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• Pa. church conducts mock kidnapping on youth group
• Pope seeks better recognition of Church in Mexico
• Pope visits Mexico pledging to fight drugs "evil"
• Pope says communism has failed in Cuba, urges change
• Pope arrives in Mexico, denouncing violence
• Europe bishops slam Saudi fatwa against Gulf churches
• After Pope criticizes Marxism, Cuba diplomatic
• Pope Benedict XVI lands in Mexico to begin first trip to Spanish-speaking Latin America
• Pope decries Mexico violence, urges change in Cuba
• Hollywood showbiz bible 'Variety' up for sale
• Pope using cane at Rome airport ceremony to see him off on trip to Mexico and Cuba
• Miami exiles soften on pope's Cuba visit
• Dutch Catholic Church Accused of Forcing Castrations
• Pope Condemns Drug Cartels Even As Some Vow to Protect Him in Mexico
• Austrian bishops slam Saudi cleric call to destroy churches
• Pope decries drug violence in Mexico
• Pope on plane to Mexico decries drug-fueled violence wracking country, urges dialogue in Cuba
• Vatican: Pope will bond with Mexico on first trip
• Why the pope wants stronger ties with Mexico and Cuba
• Pope uses cane at airport at start of trip
• Mexican faithful hope pope's visit will ease drugs violence

Pa. church conducts mock kidnapping on youth group Posted: A church subjected members of a youth group to a mock kidnapping and interrogations without telling them it was staged, and the outraged mother of one 14-year-old girl has filed a complaint with police.

Pope seeks better recognition of Church in Mexico Posted: Pope Benedict XVI called for better recognition of the Church upon arriving Friday in Mexico, where he received a rousing welcome in the central, heavily Catholic state of Guanajuato.

Pope visits Mexico pledging to fight drugs "evil" Posted: LEON, Mexico (Reuters) - Pope Benedict arrived in Mexico on Friday promising to "unmask the evil" of drug trafficking in a country that has been ravaged by a surge in gang violence over the past five years. The pope began his three-day visit in the central city of Leon with a festive welcome from President Felipe Calderon after making strong statements aboard his papal plane about Mexico's spiraling drug war. ...

Pope says communism has failed in Cuba, urges change Posted: LEON, MEXICO (Reuters) - Pope Benedict said on Friday that communism had failed in Cuba and offered the Church's help in creating a new economic model, drawing a reserved response from the Cuban government ahead of his visit to the island next week. Speaking on the plane taking him from Rome for a six-day trip to Mexico and Cuba, the Roman Catholic leader told reporters: "Today it is evident that Marxist ideology in the way it was conceived no longer corresponds to reality. ...

Pope arrives in Mexico, denouncing violence Posted: Pope Benedict XVI began a pilgrimage to the New World on Friday, calling on Mexicans to conquer an "idolatry of money" that feeds drug violence and urging Cuba to leave behind a Marxism that "no longer responds to reality."

Europe bishops slam Saudi fatwa against Gulf churches Posted: PARIS (Reuters) - Christian bishops in Germany, Austria and Russia have sharply criticized Saudi Arabia's top religious official after reports that he issued a fatwa saying all churches on the Arabian Peninsula should be destroyed. In separate statements on Friday, the Roman Catholic bishops in Germany and Austria slammed the ruling by Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdulaziz Al al-Shaikh as an unacceptable denial of human rights to millions of foreign workers in the Gulf region. ...

After Pope criticizes Marxism, Cuba diplomatic Posted: Cuba will listen with respect to Pope Benedict XVI during his visit next week even if he differs with island leaders, the country's foreign minister said Friday after the pontiff described Marxism as out of step with the times.

Pope Benedict XVI lands in Mexico to begin first trip to Spanish-speaking Latin America Posted: Pope Benedict XVI lands in Mexico to begin first trip to Spanish-speaking Latin America.

Pope decries Mexico violence, urges change in Cuba Posted: Pope Benedict XVI set off on a pilgrimage to the New World on Friday, calling on Mexicans to conquer an "idolatry of money" that feeds drug violence and urging Cuba to leave behind a Marxism that "no longer responds to reality."

Hollywood showbiz bible 'Variety' up for sale Posted: LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood trade paper Variety, one of the oldest and most respected sources of information for the entertainment industry, is being put up for sale, owners Reed Business Information said on Friday. The unit of business publishing company Reed Elsevier said it was selling Variety as part of its efforts of the past three years to divest its U.S. business magazines. ...

Pope using cane at Rome airport ceremony to see him off on trip to Mexico and Cuba Posted: apparently for the first time in public — to help him walk up to a plane during an airport ceremony to see him off on a pilgrimage to Mexico and Cuba.

Miami exiles soften on pope's Cuba visit Posted: MIAMI (Reuters) - In 1998, Cuban American businessman Carlos Saladrigas was so opposed to Pope John Paul II's historic visit to Cuba that he organized a coalition of Miami civic leaders against it. More than 10,000 people, including Miami's most prominent Cuban American politicians, held a protest rally in the city's Little Havana district, forcing the Church to cancel its plan to send a cruise ship to Cuba carrying pilgrims from Miami. Now, 14 years later, Saladrigas says he was mistaken. ...

Dutch Catholic Church Accused of Forcing Castrations Posted: It not only sounds ludicrous as a medical procedure, but in moral terms it's downright barbarous: castrating young men to "cure" them of their homosexuality. Yet this was how the Roman Catholic Church in the Netherlands treated gays in the 1950s, according to a Dutch newspaper, which claims at least 10 men were forced to go under the knife at the church's behest. ...

Pope Condemns Drug Cartels Even As Some Vow to Protect Him in Mexico Posted: Pope Benedict XVI had some fighting words for Mexican drug cartels ahead of his visit to the country today.  "We must do everything possible to fight this evil which destroys our young. We must unmask this evil, these false promises and lies," Benedict told reporters on the plane taking him to Mexico today. "Our duty, our great responsibility, is to educate consciences, to teach our young moral responsibility" and turn them away from "the worship of money which enslaves men ... I share Mexicans' joy and hope but also their anguish and grief," he said. ...

Austrian bishops slam Saudi cleric call to destroy churches Posted: Austria's bishops on Friday condemned comments by Saudi Arabia's top cleric calling for the destruction of all churches in the Arab peninsula, and urged Muslim leaders to denounce his words.

Pope decries drug violence in Mexico Posted: Pope Benedict XVI denounced the drug-fueled violence wracking Mexico and urged Cubans to use dialogue to find new models to replace Marxism as he began a pilgrimage Friday that will take him to both countries.

Pope on plane to Mexico decries drug-fueled violence wracking country, urges dialogue in Cuba Posted: Pope on plane to Mexico decries drug-fueled violence wracking country, urges dialogue in Cuba.

Vatican: Pope will bond with Mexico on first trip Posted: Pope Benedict XVI headed off on his first trip to Mexico on Friday, using a cane as he boarded the plane for a trip that a representative says will help him build his own bonds with a nation that had a passionate adoration of his predecessor.

Why the pope wants stronger ties with Mexico and Cuba Posted: On Ash Wednesday, which marked the beginning of Lent in the Roman Catholic calendar, the basilica was full in this central Mexican town where 94 percent of residents are Catholic. The priest placed ashes on the foreheads of a continuous stream of congregants: elderly women, schoolgirls in uniform, construction workers, and men in suits – including one struggling to juggle his benediction and his dry cleaning.

Pope uses cane at airport at start of trip Posted: Pope Benedict XVI on Friday used a cane — apparently for the first time in public — to help him walk up to a plane during an airport ceremony to see him off on a pilgrimage to Mexico and Cuba.

Mexican faithful hope pope's visit will ease drugs violence Posted: LEON, Mexico (Reuters) - Pope Benedict begins his first visit to Mexico on Friday with the Roman Catholic faithful hoping he will deliver a strong message of peace to temper a brutal drugs war in the deeply religious country. The pope starts his three-day visit in the central city of Leon, a Catholic stronghold that has avoided the worst of the turf wars and clashes between drug cartels and security forces that have killed some 50,000 people over the past five years. But the relentless bloodletting was still in the mind of many of those waiting to see Benedict. ...

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