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.

Serbian President Boris Tadic today met with Pope Benedict XVI and said he hoped the pontiff could visit the country “very soon,” but said certain pre-conditions had to be negotiated first with the Serbian Orthodox Church.

POPE Benedict XVI had a “friendly” meeting with one of his fiercest critics — dissident Swiss theologian Hans Kueng, the Vatican said yesterday.

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.

Pope Benedict prayed today for God to stop the “murderous hand” of terrorists and again condemned recent attacks in Europe and the Middle East that have been blamed on Islamic extremists.

Moving confidently through his first days as pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI acted to guarantee continuity in church leadership while trying to brighten his austere image.

Cardinals enjoyed the few last hours today to confer with aides or pray with faithful before they were required to check-in at a top-security hotel in Vatican City, where they will be sequestered in secret sessions in the Sistine Chapel to elect the next pope.

WORKERS scaled the roof of the Sistine Chapel yesterday and attached the chimney pipe from which white smoke will billow to alert the world that a new pope has been elected, as the Vatican made final preparations for Monday’s conclave.

AS cardinals prepare to elect a new Pope, one Catholic community in particular has much at stake - Opus Dei, the ultraconservative movement at the centre of the furore generated by The Da Vinci Code book.

Workers scaled the roof of the Sistine Chapel today and attached the chimney pipe from which white smoke will billow to alert the world that a new pope has been elected, as the Vatican made final preparations for Monday’s conclave.

CARDINALS meeting in Rome to discuss the issues facing the Catholic church ahead of next week's conclave to elect a Pope have signed a petition to accelerate the beatification of John Paul II, a report said yesterday.

As cardinals prepare to elect a new pope, one Catholic community in particular has much at stake – Opus Dei, the ultraconservative movement at the centre of the furore generated by The Da Vinci Code book.

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.

The world’s Catholics are looking to the College of Cardinals to begin the difficult task of choosing a worthy successor to Pope John Paul II today, as hundreds of thousands of pilgrims who filled Rome to bursting for the pontiff’s funeral began their journey home.

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.

CARDINALS yesterday called a conclave starting in 12 days’ time to elect a successor to Pope John Paul II.

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 today set April 18 as the date for the historic start of the conclave to elect a successor to Pope John Paul.

WAITING hours for a brief goodbye, pilgrims young and old prayed, sang hymns and shaded themselves from the sun with umbrellas as they queued yesterday to see Pope John Paul’s crimson-robed body at St Peter’s Basilica.

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 identity of a cardinal Pope John Paul selected in 2003 but never publicly identified is still a mystery – at least for another day, the Vatican said.

The College of Cardinals met for a second day of talks in the Vatican to prepare for the conclave to elect a successor to Pope John Paul.

Mourners streamed past the crimson-robed body of John Paul II for a second day today, with thousands waiting in line to say a personal farewell to the pontiff, as the cardinals who will elect his successor prepared for another round of preparatory meetings to arrange for the conclave.

SOME officials in Krakow, where Pope John Paul II was archbishop, hope his heart can be buried in their cathedral alongside Poland’s medieval kings and saints, but a senior cardinal cast doubt on that happening.

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’s funeral will be held on Friday morning, and his remains will be interred in the grotto of St Peter’s Basilica where popes throughout the ages have been laid to rest, the Vatican said today.

The College of Cardinals convened in the Vatican today and Italian news agencies reported that it decided that Pope John Paul’s funeral will be held on Friday at 9am Irish time.

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 very serious, the Vatican said in a statement tonight.

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.

POPE John Paul II was nearing death last night as his health suddenly worsened, drawing anguished prayers from Catholics around the world reluctant to accept his historic pontificate was at an end.

The world of Christendom, like an extended family, yesterday held vigil for Pope John Paul II, who lay unconscious and gravely ill in his Vatican sickbed.

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 has said it will put out the next health bulletin on Pope John Paul II's health later this morning.

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.

POPE John Paul II is being fed through a tube in his nose, the Vatican said yesterday, shortly after the frail Pontiff appeared at his window in St Peter’s Square and managed only a rasp when he tried to speak.

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.