Yahoo! News: Religion News

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• Pope resignation leaves Catholic world in shock
• Latin America would like a Latin pope, odds slim
• Pope's bombshell sends troubled church scrambling
• Benedict stumbled trying to right troubled church
• Rare papal resignation not a cause for anxiety or worry: Canadian archbishop
• Pope shows lifetime jobs aren't always for life
• Pope's sudden resignation sends shockwaves through Church
• Pope Benedict's legacy: More influential than Pope John Paul II?
• Shock step by traditional pope in line with Church law
• Pope's mission to revive faith clouded by scandal
• Our turn next for pope, say Latin Americans
• Los Angeles Cardinal Mahony to help elect new pope
• How will the Catholic Church handle a living ex-pope?
• Vatican: Pope too weary at his age for the job
• Fantino defends Uganda grants policy against religious, anti-gay claims
• Obama extends prayers for Pope Benedict as he steps down
• Latin-loving pope uses ancient language to quit
• Catholics shocked as pope resigns, but little emotion
• Did medieval predecessor inspire Pope's retirement?
• Bookmakers see three-cardinal race to be next Pope
• Catholics surprised at pope's decision to retire
• AP PHOTOS: A look back at Pope Benedict XVI
• Pope to resign Feb. 28, says he's too infirm
• Pope Benedict XVI tried to awaken faith but papacy clouded by sex abuse scandal
• Pope Benedict XVI retires: Will the next pope come from the 'global south?'
• A Canadian pope? Ouellet touted as among leading candidates to succeed Benedict
• Pope Benedict XVI considered a friend in Israel
• What's Next for the Catholic Church?
• Pope's resignation stuns native Germany
• Electing a pope: conclave, oath, chimney smoke

Pope resignation leaves Catholic world in shock Posted: 11 Feb 2013 05:02 PM PST VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict left the Catholic world in shock after becoming the first pontiff since the Middle Ages to resign his office, saying that failing strength had left him unable to lead the church through a period of relentless change and turmoil. The 85-year-old pontiff announced his abdication as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics in a speech delivered in Latin, the universal language of the church, to cardinals meeting in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace. ...

Latin America would like a Latin pope, odds slim Posted: 11 Feb 2013 04:35 PM PST MEXICO CITY (AP) — Latin America is home to the world's biggest Roman Catholic population, but chances seem slim that the next pope will come from the region.

Pope's bombshell sends troubled church scrambling Posted: 11 Feb 2013 04:27 PM PST VATICAN CITY (AP) — With a few words in Latin, Pope Benedict XVI did what no pope has done in more than half a millennium, stunning the world by announcing his resignation Monday and leaving the already troubled Catholic Church to replace the leader of its 1 billion followers by Easter.

Benedict stumbled trying to right troubled church Posted: 11 Feb 2013 04:26 PM PST Pope Benedict XVI set clear and ambitious goals for his papacy quickly after he was elected: He hoped to re-evangelize the increasingly secular West. He would show that religious faith and reason could co-exist in the modern world. He would reach out to traditionalists who had split from the church and shore up Catholic identity.

Rare papal resignation not a cause for anxiety or worry: Canadian archbishop Posted: 11 Feb 2013 04:22 PM PST TORONTO - Surprise, a lack of understanding and even some disappointment — those were among the initial emotions expressed by a number of Canadians on Monday after Pope Benedict XVI announced he would be resigning at the end of the month.

Pope shows lifetime jobs aren't always for life Posted: 11 Feb 2013 03:42 PM PST The world seems surprised that an 85-year-old globe-trotting pope who just started tweeting wants to resign, but should it be? Maybe what should be surprising is that more leaders his age do not, considering the toll aging takes on bodies and minds amid a culture of constant communication and change.

Pope's sudden resignation sends shockwaves through Church Posted: 11 Feb 2013 03:02 PM PST VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict stunned the Roman Catholic Church on Monday when he announced he would stand down, the first pope to do so in 700 years, saying he no longer had the mental and physical strength to carry on. Church officials tried to relay a climate of calm confidence in the running of a 2,000-year-old institution, but the decision could lead to uncertainty in a Church already besieged by scandal for covering up sexual abuse of children by priests. ...

Pope Benedict's legacy: More influential than Pope John Paul II? Posted: 11 Feb 2013 02:42 PM PST Pope Benedict resigns later this month after arguably being the single most influential figure inside the Roman Catholic Church for three decades, dating to the early 1980s.

Shock step by traditional pope in line with Church law Posted: 11 Feb 2013 02:39 PM PST PARIS (Reuters) - Pope Benedict would not be the meticulous theologian he has always been if he didn't make sure even his shocking resignation - the first by a pontiff in over 700 years - was fully in line with Roman Catholic doctrine. His announcement was so stunning that many Catholics will have instinctively asked if a pope is allowed to step down. For many of them, Pope John Paul's long and very public agony before he died in 2005 is the iconic image of the end of a papacy. ...

Pope's mission to revive faith clouded by scandal Posted: 11 Feb 2013 02:05 PM PST VATICAN CITY (AP) — Benedict XVI always cast himself as the reluctant pope, a shy bookworm who preferred solitary walks in the Alps to the public glare and the majesty of Vatican pageantry. But once in office, he never shied from charting the Catholic Church on the course he thought it needed — a determination reflected in his stunning announcement Monday that he would be the first pope to resign since 1415.

Our turn next for pope, say Latin Americans Posted: 11 Feb 2013 01:50 PM PST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Latin America senses an opportunity to break Europe's grip on the papacy as Pope Benedict's decision on Monday to step down stirs hopes the world's biggest Roman Catholic bloc may finally get to lead the Church. Home to 42 percent of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, Latin America far outweighs Europe's 25 percent, although the Church has for years been losing ground to Protestant and evangelical rivals across the region. ...

Los Angeles Cardinal Mahony to help elect new pope Posted: 11 Feb 2013 01:25 PM PST LOS ANGELES (AP) — Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony will help elect a new pope, despite recently being rebuked for not doing more to stop sexual abuse by priests when he led the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

How will the Catholic Church handle a living ex-pope? Posted: 11 Feb 2013 12:59 PM PST The resignation of Benedict XVI raises a conundrum not faced by the Catholic Church for centuries: How do you handle a still living ex-pope?

Vatican: Pope too weary at his age for the job Posted: 11 Feb 2013 12:49 PM PST LONDON (AP) — When he became pope at age 78, Benedict XVI was already the oldest pontiff elected in nearly 300 years. He's now 85, and in recent years he has slowed down significantly, cutting back his foreign travel and limiting his audiences.

Fantino defends Uganda grants policy against religious, anti-gay claims Posted: 11 Feb 2013 12:44 PM PST OTTAWA - International Co-operation Minister Julian Fantino is defending the way Canada hands out money for development projects abroad.

Obama extends prayers for Pope Benedict as he steps down Posted: 11 Feb 2013 12:38 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said he extended his appreciation and prayers to Pope Benedict, who shocked the world by resigning from leadership of the Roman Catholic Church on Monday. "The Church plays a critical role in the United States and the world, and I wish the best to those who will soon gather to choose His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI's successor," Obama said in a statement. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton)

Latin-loving pope uses ancient language to quit Posted: 11 Feb 2013 12:38 PM PST ROME (Reuters) - Pope Benedict announced his historic decision to resign on Monday in an address to cardinals which he delivered in Latin, the ancient tongue whose use he had done much to encourage. "Quapropter bene conscius ponderis huius actus plena libertate declaro me ministerio Episcopi Romae, Successoris Sancti Petri, mihi per manus Cardinalium die 19 aprilis MMV commissum renuntiare," he said during a meeting on naming new saints. ...

Catholics shocked as pope resigns, but little emotion Posted: 11 Feb 2013 12:38 PM PST BERLIN/ROME (Reuters) - Catholics reacted with shock on Monday to the sudden abdication of Pope Benedict, although the mood among many was one of respect rather than the outpouring of emotion which greeted the death of his beloved predecessor John Paul II. In Benedict's home country, where eight years ago the election of the first German pontiff in more than 1,000 years was greeted with the headline "We are Pope!", there was surprise tempered with sympathy. "I didn't really think it was possible to resign. ...

Did medieval predecessor inspire Pope's retirement? Posted: 11 Feb 2013 12:38 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - Pope Benedict XVI gazed out on the crowd packing the piazza of a small Italian town. Below him lay the bones of Celestine V, the last pontiff to choose to retire; above rose sunlit crags where the "hermit pope" took refuge from a troubled mediaeval world. ...

Bookmakers see three-cardinal race to be next Pope Posted: 11 Feb 2013 12:38 PM PST LONDON (Reuters) - British and Irish bookmakers ranked Nigeria's Cardinal Francis Arinze, Peter Turkson of Ghana and Canadian Marc Ouellet on Monday as favorites to lead the Roman Catholic Church, setting odds swiftly after Pope Benedict's shock resignation. William Hill, Britain's largest bookmaker, offered odds of 3/1 against for Arinze, or a probability of 25 percent, while Ouellet and Turkson were priced at 7/2 against, meaning successful punters would win seven pounds for every two staked. ...

Catholics surprised at pope's decision to retire Posted: 11 Feb 2013 11:59 AM PST RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Shock, sadness and declarations of faith met Pope Benedict XVI's announcement Monday that he would retire Feb. 28. It also sparked reflection about what kind of pontiff should replace him. Here's a look at reaction from around the world:

AP PHOTOS: A look back at Pope Benedict XVI Posted: 11 Feb 2013 11:14 AM PST Pope Benedict XVI announced Monday that he will resign on Feb. 28. The 85-year-old pope announced his decision in Latin during a meeting of Vatican cardinals. "After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths due to an advanced age are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry," he told the cardinals. Benedict, the first pontiff to resign in nearly 600 years, emphasized that carrying out the duties of being pope — the leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics worldwide — requires "both strength of mind and body." He says he is simply too infirm to carry on.

Pope to resign Feb. 28, says he's too infirm Posted: 11 Feb 2013 11:12 AM PST VATICAN CITY (AP) — Declaring that he lacks the strength to do his job, Pope Benedict XVI announced Monday he will resign Feb. 28 — becoming the first pontiff to step down in 600 years. His decision sets the stage for a mid-March conclave to elect a new leader for a Catholic Church in deep turmoil.

Pope Benedict XVI tried to awaken faith but papacy clouded by sex abuse scandal Posted: 11 Feb 2013 10:58 AM PST VATICAN CITY - Benedict XVI always cast himself as the reluctant pope, a shy bookworm who preferred solitary walks in the Alps to the public glare and the majesty of Vatican pageantry. But once in office, he never shied from charting the Catholic Church on the course he thought it needed — a determination reflected in his stunning announcement Monday that he would be the first pope to resign since 1415.

Pope Benedict XVI retires: Will the next pope come from the 'global south?' Posted: 11 Feb 2013 10:53 AM PST With the surprise announcement that Pope Benedict XVI will resign at the end of this month, many in the so-called "global south" are hopeful that a new pope might finally hail from Asia, Africa, or Latin America.

A Canadian pope? Ouellet touted as among leading candidates to succeed Benedict Posted: 11 Feb 2013 10:52 AM PST MONTREAL - Prime Minister Harper says he's shocked to hear Pope Benedict is renouncing the papacy due to his declining health.

Pope Benedict XVI considered a friend in Israel Posted: 11 Feb 2013 10:16 AM PST JERUSALEM (AP) — When Joseph Ratzinger became pope in 2005, many in Israel wondered whether the German-born Cardinal with the Nazi past would prove a worthy successor to the popular Pope John Paul II, whose pluralistic path helped sooth centuries of fraught relations between Jews and Christians.

What's Next for the Catholic Church? Posted: 11 Feb 2013 10:00 AM PST Pope Benedict XVI caught nearly everyone off guard with his sudden resignation today, but will his surprise departure also manage to shake up the Catholic Church? The answer to that question rests heavily on who his own College of Cardinals chooses to replace him. There are several candidates already being whispered about, and some would appear to be a radical departure for the Church. Yet this new transition may not be the liberal awakening many Church critics—and American pundits—are hoping for.

Pope's resignation stuns native Germany Posted: 11 Feb 2013 09:51 AM PST BERLIN (AP) — Many in Germany haven't always had an easy relationship with the conservative-minded Pope Benedict XVI, but most on Monday praised their countryman's courage in deciding to step down from his position amid failing health.

Electing a pope: conclave, oath, chimney smoke Posted: 11 Feb 2013 09:42 AM PST Pope Benedict XVI's resignation sets in motion a complex sequence of events to elect the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church. The laws governing the selection after a pope's resignation are the same as those in force after a papal death, aside from skipping a period of mourning.

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