Alien Tort Claims Act - an 18th century law which allows non-US citizens access to courts to challenge violations of international laws or treaties.
According to the lawsuit, in 1987 then-Bishop Rivera contacted Mahony and asked him to take Aguilar Rivera in as a visiting priest for one year due to 'family and health reasons.'
The bishop later introduced the priest to Mahony with a letter that mentioned Aguilar Rivera had been brutally attacked in his Mexican parish, possibly because of 'problems of homosexuality' that had not been proven.
Mahony has said he never received letters from the Mexican bishop explaining the priest's history.
Plaintiff attorneys allege that 'homosexual problems' was code among church officials for priests who were pedophiles.
Within a few months, Aguilar Rivera was accused of sexually molesting children at two different Los Angeles parishes.
He fled to Mexico in 1988 days before U.S. authorities filed molestation charges against him.
Aguilar Rivera continued to work as a priest in Mexico until at least 1997, when he is accused of molesting two boys, ages 12 and 13, at San Vicente de Ferrer Church in the Diocese of Tehuacan, plaintiff attorneys said.
Another boy alleged he was raped in 1994 at a parish in Mexico City.
One of those boys, the plaintiff, alleges Aguilar Rivera raped him for several months.
With ancient hymns and religious rock bands, Christians from around the world are celebrating Easter Sunday in Jerusalem.
Armenian Christians in ornate robes are holding a ceremony in the dark, incense-filled chambers of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. Many Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and then resurrected on Easter Sunday at this site.
Outside the Old City, members of Protestant church groups held their own celebration among the trees of the site known as the Garden Tomb, where some traditions say Jesus was buried.
Two guitarists, a drummer and a keyboard player led hundreds of worshippers in English prayer.
"All hail, redeemer, for thou hast died for me," they sang, some raising their hands and closing their eyes.
Thousands of Christian pilgrims streamed into Jerusalem's cavernous Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Easter Sunday at the traditional site of Jesus's crucifixion and burial.
Incense filled the air as Western and Orthodox pilgrims packed into the labyrinthine maze of chapels and crypts lit by thousands of candles as services were held at the grotto where Jesus is believed to have risen from the dead.
Women in shawls knelt to kiss the stone where Jesus's body is believed to have been prepared for burial as bearded monks in long black robes watched over visitors making their way through Christianity's holiest site.
"I came all the way from Belarus for the holiday," said Lana, 38, as she waited in a long line at one of the chapels. "I am so happy to be able to light a candle at this holy tomb."
The centuries-old church is shared uneasily by six denominations of Jesus Christ's followers -- Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian Orthodox, Egyptian Copts, Syrian Orthodox and Ethiopian Orthodox.
In previous years Israeli police have had to rush into the church to break up fist fights between rival monks over alleged attempts to alter a delicate status quo hammered out over centuries, but this year calm prevailed.
The Latin Patriarch Fuad Twal welcomed the fact that Easter fell on the same day for Western and Eastern denominations, saying in his Easter sermon that "this year... our joy is double."
"Someone might be disturbed by the overlapping of prayers and songs... Yet this seeming cacophony, lived in faith, becomes instead a symphony that expresses the unity of the faith," he said.
Israeli police had stepped up security across the walled Old City during holy week, when thousands of pilgrims trace Jesus's final steps through its winding cobblestone streets.
Israel maintained a general closure of the West Bank imposed for the weeklong Jewish Passover holiday but the military said it issued more than 10,000 permits allowing Palestinian Christians to enter for up to two weeks.
Another 500 Christians from the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, about a fourth of the territory's tiny non-Muslim minority, were also granted permits to travel to Israel and the West Bank, according to the military.
The Palestinians have however complained of restrictions, including long waits at the hundreds of checkpoints scattered across the occupied territory.
"My family got permits to come to Jerusalem but they decided not to because they will suffer at Qalandiya," said Rimas Kasabreh, 34, a Greek Orthodox woman living in Jerusalem, referring to the main checkpoint outside the city.
Her family hails from a village near the northern West Bank town of Jenin. "The lines take hours. It would spoil the happiness of the holiday," she said.
Jerusalem, with famed sites sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians, has seen rising tensions in recent weeks following Israel's announcement of plans for new Jewish settlements in the mostly Arab eastern side of the city.
The Old City is part of east Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Six Day War and annexed in a move not recognised by any other government.
Israel views all of Jerusalem as its "eternal, undivided" capital, but the Palestinians have demanded east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, and the dispute over the city has paralysed US-led peace efforts.
In an Easter message delivered at the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI called for a "true exodus" from the Middle East conflict.
"I pray... that in the Middle East, and especially in the land sanctified by (Christ's) death and resurrection, the peoples will accomplish a true and definitive 'exodus' from war and violence to peace and concord," he said.
A Catholic priest prays during the Washing of the Feet ceremony inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed by many Christians to be the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem's Old City, Thursday, April 1, 2010. Christians from around the world are in the Holy Land marking the solemn period of Easter.
Worshippers gathered at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to light their candles on the eve of Easter Sunday
Gaza's Christians celebrate Easter mass.
Pilgrims attended services held at the grotto where Jesus is believed to have risen from the dead
Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem Theofilos III, right, washes the foot of a priest during the Washing of the Feet ceremony outside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, traditionally believed by many Christians to be the site of the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem's Old City, Thursday, April 1, 2010. Christians from around the world are in the Holy Land marking the solemn period of Easter
Ethiopian Orthodox Christian pilgrims pray inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, traditionally believed to be the site of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, in Jerusalem's Old City, Thursday, April 1, 2010. Christians from around the world are in the Holy Land marking the solemn period of Easter.
Pope Benedict XVI has said Easter brings a message of pardon, goodness and truth to a suffering world but he has made no mention of the clergy abuse cover-up scandals that are buffeting him and his church.
The Urbi et Orbi Easter message is one of two major speeches the pope gives every year to the general public.
Applause rang out in St. Peter's Square as Benedict concluded a Mass during which a senior cardinal praised him as a courageous leader and dismissed the allegations as petty gossip.
Benedict decried the suffering of Christians in Pakistan and elsewhere because of religious persecution. He also recalled the hardships of earthquake victims in Haiti and Chile and denounced violence emanatingfrom drug trafficking in Latin America.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Buffeted by sex abuse scandals, the Vatican kept up its stiff defense of Pope Benedict XVI Sunday, hailing him at the start of Easter Mass as an unfailing and courageous leader of a flock that takes no heed of "petty gossip."
The tribute by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, was an unusual departure from Easter ceremony traditions in St. Peter's Square. It underscored the Vatican's determination to defend Benedict from accusations that he was part of a culture of secrecy toward handling sex accusations involving clergy during the time before he became pope.
Benedict looked weary as he listened to Sodano's speech. A canopy on the central steps of St. Peter's Basilica shielded him from light rain.
Sodano said that, despite the rain, the atmosphere should be considered sunny.
"With this spirit today we rally close around you, successor to (St.) Peter, bishop of Rome, the unfailing rock of the Holy church of Christ, to sing with you the Alleluia of Christian faith and hope," Sodano told the pope.
"Holy Father, on your side are the people of God, who do not let themselves be influenced by the petty gossip of the moment, by the trials which sometimes buffet the community of believers."
Tens of thousands of pilgrims, tourists and Romans turned out despite the weather.
Sunday's edition of the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano denounced the accusations against the pope as a "vile defamation operation."
The Vatican has accused the media of fanning the scandal by reporting on cases of priests who raped children and bishops who either didn't report it to police or were obstructed from pursuing church trials by the Vatican.
Benedict hasn't made any explicit reference to the scandal since he released a letter to the Irish faithful concerning the abuse crisis in that country on March 20.
In rushing to Benedict's defense, the Vatican has angered abuse victims and their advocates, as well as Jewish leaders, who fumed after the papal preacher in a Good Friday sermon told the pope that the accusations against him were akin to the campaign of anti-Semitic violence that culminated in the Holocaust.
The preacher, the Rev. Raniero Cantalamessa, told Corriere della Sera daily in an interview Sunday that he had no intention "of hurting the sensibilities of the Jews and of the victims of pedophilia."
"I have sincerely regretted and I ask forgiveness, reaffirming my solidarity with both" lobbies, he was quoted as saying.
Pope Benedict XVI, right, is greeted by Cardinal Angelo Sodano during an Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican
Pope Benedict XVI looks on during an Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, April 4, 2010.
Pope Benedict XVI, right, is hugged by Cardinal Angelo Sodano during an Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican,
A member of the chorus holds a music score during the Easter Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI, Sunday, April 4, 2010.
atican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, right, and Cardinal Angelo Sodano attend the Easter Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's square, at the Vatican,
Pope Benedict XVI is helped as he arrives to the altar to celebrate the Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday,
Pope Benedict XVI bows in front of an icon of Jesus during an Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 4, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI looks on as he celebrates the Easter Mass in St. Peter's square, at the Vatican, Sunday, April 4, 2010.
Members of the Italian Armed Forces stand in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican during the Easter Mass celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI, Sunday, April 4, 2010
Pope Benedict XVI, left, flanked by master of ceremonies Bishop Guido Marini arrives in St. Peter's Square to celebrate the Easter Mass at the Vatican, Sunday,
Pope Benedict XVI blows inside an amphora containing holy oil during a Chrism Mass, in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 1, 2010. Benedict XVI urged priests to oppose violence as he led a ceremony dedicated to the priesthood Thursday, marking a Holy Week with his church buffeted by clergy sex abuse scandals. The Chrism Mass marks the st
Pope Benedict XVI washes the foot of an unidentified layman in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, Thursday, April 1, 2010. The feet-washing ceremony symbolizes humility and commemorates Jesus' last supper with his 12 apostles on the evening before his Good Friday crucifixion
Archbishop William J. Levada answers questions after being named by Pope Benedict XVI as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for the Catholic Church, the highest post held by an American prelate, during a news conference in San Francisco, in this Friday, May 13, 2005 file photo. Levada said in an article posted on the Vatican's Web site that a lengthy trial for the Rev. Lawrence Murphy would have been "useless" because the priest was dying by the time his diocese initiated a canonical trial. Levada was critical of The New York Times, which first published details of the decision last week
Pope Benedict XVI arrives to celebrate the feet-washing rite in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, Thursday April 1, 2010. The feet-washing ceremony symbolizes humility and commemorates Jesus' last supper with his 12 apostles on the evening before his Good Friday crucifixion.
Pope Benedict XVI holds up the Holy Gospel as he celebrates a Chrism Mass, in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 1, 2010. Benedict XVI urged priests to oppose violence as he led a ceremony dedicated to the priesthood Thursday, marking a Holy Week with his church buffeted by clergy sex abuse scandals. The Chrism Mass marks the start of the Easter celebrations.
Pope Benedict XVI washes the foot of an unidentified layman in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, Thursday, April 1, 2010. The feet-washing ceremony symbolizes humility and commemorates Jesus' last supper with his 12 apostles on the evening before his Good Friday crucifixion.
Pope Benedict XVI washes the foot of an unidentified layman in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome, Thursday, April 1, 2010. The feet-washing ceremony symbolizes humility and commemorates Jesus' last supper with his 12 apostles on the evening before his Good Friday crucifixion.
Pope Benedict XVI holds his pastoral staff as he arrives to celebrate a Chrism Mass, in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Thursday, April 1, 2010. Benedict XVI urged priests to oppose violence as he led a ceremony dedicated to the priesthood Thursday, marking a Holy Week with his church buffeted by clergy sex abuse scandals. The Chrism Mass marks the start of the Easter celebrations.
Cardinals across Europe used their Holy Thursday sermons to defend Pope Benedict XVI from accusations he played a role in covering up sex abuse scandals, and an increasingly angry Vatican sought to deflect any criticism in the Western media.
The relationship between the church and the media has become increasingly bitter as the scandal buffeting the 1 billion-member church has touched the pontiff himself. On Wednesday, the church singled out The New York Times for criticism in an unusually harsh attack.
Western news organizations, including The Associated Press, have reported extensively on the burgeoning scandal, and new details have emerged on an almost daily basis.
On Holy Thursday, Benedict first celebrated a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica dedicated to the union between the pope and the world's priests. In the late afternoon, he washed the feet of 12 priests in a ceremony symbolizing humility and commemorating Christ's Last Supper with his 12 apostles on the evening before his Good Friday crucifixion.
Although there were expectations by some that the pope would address the crisis, Benedict made no reference to the scandal at either ceremony.
Venice's Cardinal Angelo Scola expressed solidarity with Benedict in his Holy Thursday homily in the lagoon city, describing him as a victim of "deceitful accusations." He praised the pope as seeking to remove all "dirt" from the priesthood.
Warsaw Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz said the church should take notice of individual tragedies and treat sex abuse cases very seriously, but at the same time, he criticized the media for "targeting the whole church, targeting the pope, and to that we must say `no' in the name of truth and in the name of justice."
And Vienna's Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, speaking of Benedict's long years as head of a Vatican office that investigates abuse, said the future pope "had a very clear line of not covering up but clearing up."
He had also reflected on the issue at a Wednesday evening service:
"I admit that I often feel a sense of injustice these days. Why is the church being excoriated? Isn't there also abuse elsewhere? ... And then I'm tempted to say: 'Yes, the media just don't like the church! Maybe there's even a conspiracy against the church?' But then I feel in my heart that no, that's not it."
The church on Wednesday presented its highest-level official response yet to one of the most explosive recent revelations regarding sex abuse — a story in the Times on the church's decision in the 1990s not to defrock a Wisconsin priest accused of molesting deaf boys.
It was the latest in a series of attacks on the press. Last week, L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican's daily newspaperdenounced what it said was a "clear and despicable intention" by the media to strike at Benedict "at any cost."
On Thursday, the newspaper carried a story on its front page on German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcoming efforts to stem sex abuse, headlining "German chancellor praises the Catholic church."
In the article posted Wednesday on the Vatican's Web site, Cardinal William Levada, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, wrote: "I am not proud of America's newspaper of record, The New York Times, as a paragon of fairness."
Levada, an American, said the newspaper wrongly used the case of the Rev. Lawrence Murphy to find fault in Benedict's handling of abuse cases.
A Times spokeswoman defended the articles and said no one has cast doubt on the reported facts.
"The allegations of abuse within the Catholic church are a serious subject, as the Vatican has acknowledged on many occasions," said Diane McNulty. "Any role the current pope may have played in responding to those allegations over the years is a significant aspect of this story."
The Vatican newspaper also carried a front-page commentary to mark the fifth anniversary of the death of Benedict's predecessor, the much beloved Pope John Paul II.
The article said John Paul wanted Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger to work by his side from the early years of his papacy. John Paul brought the archbishop of Munich to Rome to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the powerful office that among other things investigates clerical sex abuse.
The Pope is under pressure over abuse allegations in the Catholic Church
Protesters at Westminster Cathedral call for the Pope to step down
The Pope has spoken of the need not to be intimidated by critics, in a veiled reference to anger at the Catholic Church over past sex abuse scandals.
At a Mass in Rome's St Peter's Square, he said his faith would help give him the courage to deflect "petty gossip".
The Pope has been accused of failing to act over the case of a US priest alleged to have abused 200 deaf boys.
But the Archbishop of Westminster defended the Pope, saying he had introduced rules to protect children.
'Swamp of sin'
At the Palm Sunday service, Pope Benedict, 82, did not directly mention the wider scandal - involving the abuse of children by priests in several countries.
But he told the tens of thousands of people gathered to hear him that God helped lead "towards the courage of not allowing oneself to be intimidated by the petty gossip of dominant opinion".
He also said man sometimes fell to the "lowest, vulgar levels" and sank "into the swamp of sin and dishonesty".
The most senior Catholic in England and Wales, Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols, said just one case of child abuse was enough to create "justifiable anger".
He said the "anger and dismay" over the alleged cover-up by some Catholic clergy was "proper".
However, he added allegations about the Pope's involvement were unfounded.
Vatican denial
He told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show: "He [the Pope] pushed forward for example a fast-track to defrock priests who have committed abuse. He changed the statute of limitations in Church law.
"He changed the law so that sexual offences committed with anyone under the age of 18 would be a crime in Church law."
The Pope has been accused of failing to act over complaints during the 1990s about Fr Lawrence Murphy, who was alleged to have abused some 200 deaf boys in Milwaukee.
As head of the Vatican office dealing with sex abuses, the Pope - then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - allegedly did not respond to letters about the case from a archbishop concerned about the abuse.
The Pope's intervention, following a plea by the priest concerned, is also said to have resulted in the halting of a church trial.
The Vatican newspaper denied this, calling the claims a "smear" attempt.
Meanwhile on Sunday, members of Westminster Cathedral's congregation clashed with placard-carrying protesters calling for the Pope to resign.
The Protest the Pope coalition said he should go because he failed to ensure priests who abused young people were reported to police.
Human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell alleged the pontiff ordered a cover-up in a 2001 edict to Catholic Bishops worldwide.
Mr Tatchell said: "The buck stops with him and he should resign."
The Pope has apologised to victims of abuse before and recently said sorry to them in a pastoral letter to Irish Catholics.
He said he acknowledged the sense of betrayal in the Church felt by victims and their families.
The Vatican has vigorously defended Pope Benedict's record in office.No pope has resigned as head of the Catholic Church in modern times
The possibility has been raised that Pope Benedict XVI should resign over the snowballing paedophile priest scandal in the Catholic Church. The BBC's Vatican correspondent, David Willey, examines the question.
In theory, there is nothing to stop Pope Benedict taking a piece of paper out of his writing desk and drafting a letter of resignation to hand to the College of Cardinals, the supreme electoral body of the Catholic Church.
Under Canon Law, the only conditions for the validity of such a resignation are that it be made freely and be properly published.
But no pope has done this in modern times.
There has, however, been persistent speculation by historians that during World War II, Pope Pius XII drew up a document stating that if he were to be kidnapped by the Nazis he was to be considered to have resigned, and a successor should be chosen.
As the Vatican has delayed the full release of its archives relating to Pius's pontificate, because of a dispute over his reaction to the Nazi Holocaust, there is no means of verifying whether this is true.
Rival claimants
Going back further in time, the last case of a pope resigning dates back a further five centuries. Pope Gregory XII - who reigned from 1406 to 1415 - did so to end what was called the Western Schism.
There were three rival claimants to the papal throne at that time, the Roman Pope Gregory XII, the Avignon Pope Benedict XIII, and the Antipope John XXIII. Before resigning, Gregory formally convened a Church Council and authorised it to elect his successor.
The only other significant example of a papal resignation dates back even further in time.
In 1294, Pope Celestine V, only five months after his election, issued a solemn decree declaring it permissible for a pope to resign and then did so.
He lived for two further years as a hermit, and was later declared a saint. The decree that he issued ended any doubt among canon lawyers about the validity of a papal resignation.
Having said all this, the likelihood of Pope Benedict voluntarily laying down his high office remains slim.
The Vatican is for the moment vigorously defending the record of his five-year papacy, and Benedict's previous conduct during the period when he was Cardinal Archbishop of Munich and subsequently head of the CDF, the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, the watchdog Vatican department responsible for disciplining priests guilty of bad conduct.
Security guards (L) block an unidentified man who stood in the audience and shouted in English at Pope Benedict XVI
Martin McGuinness said Cardinal Sean Brady should "consider his position" over the row
Pope Benedict XVI waves to faithful during his weekly general audience
Cardinal Sean Brady has previously said he would only resign if asked to by Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI faced mounting pressure Wednesday over worldwide child sex abuse allegations, as he vowed to write to Irish Catholics this week offering "healing and renewal" over the scandal.
Pope Benedict's pledge came as Cardinal Sean Brady, the Catholic Church's head in Ireland, apologised "with all my heart" for attending meetings in 1975 where child victims of a notorious paedophile priest were sworn to secrecy.
The pastoral letter will give the pontiff, who has described child abuse as a "grave sin", the chance to reassure the nearly 90 percent of Ireland's four million population who are Catholics over the scandal.
Pope Benedict was heckled in St Peter's Square shortly before announcing he would sign the open letter Friday to Ireland's Roman Catholics, saying he hoped it would "help in the process of repentance, healing and renewal."
As well as Ireland, other countries to be shaken by claims that the Roman Catholic church covered up child abuse by clergy include Brazil and Germany, where some two-thirds of dioceses are implicated.
This includes Munich and Freising where, as Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict was archbishop from 1977 to 1982.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke out on the issue Wednesday, saying child abuse was "a heinous crime" but one which had happened "in many areas of society".
Meanwhile Brady, facing calls from victims' groups to quit, said in a Saint Patrick's Day address in Armagh, Northern Ireland, he would be "reflecting carefully" in the coming weeks and asked worshippers to "pray for me".
He has previously insisted he would only resign if asked to by the pope.
"I want to say to anyone who has been hurt by any failure on my part that I apologise to you with all my heart," Brady added.
"I also apologise to all those who feel I have let them down. Looking back, I am ashamed that I have not always upheld the values that I profess and believe in."
Brady attended meetings in 1975 where two alleged victims of Father Brendan Smyth signed an oath of secrecy.
The church was investigating sex abuse complaints against Smyth, believed to have abused hundreds of children over four decades in Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the US.
He was finally jailed in the 1990s and died in prison.
The religious order to which Smyth belonged also apologised to his victims and accepted "failures" over how it dealt with him Wednesday.
"On many occasions, over several decades, Father Smyth availed of psychiatric and other forms of treatment. None of these interventions had any effect," the Norbertine Community said in a statement.
"It is clear that the only effective means of dealing with a person of his propensity is through the rigour of criminal law."
It added that it had since made "restitution" to 42 of the priest's victims and given many others counselling and support.
But a group representing abuse victims said Brady should now quit over the Smyth affair.
"We cannot understand why he believes he should not now resign," Voice of the Faithful said.
"Unquestionably much suffering resulted, suffering which could have been prevented if churchmen like Cardinal Brady had acted differently."
Martin McGuinness, Northern Ireland's deputy first minister, also said Brady should "consider his position" over the row.
McGuinness, a Catholic whose party, Sinn Fein, is also heavily Catholic, added: "Catholics throughout the island of Ireland want to see real leadership at this time."
German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes a point during her speech at the German lower house of parliament Bundestag in Berlin
Chancellor Angela Merkel demanded "truth and clarity" on Wednesday about sexual abuse committed by priests in the Roman Catholic Church against children.
But Merkel, in a speech to parliament, also said it makes no sense to limit any such investigation to the Church, backing the position taken by German bishops. She said child sexual and physical abuse was a broader problem affecting all of society.
"We all agree sexual abuse against children is a despicable crime," said Merkel, leader of Germany's conservative Christian Democrats. "There is only one way for society to come clean and that is truth and clarity about everything that has happened."
The head of Germany's Catholic Church, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, apologized last week to victims of child abuse by priests.
More than 250 people were abused at Church-run schools in past decades, according to German media reports. Many cases of abuse at boarding schools also surfaced. Sexual abuse scandals have also rocked the church in the United States, Ireland and Austria.
In the Netherlands more than 200 Catholics have come forward to report alleged sexual abuse by priests, often decades ago.
CONFIDENCE DECLINES
Earlier on Wednesday, Pope Benedict said he hoped his imminent letter on the child abuse problem will "help repentance, healing and renewal."
The Vatican has acknowledged that confidence in the Church has declined. But senior prelates have said it is unfair to single out the Church for child abuse, which also occurs in secular institutions.
"Even if the first cases we've heard about are from the Catholic Church, it doesn't make any sense to limit this to one group," said Merkel, the daughter of a protestant pastor. "It's happened in many parts of society."
The scandal in Germany has personally drawn in Bavarian-born Pope Benedict, whose brother ran for 30 years the prestigious Regensburg choir which has been linked to cases of abuse.
His brother, Rev. Georg Ratzinger, has admitted to repeatedly slapping boys in his Regensburg choir. Ettal Abbey, scene of brutal beatings and sexual abuse in the past, is located in the archdiocese which the Pope once headed as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
Merkel's Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger has accused the Vatican of covering up scandals and pressed the bishops to cooperate with prosecutors "like in Ireland."
Merkel welcomed a roundtable planned for next month on how to better protect children which will include Catholic and Protestant leaders, teachers, civil society and victims. She said abuse victims are scarred for the rest of their lives and urged considering extending the statute of limitations for filing charges against abusers beyond the current 10 years.
"There's no way to make complete reparations for that," she said. "But we'll have to talk about (changing) the statute of limitations and we'll have to talk about compensation."
