Word: benediction
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...week-long festival of faith would overtax police and emergency workers. Racing fans were angry that the final Mass would lock up the city's biggest racetrack. Activist groups saw the event as a chance to protest against Catholic teachings on homosexuality and abortion, and demanded that Pope Benedict XVI apologize for sexual crimes committed by Australian clergy...
...Pope's apology for what he termed the "evil" of sexual abuse committed by some clergy was welcomed, although less exuberantly. "I am deeply sorry for the pain and suffering the victims have endured and I assure them that, as their pastor, I too share in their suffering," Pope Benedict said. John Hennessey, a spokesman for victims of abuse by members of the Christian Brothers order, said he was "absolutely encouraged and delighted" by the apology: "I sincerely congratulate His Holiness for being brave enough to show leadership to the world." Chris MacIsaac, of the group Broken Rites, was less...
Between events at World Youth Day in Sydney, presided over by Pope Benedict XVI, many of the Roman Catholic pilgrims shop for souvenirs, call home on their cell phones or sip cappuccinos at outdoor cafes. Others, however, find that money is tight. For Cyprian Mekendu, just getting to Australia took a miracle of sorts. Like many young Papua New Guineans, he has no paid job. He lives by selling vegetables from his food garden outside the capital, Port Moresby. But, says the volunteer youth worker, he never gave up hope: "Jesus said, 'Whatever you ask in my name, I will...
...Pope Benedict XVI, who is currently visiting Australia for World Youth Day, has not addressed the Englaro case specifically. But his lieutenants were quick to respond after the Milan appeals court ruled last week that, in the absence of a living will, Englaro's "presumed desire" to not continue living by artificial means can be deduced from hearing from her loved ones. Monsignor Rino Fisichella, the influential president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, called the decision "de facto euthanasia." Another top Vatican bioethicist, Monsignor Elio Sgreccia, who'd spoken out in the Schiavo case, accused the Milan court...
...Pope Benedict XVI is 81. The Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell, is 67. The median age of Australia's regular Catholic churchgoers is 58. The quarter-million pilgrims who've flocked to Sydney to celebrate World Youth Day are, well... young. But the 2,000-year-old Church that still prints official documents in Latin and the 20-year-olds snapping photos of the Pope on disposable cameras seem to be having a blast together. "The task of young people is to bring fire into the Church," Pell said on Wednesday, after joining 4,400 priests...