Word: pope
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...pilgrimage, Pope Benedict XVI insisted, not a political outing. The pontiff's just-completed stay in Austria was built around a visit to Mariazell, an 850-year-old shrine to Mary in the foothills of the Alps, just over two hours south of Vienna. And though Benedict used his three-day trip to touch on some familiar hot-button issues both inside and outside his Church - abortion, euthanasia, the so-called "de-Christianization" of Europe - he did so in a context and spirit that matched the humble "just-a-pilgrimage" billing he announced just before takeoff from Rome on Friday...
...strong Catholic Church, he's also one of contemporary society's leading intellectuals - an unquestionably big thinker with the world's biggest platform for espousing his ideas. Speaking in his native German, and amongst believers much like those from the neighboring region of Bavaria where he was born, the Pope seemed especially comfortable on this latest trip. In a steady rain, Benedict pulled out the latest nuggets from his seemingly inexhaustible mine of deep thoughts on a now familiar theme: why his black-and-white brand of faith is the right response in a contemporary world given to compromises...
...Benedict has made his mark as a Pope by exploring timeless philosophical questions with a keen sense of the contemporary context, and by making complex Christian theology digestible for the masses. Progressive Catholics may not like his proselytizing for the traditions of the faith, but no one can deny the clarity with which he lays out his vision...
...parents - both 39-year-old doctors - left the three-year-old and her siblings unattended to dine with friends nearby. Since then, the McCanns have spearheaded a high-profile international campaign to find Madeleine. They have traveled across Europe and to the U.S., attended an audience with the Pope and roped in celebrities such as footballers David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo to keep the case in the public eye and encourage the police to redouble their efforts to find Madeleine. But by the time both submitted to lengthy interrogations by police late last week, the couple themselves had become...
...Pope's press secretary, Father Federico Lombardi, emphasized that this trip is meant to be more a papal pilgrimage than a pastoral visit, with the stated purpose to celebrate the 850th anniversary on Saturday of the shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary. "My voyage is not political," the pontiff told reporters just before takeoff. "I want to join in with other faithful in this act of unity that such a journey brings." Nevertheless, Austrian Catholics will be looking to their pontiff for words of encouragement as the nation's Church continues to recover from a sex abuse scandal...