Pope Francis has wished Christmas peace on people scarred by wars and those who lost loved ones to terrorism that he says is sowing "fear and death" in many cities and countries.

A retired Catholic priest said he recognised the saintliness of Mother Teresa when he met her more than 40 years ago as he joined 120,000 people in St Peter's Square at the Vatican for her canonisation.

Pope Francis personally heard the confessions of 16 teenagers who were visiting the Vatican.

The Vatican is turning to social media to reach out to the millions of pilgrims expected to attend the first double canonisation of popes in the history of the Catholic Church.

Pope Francis has officially begun his papacy as the 266th pontiff, receiving the ring symbolising the office and a wool stole ('pallium') symbolising his role as shepherd of his 1.2-billion strong flock.

Suspense is growing in the Vatican this evening where a large crowd has turned out to await news from the Cardinals who will select the next Pope.

Tens of thousands of people are expected in St Peter's Square in Rome this morning for Pope Benedict's last general audience.

The Vatican insisted today it has done everything possible to try to resolve the 1983 disappearance of an employee's teenage daughter and has no objections to allowing inspection of the basilica tomb of a reputed mobster from a gang purportedly linked to her presumed kidnapping.

Pope Benedict XVI strongly defended celibacy for priests as a sign of faith in an increasingly secular world, insisting on a church tradition that has increasingly come under scrutiny amid the clerical sex abuse scandal.

Catholic bishops in England and Wales today offered a full apology and said there were "no excuses" for the child abuse scandals that have rocked the church.

Pope Benedict XVI pledged that the Roman Catholic Church would take action to confront the clerical sex abuse scandal, his first public remarks calling for change since the crisis erupted.

The Vatican will review its security procedures after a woman jumped a barrier and rushed at Pope Benedict XVI for the second time in two years.

Pope Benedict XVI ushered in Christmas today by celebrating midnight Mass in St Peter's Basilica, where he urged people to set aside time in their lives for God and the needy.

The Pope's elevation of the head of the Catholic Church in Ireland to cardinal was an expression of the pontiff's desire to see the peace process continue to succeed and become a model for the rest of the world, Archbishop Sean Brady said today.

Pope Benedict is to canonise a new Irish Saint in St Peter's Square in Rome.

Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his 80th birthday a day early today, with a Mass in his honour held on the flower-bedecked steps of St Peter's Square.

Pope Benedict XVI today dedicated one of his last public messages in 2006 to families, who he said were assailed by cultural pressures threatening to destroy the family as a social institution.

Pope Benedict XVI presided over his first saint-making ceremony today, canonising five people in a Mass in St Peter's Square that also closed a meeting of the world's bishops.

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.

POPE Benedict XVI confirmed Cardinal Angelo Sodano in the Vatican's No 2 post yesterday and kept all other top officials, avoiding any immediate shake-up in the late John Paul II's administration.

THE crowds still gathered at the Vatican yesterday, trying to soak in the afterglow of Tuesday evening’s happenings.

WHATEVER happened to the sacred oath of secrecy?

BLACK smoke wafted from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney in Vatican City yesterday evening, signalling that the cardinals holding the first papal conclave of the new millennium had held their first vote — but failed to elect a new leader for the world’s 1.1 billion Roman Catholics.

Gathering beneath a brilliant sky, thousands of pilgrims converged on St Peter’s Square today as cardinals held a Mass before shutting themselves inside the Sistine Chapel to begin their election of a new Pope.

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.

CARDINAL Bernard Law celebrated Mass for Pope John Paul II in St Peter's Basilica yesterday, ignoring protests that his handling of the sex abuse scandal in the US Catholic Church should disqualify him from the honour.

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.

AN edited version of the homily read, in Italian, by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger during the funeral Mass of Pope John Paul.

PEACE and a whiff of controversy broke out yesterday as a remarkable collection of world leaders and royalty rubbed shoulders at John Paul’s funeral, with only an alphabetical seating plan to divide heads of state whose relations could be frosty or even non-existent.

CATHOLICISM never looked as universal, the original meaning of ‘catholic’, as it did when it paid final homage yesterday to Pope John Paul, one of the giants of the Church’s 2,000-year history.

PRESIDENTS, prime ministers and kings joined pilgrims and prelates in St Peter’s Square yesterday to bid an emotional farewell to Pope John Paul II at a funeral service that drew millions to Rome for the largest gathering of the powerful and the humble in modern times.

THE Pope was looking after us. That was the unanimous chorus of delight and surprise from privileged Irish pilgrims who found themselves witnessing history close up in St Peter’s Square yesterday.

ALL morning helicopters thumped the skies and police sirens wailed as motorcades crossed the city and the bell of St Peter's struggled to broadcast its message that the hour was drawing near.

AFTER Abraham Lincoln died in 1865 a joint resolution of the US Congress praised his "qualities of courage, will and indomitable persistence of purpose, which never flagged or faltered ...

AT first they sang him a lullaby, then they tried rousing him with cheers.

POPE John Paul's body was displayed to the world yesterday and his words echoed across St Peter's Square as the faithful mourned the Pole who helped topple communism in Europe but left a divided Church.

THE death of the Pope immediately sets into motion an historic chain of events to elect a successor and prevent any risk of division in the Roman Catholic Church.

Archbishop Sean Brady has called on Catholics in Ireland to pray for Pope John Paul II, who is close to death in the Vatican after suffering heart failure last night.

The Pope appeared at his studio window for about four minutes today, blessed pilgrims in St Peter's Square and tried to speak, but the words were not clear.

A WEAK Pope John Paul made a surprise appearance at his Rome hospital window yesterday, reassuring Catholics worldwide as an aide at the Vatican presided for the first time at his weekly blessing.

William Cole, Vatican City

POPE John Paul II vowed yesterday to continue his mission despite his latest health crisis, telling the faithful from the hospital in a message read by an archbishop that he was grateful for their prayers and affection.

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