Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict and Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, both octogenarians, joked about their age in a brief meeting and then Castro popped the question: so what do you do?

Some 1.5 million pilgrims flooded Rome on Sunday to watch Pope John Paul II move a step closer to sainthood in one of the largest Vatican Masses in history, an outpouring of adoration for a beloved and historic figure after years marred by church scandal.

Pope Benedict XVI has made a sweeping exoneration of the Jewish people for the death of Jesus Christ, tackling one of the most controversial issues in Christianity in a new book.

The step forward by the Pope on condom use might be small but it is nevertheless significant.

Pope Benedict XVI strongly defended traditional families and the rights of the unborn, directly attacking Spanish laws that allow gay marriage, fast-track divorce and easier access to abortions as he dedicated Barcelona's iconic basilica, the Sagrada Familia.

Pope Benedict XVI apologised to five people who were molested by priests as children in his latest effort to defuse the sex abuse crisis shaking his church, as thousands of people angered at the Vatican's response marched in central London in the biggest protest of his 5-year papacy.

British police have arrested six London street cleaners over an alleged threat to Pope Benedict XVI on the second day of a papal trip to Britain that has brought both a warm welcome from Catholics and renewed anger over the clerical sex abuse scandal.

The Pope started his official state visit to Britain amid controversy, expressing his "shock and sadness" at the child sex abuse scandal rocking the Catholic church.

As Pope Benedict XVI takes his campaign to revive Christianity in an increasingly secular Europe to Britain tomorrow he faces a daunting task in a nation largely at odds with his policies and where disgust over the church sex abuse scandal runs high.

Pope Benedict XVI has strongly defended celibacy for priests as a sign of faith in an increasingly secular world during a rally that has drawn some 15,000 priests from around the world.