On Feb. 28 at 8 p.m. Pope Benedict XVI will retire to a monastery inside Vatican City.

“Although we are aware of the many problematic situations … we wish to renew our faith in the young and reaffirm that the Church looks to their condition and their cultures as an essential and inescapable” focal point for its ministry, the Pope told the Pontifical Council for Culture on Feb. 7. (Source: Catholic News Agency)

“…one can cooperate with the Kingdom of God in several ways…” Pope Benedict XVI

Reprinted from Catholic News Agency. Story by David Kerr (www.catholicnewsagency.com)

“Through the traditional practices of fasting, almsgiving and prayer, which are an expression of our commitment to conversion, Lent teaches us how to live the love of Christ in an ever more radical way..” Pope Benedict XVI
(Courtesy of Zenit News Service: www.zenit.org.)

Announcement of the May 1 beatification prompts joyful news that the late Pope John Paul II, the “friend of young people” and founder of World Youth Day, will become the event’s patron saint. (Reported by Zenit News Service, www.zenit.org)

“The child that was born in Bethlehem did indeed bring liberation, but not only for the people of that time and place — he was to be the Savior of all people throughout the world and throughout history,” proclaimed the Pope Benedict. (As reported by Zenit News Service)

From small moments to the grandest of our lives, Pope Benedict XVI reflects on the “profoundly human reality” of waiting. Reported by Zenit News Service (www.zenit.org)

“You cannot and must not adapt yourselves to a love reduced to a commodity to be consumed without respect for oneself or for others, incapable of chastity and purity,” the Holy Father urged. “This is not freedom.” Reported by Zenit News Service – www.zenit.org

“Happiness is something we all want, but one of the great tragedies in this world is that so many people never find it, because they look for it in the wrong places.”
Reported by Zenit News Service