Pope Benedict XVI used his Easter Sunday message to urge the Syrian regime to heed international calls to end bloodshed and commit to dialogue.

It is the first stop in Spain for many Irish tourists. But Alicante never attracts the plaudits it deserves. It’s also a perfect place for an Easter break, as Peter Geoghegan finds out.

POPE Benedict led Roman Catholics into Holy Week celebrations, telling a Palm Sunday crowd that man will pay the price for his pride if he believes technology can give him the powers of God.

Pope Benedict XVI led a crowd of faithful in Palm Sunday Mass and lamented that man’s amazing achievements have increased the possibilities for evil as well as good.

POPE Benedict XVI opened Holy Week yesterday amid one of the most serious crises facing the church in decades, with questions about his handling of cases of paedophile priests and the Vatican acknowledging its “moral credibility” was on the line.

Pope Benedict XVI has opened the church’s solemn Holy Week amid increasing questions about his own handling of cases of sexual abuse of children by priests.

Reports that the Vatican intends to force the resignation of the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland over the paedophile priests scandal have been dismissed by his spokesman today.

Pope Benedict XVI opened a busy Holy Week with a Palm Sunday Mass that was dedicated to young people.

POPE JOHN PAUL II, unable to preside over Palm Sunday Mass for the first time in his 26-year papacy, appeared at his apartment window to greet tens of thousands of pilgrims who filled St Peter’s Square yesterday.

Pope John Paul II will leave the hospital this evening, the Vatican announced after the pontiff greeted pilgrims in a raspy voice in his first live address to the faithful since undergoing emergency surgery last month.

In an era of global terrorism and sex scandals in his church, a frail Pope John Paul will join young people from around the globe this week at World Youth Day festivities intended to invigorate spiritual devotion.

Assisted by cardinals, a frail Pope John Paul II celebrated Easter Sunday Mass for tens of thousands of faithful in St Peter’s Square, Vatican City.