Pope Francis has urged cardinals, who make up the top echelon of the Roman Catholic Church, to shun the intrigue, gossip, and cliques typical of a royal court.

CHILDREN flanking Pope Francis released two doves from the window of the Apostolic Palace in front of an audience of 10,000. Doves symbolise peace; His Holiness pleaded for the violence in Syria to end. The gesture was not peaceful.

French president François Hollande met Pope Francis amid tensions in his private life over a gossip magazine’s report about an alleged affair with an actress.

“IT’S nothing short of miraculous,” Don Franco Ottonelli says as he admires his brainchild, a modern, new apartment complex for immigrants and the homeless near the centre of Acqui Terme, a town in north-west Italy.

Pope Francis today effectively demoted a highly conservative Italian cardinal who led the Vatican’s department on clergy.

Pope Francis has revealed that he never wanted to be pope and that he is living in the Vatican hotel for his “psychiatric” health.

Pope Francis has told nuns from around the globe they must be spiritual mothers and not “old maids”.

It was enough to send security into a tail spin when the new Pope opted for an impromptu walkabout outside the Church where he yesterday celebrated Sunday Mass.

Pope Francis paid a heartfelt tribute to his predecessor Benedict XVI, saying his faith and teaching had “enriched and invigorated” the Catholic Church and would remain its spiritual patrimony forever.

Pope Francis has paid a heartfelt tribute to his predecessor Benedict XVI, saying his faith and teaching had “enriched and invigorated” the Catholic Church.

The conclave to elect a new pope follows a set ritual every day until the Catholic Church has a new leader. Here is an approximate schedule. Local time listed first.

Benedict XVI has left the Vatican for the last time as pope, flying by helicopter to the Vatican’s vacation retreat hours before becoming the first pontiff to resign in 600 years.

The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI today has set in motion a complex sequence of events to elect the next leader of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Vatican’s best kept secrets have been divulged in a spate of leaks, the latest culminating in the trial of his butler Paolo Gabriele. Peter Popham examines the background to the personalities and controversies

Pope Benedict XVI celebrated a very Bavarian birthday yesterday, marking his 85 years with his brother, German bishops and a band from his native land.

POPE Benedict XVI told priests yesterday to safeguard children in their charge from evil and win the “absolute” trust of their flock, even as his own papacy is clouded by accusations he and other top churchmen failed to protect minors adequately from paedophile clergy.

Pope Benedict XVI told cardinals today that he does not feel alone while at the helm of a “wounded and sinner” church, the Vatican newspaper reported.

Ireland's Catholic Bishops are beginning a second day of talks with the Pope at the Vatican to discuss their reponse to clerical and institutional abuse scandals in the Church here.

Pope Benedict XVI plans to discuss the Iraq war and the plight of Christians in Iraq when he meets US President George Bush for the first time this week, the Vatican’s second in command said today.

Pope Benedict XVI said today he felt like he was surrounded by old friends now that his books have arrived at his newly renovated Vatican apartment.

Pope Benedict XVI recalled the “fright” he felt at being elected pope in an end-of-the-year speech to cardinals today, saying he never imagined he would be chosen and only agreed to it because he had great faith in God.

POPE BENEDICT XVI is unlikely to consider the possibility of a papal visit to Ireland until after Christmas at the earliest, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern said after meeting the Pontiff at the Vatican yesterday morning.

Pope Benedict XVI presided over a special ceremony today to mark the release of a slimmed-down version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the 1992 guide on Catholic beliefs.

Pope Benedict XVI reached out today to countries that don’t have diplomatic relations with the Vatican, inviting them to establish ties soon with the Holy See.

Pope Benedict XVI met with the Italian president today in the first formal audience for a head of state since he was elected pontiff.

Pope Benedict XVI thanked journalists today for their coverage during the “historical” events of the papal transition.

MORE THAN half a million people are expected to gather in St Peter’s Square tomorrow for the inauguration of Pope Benedict XVI.

POPE Benedict XVI held his first working meeting with the College of Cardinals yesterday as authorities began gearing up for the influx of dignitaries and 500,000 faithful expected for the Pope’s inauguration tomorrow.

Cardinals from six continents made their solemn procession to the Sistine Chapel today to convene the new millennium’s first conclave – a secret and sacred gathering to elect a pope who will guid the world’s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics into a new era.

CARDINALS had a few last hours to confer with aides or pray with the faithful before required check-in at a top-security hotel in Vatican City yesterday, a day before they were to be sequestered in secret sessions in the Sistine Chapel to elect the next Pope.

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.

Housekeepers, car drivers and other people with access to cardinals during the conclave took an oath of secrecy yesterday, promising never to reveal the details behind the selection of the next pope.

IN a message to the 1995 United Nations Conference on Women in Beijing the late Pope John Paul II wrote: “As far as personal rights are concerned there is an urgent need to achieve real equality in every area, equal pay for equal work, protection for working mothers, fairness in career advancement, equality of spouses with regard to family rights.”

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.

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.

Tens of thousands of people waited for hours today for the first public viewing of Pope John Paul’s body, shielding themselves from the blistering sun with umbrellas as they prepared to pay their final respects in the Vatican.

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.

Finally at rest after years of debilitating disease, Pope John Paul II’s body lay in state today in the frescoed Apostolic Palace as the world mourned his passing and the Vatican prepared for the ritual-filled funeral and conclave that will elect his successor.

Pope John Paul II’s body went on display at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace today.

It is now the duty of 120 cardinals to decide who will head the millions of Catholics around the globe.

William Cole, Vatican City

The Pope today issued his strongest message yet in opposition to possible war in Iraq, telling Vatican diplomats that military force must be “the very last option.”