Word: pontiff
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...beneath the infamously false Nazi sign, "Arbeit Macht Frei? (Work Will Set You Free), is arguably the most striking image of Benedict?s 14-month-old papacy. Walking alone with his hands clasped in front of him, an utterly grim expression fixed across his face, the 79-year-old pontiff entered as both the leader of the billion-strong Roman Catholic Church, and a World War II-generation German citizen. ?To speak in this place of horror, in this place where unprecedented mass crimes were committed against God and man is almost impossible - and it is particularly difficult and troubling...
...Despite the moving words, the news about this new Pope continues to be that he is not quite like the old Pope. Unlike the Pole, for instance, this German pontiff made no mention of his personal experience during the war; the then Joseph Ratzinger was an unwilling member of the Hitler Youth as a teenager in his native Bavaria. He also did not explicitly ask for forgiveness on behalf of Catholics or Germans. Some Jews will likely be left unsatisfied by Benedict?s avoiding the topic of his homeland's potential collective responsibility for the Holocaust, placing the blame...
...referred to him as "Il Grande" Pope John Paul II. There is no official Vatican procedure for bestowing the title, explained Andrea Tornielli, the Vatican correspondent for Il Giornale daily. "It's something that becomes invested over time," he said. So for the most impassioned followers of the Polish pontiff, there is nothing holding you back from calling him John Paul the Great. If it sticks, he will be only the fourth Pope ever to receive the title, and the first since St. Nicholas the Great in the Ninth Century...
...those praying and chanting for "Santo Subito!" (Saint Right Away!) must be forewarned that even the most obvious Vatican edicts take time. Benedict, a close aide and good friend to the departed pontiff, appears to be leaving his fate in the hands of the crew of Vatican officials and Catholic volunteers doing the paper work and pounding of the pavement to verify the cause. Papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said Saturday that Benedict's words were simply an expression of "his hope" and not a call to speed things up. Normal procedures must be followed for a decision that will...
...with excellent listening skills and a gift with words. He has welcomed his longtime theological nemesis Hans K?ng for a long chat at the Pope's Castel Gandolfo. Benedict's first encyclical was not a finger-wagging treatise on doctrine, but a paean to Christian love. The sometimes shy pontiff has even begun to enjoy all the adoration heaped upon him by the piazzas full of faithful. Still, Benedict has drawn the line on doctrine, pushing through a previously languishing document that bars homosexuals from entering the seminary, while encouraging Catholic politicians to condemn abortion-rights laws and gay marriage...