Pope Benedict XVI, making sentimental stops in his predecessor’s homeland, brought joy to Poles by announcing that he hopes John Paul II will be made a saint “in the near future".

VATICAN officials cited Church law that called for automatic excommunication in condemning China for appointing bishops without papal consent, but yesterday legal experts said the appointees may be spared formal censure because they may have been pressured.

Pope Benedict XVI is considering visiting Israel in the first part of 2007, former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres said today after meeting with the pontiff at the Vatican.

The Vatican today condemned as “unacceptable” statements denying the right of Israel to exist, in an apparent reference to the Iranian president’s recent remarks.

The Pope met the head of the ultraconservative movement founded by the excommunicated Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre today amid a renewed push to bring the “schismatic” group back into Rome’s fold.

OPPOSITION has now emerged to a German seen as a frontrunner to be the next pope, leaving Roman Catholic cardinals divided as they prepared for a conclave to elect the successor to Pope John Paul II.

CARDINALS yesterday began "an intense period of silence and prayer" before their conclave to choose the next Pope, saying they will stop speaking publicly to protect the secrecy surrounding the centuries-old tradition.

Cardinals began “an intense period of silence and prayer” inthe Vatican before their conclave to choose the next pope, saying they will stop speaking publicly to protect the strict secrecy surrounding the centuries-old tradition.

Cardinals began “an intense period of silence and prayer” today before their conclave in the Vatican City, saying they would stop speaking publicly to protect the strict secrecy that surrounds the centuries-old tradition of choosing the next pope.

Disappointed pilgrims were blocked by police from viewing Pope John Paul II’s body, as overwhelmed authorities tried to clear the last million mourners already in line before tomorrow’s funeral.

Overwhelmed Italian officials said they will cut off the queue of pilgrims hoping to see Pope John Paul’s body at St Peter’s Basilica tonight as a massive line snaked down a wide boulevard, through ancient alleyways and onto a bridge.

THE college of cardinals met for a second day of talks yesterday to prepare for the conclave to elect a successor to Pope John Paul.

The College of Cardinals met for a second day of talks today to prepare for the conclave to elect a successor to Pope John Paul as tens of thousands of mourners streamed past the late pontiff’s crimson-robed body as it lay in state in St Peter’s Basilica.

THE greatest number of heads of state and religious leaders to ever gather in the Vatican will attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II on Friday morning.

Pope John Paul II, the Polish pontiff who led the Roman Catholic Church for more than a quarter century and became history’s most-travelled pope, died tonight in his Vatican apartment. He was 84.

Pope John Paul II’s condition remains unchanged and “very grave”, and he is showing the first signs of losing consciousness, the Vatican said today.

The Pope was clinging to life in grave condition today after suffering heart failure, but he was still lucid, fully conscious and ”extraordinarily serene,” the Vatican said.

Pope John Paul was in a “very grave” condition today and appeared close to death after suffering heart failure, the Vatican said.

The Vatican said today that Pope John Paul II’s condition was very serious hours after suffering heart failure.

THE Vatican said the death of Terri Schiavo yesterday was a “violation of the sacred nature of life”, and hoped it would lead to legal changes.

DOCTORS have advised the Pope John Paul II to extend his hospital stay by “a few more days,” but he will return to the Vatican by the start of Holy Week on March 20.

Doctors have advised Pope John Paul to extend his hospital stay by “a few more days", but he will return to the Vatican by the start of Holy Week on March 20, his spokesman said today.

POPE John Paul II is likely to be released from hospital in time for Holy Week services later this month, the Vatican said yesterday.

Even if Pope John Paul is released from hospital in time for Easter at the end of the month, the frail pontiff is unlikely to fully participate in services marking Christianity’s most solemn holiday.

Pope John Paul II is expected to bless the faithful on Sunday from a window of the hospital treating him for a breathing crisis, his spokesman said today.

Pope John Paul II is “progressively improving” and following the Church’s activities daily, the Vatican said today, suggesting he might be released from the hospital in time for Easter.

Pope John Paul II is “progressively improving” and following the Roman Catholic Church’s activities daily, the Vatican said today, declining to set a date for his release from the hospital but suggesting he might leave before Easter.

THE Pope confounded those who had his obituary ready to roll today when he ate a hearty breakfast and silently joked with aides only hours after undergoing surgery to ease another breathing crisis.

The pope confounded sceptics who had his obituary ready to roll today when he ate a hearty breakfast and silently joked with aides only hours after undergoing surgery to ease another breathing crisis.

Pope John Paul II had no signs of a lung infection such as pneumonia, papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.

Pope John Paul II is recovering in hospital today after being rushed from the Vatican in an ambulance and undergoing a throat operation to ease his breathing, following a recurrence of flu-like symptoms.

AN ITALIAN publishing house gathered together Rome’s glitterati last night for the official launch of Pope John Paul II’s new book, hoping the work that includes his first public description of the moments after he was shot can become an international best seller.

An Italian publishing house gathered together Rome’s glitterati today for the official launch of Pope John Paul II’s new book, hoping the work that includes his first public description of the moments after he was shot can become an international best seller.

The Pope was spending his first full day back at the Vatican after emergency hospital treatment that left many wondering how he would continue in his papacy with such frail health.

William Cole, Vatican City

The Pope will leave hospital tonight, the Vatican said, declaring the 84-year-old pontiff “cured” of the illness that landed him in a Rome clinic for 10 days and rekindled questions about his ability to carry on as head of the Roman Catholic Church.

Pope John Paul will leave hospital today, the Vatican announced.

THE Pope can still run the Catholic Church even if he is unable to speak, a senior Vatican figure claimed yesterday.

A senior Vatican official has responded to a sensitive question that many Roman Catholics have been asking: Would ailing Pope John Paul II ever consider stepping down?

SPECULATION increased last night that the Pope may consider resigning, as it emerged that he came within minutes of death last week.

The Pope will remain in hospital for a few more days as a precaution, the Vatican said today as the question of John Paul’s possible resignation was raised.

The Pope came within minutes of death when he was rushed to hospital last week, according to new reports.

Pope John Paul II’s flu and breathing problems are improving and he is eating regular food, the Vatican said, without giving specifics on when the frail, 84-year-old pontiff might leave the hospital or resume his regular activities.

POPE John Paul is improving, eating regular food for the first time and anxious to recite his usual prayers for the public Sunday, the Vatican said yesterday.

Pope John Paul is improving, eating regular food for the first time and anxious to recite his usual prayers for the public Sunday, the Vatican said today.

POPE JOHN PAUL’S condition is improving and he is expected to make his weekly address from his hospital bed on Sunday, the Vatican said yesterday.

Pope John Paul’s condition is improving and he is expected to make his weekly address from his Rome hospital bed on Sunday, the Vatican said today.

Pope John Paul II was responding well to treatment after being taken to a Rome hospital with breathing problems brought on by the flu, the Vatican said.

FRAIL and laid low by flu, Pope John Paul II will spend a few more days in the hospital after being rushed there with breathing problems.

Pope John Paul’s condition stabilised today after he was rushed to hospital with breathing trouble, but the flu-stricken pontiff will spend several more days at the clinic, the Vatican said.