Pope Francis is the first ever from the Americas, an austere Jesuit intellectual who modernised Argentina’s conservative Catholic church.

Brian Murphy and Michael Warren profile the man formally known as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio

It’s a ritual as rich in tradition and symbolism as the Catholic Church can muster: secret oaths, hypnotic Gregorian chants, scarlet-decked cardinals filing through the Sistine Chapel — all while the public outside in St Peter’s Square watches for white smoke to learn if it has a new pope.

Alex Gibney’s documentary Maxima Mea Culpa may have influenced Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation.

THE signs have been evident for some time — a pope no longer in control, unable to act decisively, resulting in embarrassing publicity and a leader showing increasing signs of being overwhelmed by the problems of a Church in deep crisis.

He’s been nicknamed the flying piano man.

Rumours are growing about the health of former Cuban leader Fidel Castro after a Venezuelan doctor claimed the 86-year-old had suffered a massive stroke.

A survivor of institutional abuse has criticised the Pope’s envoy for meeting victims in secret during a pilgrimage.

A survivor of institutional abuse has criticised the Pope's envoy for meeting victims in secret during a pilgrimage.

Using economics to justify closing our embassy to the Holy See prompted one Dublin mother to say stop, writes Mary E Fitzgibbon

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has survived a confidence vote in the Italian Parliament.

Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi faces a confidence vote in parliament today that is seen as the most serious threat to his political survival since the billionaire media baron was swept into power nearly two decades ago.

AUTHORITIES rejected an attempt by a convict — set to be executed in a high-profile case last night for killing a Georgia police officer — to show his innocence by taking a polygraph test.

GEORGIA’S pardons board rejected clemency for Troy Davis yesterday, one day before his scheduled execution, despite high-profile support from figures including an ex-president and a former FBI director for the claim that he was wrongly convicted of killing a police officer in 1989.

A last-ditch clemency plea from death row inmate Troy Davis has been rejected in the US state of Georgia.

Spanish police have arrested a chemistry student suspected of planning a gas attack against protesters opposed to a visit by Pope Benedict XVI.

MICHELLE Obama has said some of the best moments for the first family have come during trips abroad.

SURVIVORS of abuse by Catholic priests have renewed calls for the Pope to hand over all information on the scandal, ahead of his visit to Britain today.

Beyond Consolation

THE bishop of the Flemish city of Bruges has resigned after admitting sexually abusing a young boy several years ago, the Roman Catholic Church in Belgium announced yesterday.

A letter written by a late Canadian bishop shows church officials in Canada knew of sexual abuse allegations involving a priest before his promotion to a top Vatican post and then discussed with Vatican officials how to keep the scandal from becoming public.

THE head of the Catholic Church in Ireland said he wanted to work towards a just resolution in a court case being taken against him by an alleged victim of clerical abuse.

STEVEN GEIER says that four times in the mid-1960s, the Rev Lawrence Murphy coaxed the then-14-year-old student into a closet at St John’s School for the Deaf just outside Milwaukee and molested him, using God to justify his actions.

The authorities are paralysed to bring paedophile priests and the senior clerics who covered up decades of horrific abuse to justice, victims have claimed today.

PRESSURE is mounting on three serving bishops named in the Murphy report to step down from office after Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin James Moriarty announced he had offered his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI.

Last week the Irish Examiner called for Bishop Donal Murray of Limerick to resign without delay. His prevarication is effectively undermining the positions of other prominent Church figures.

RTÉ radio is to be commended for their investigative piece on the anti-Lisbon group Cóir last Sunday (September 6).

In his first visit to sub-Saharan Africa since taking office, President Barack Obama was today seeking to lift up the continent of his ancestors – while keeping its emotions in check.

A PRIEST in the Diocese of Cloyne has agreed to step aside from ministry pending the outcome of an investigation by Church authorities.

ARCHBISHOP Dermot Clifford, the new head of the Diocese of Cloyne, has met with several alleged victims of clerical sex abuse in the diocese and has extended invitations to others to meet with him shortly.

A Portuguese bishop said that people with Aids must use condoms to prevent the spread of the disease, apparently contradicting Pope Benedict XVI, who said the distribution of condoms could endanger public health.

The Vatican said today it hoped Barack Obama will work to promote peace and justice in the world.

More than 500 anti-papacy activists have faced off against pilgrims, shouting their distaste at papal policies as thousands of Catholic youths streamed past on their way to an evening address by Pope Benedict XVI.

CARDINAL Desmond Connell’s celebration of his 82nd birthday next month could be marred by his legal wrangle with the man who succeeded him as Archbishop of Dublin.

Sudan President Omar al-Bashir today said his government was ready for a cease-fire with rebel forces at the start of peace talks scheduled for next month in Libya over the conflict in Darfur.

The Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has celebrated Mass with young Irish people in Sydney.

The state of US-Italy ties may best be revealed by what takes place in a Milan courtroom just hours before US President George Bush arrives today.

CHANTING Islamist slogans and brandishing banners against Western intervention in the Middle East, thousands of people have rallied in Turkey to denounce the visit of Pope Benedict XVI.

Police today detained about 40 members of a Turkish nationalist party who occupied one of Istanbul’s most famous buildings, the Haghia Sophia, to protest against the visit next week of Pope Benedict XVI.

POLICE were last night questioning a man who fired shots into the air outside the Italian consulate in Istanbul to protest at the forthcoming visit by Pope Benedict XVI.

Somalia’s president narrowly escaped an assassination attempt today when a car bomb exploded outside the parliament building in the city of Baidoa, but the blast and a subsequent gunbattle left 11 people dead, officials said.

Yellow and white lollipops. Yellow and white ice cream. It’s a papal party!

At least 30 people were reported to have been killed today when a subway train derailed in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia.

Pilgrims began arriving in Rome today to mark the first anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s death, praying by his tomb and preparing for an evening vigil tomorrow night in St Peter’s Square to commemorate the exact time of his passing.