AP - A state institute has opened an investigation into whether communist-era security services in Poland and other former East bloc nations had a role in the 1981 assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Reuters - A huge crowd attended a mass with Pope Benedict on Sunday as the Pontiff prepared to visit the Auschwitz death camp to pray for peace as Catholic leader and a "son of Germany."

Reuters - Pope Benedict joined a chorus of Polish calls urging quick sainthood for his predecessor John Paul, saying he hoped the Catholic Church would soon bestow the honor on its favorite son.

Pope Benedict XVI has arrived in the staunchly-Catholic nation of Poland for a four-day tour, in a visit aimed to keep the memory of the late Pope John Paul II alive in his native country. According to reports, Pope Benedict,...

Pope Benedict XVI has begun a bittersweet trip to Poland, where he will pay homage to the late Pope John Paul II, and his beloved predecessor's homeland.Poles waving Vatican flags, Polish President Lech Kaczynski and a military honor guard greeted the pope.

AFP - Pope Benedict XVI left Rome's Fiumicino airport on a four-day visit to Poland, his second foreign trip since being elected pope 13 months ago, the airport said.

AFP - Poland was to welcome Pope Benedict XVI for a visit that will seem him retrace the steps of his predecessor, Polish-born John Paul II, and visit the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.

Reuters - Tucked away in the rolling hills of southern Poland, this sleepy provincial town is slowly becoming a pilgrimage destination for Roman Catholics devoted to its most famous son, the late Pope John Paul.

AP - Pope Benedict XVI disciplined the founder of the conservative Legionaries of Christ, a favorite of Pope John Paul II who for decades has been dogged by sexual abuse allegations — effectively making the elderly prelate a priest in name only.

With days left until "The Da Vinci Code" opens in theaters worldwide, calls for boycotts and bans of the highly anticipated Vatican thriller are growing. Pope John Paul II in January 2005 appointed a special committee to rebut the...

Thousands at the Vatican mark the 25th anniversary of the attempt on the life of Pope John Paul II

AP - The Vatican said Thursday that the ordainments of bishops this week by China's state-approved Catholic church were a "grave violation of religious freedom" and hinder dialogue between the Vatican and Beijing.

AP - A Vatican study on whether it could permit condoms to battle AIDS has a very narrow scope: married Roman Catholic couples in which one partner has the virus. But its theological underpinnings are centuries old, and could lay the groundwork for an end to the church's blanket ban on contraception.

AP - Univision nightly news anchor Maria Elena Salinas made a career investigating the lives of others, covering leaders from Pope John Paul II to former Chilean President Agusto Pinochet.

AFP - The world's estimated six million sufferers from Parkinson's disease will be in the spotlight next Tuesday, the birthday of the English doctor who first identified nearly two centuries ago the neurological disorder bearing his name.

AP - Pope Benedict XVI will travel to Poland next month on a visit that will include the hometown of his predecessor Pope John Paul II and the Auschwitz concentration camp, Archbishop Jozef Kowalczyk said Saturday.

Pope Benedict XVI led a memorial service for the late Pope John Paul II, who passed away one year ago, Monday. The Pope summed up John Paul II's "life and evangelical witness" in two words: "'faithfulness' and 'dedication.'...

Danielle George - AHN Staff Reporter Vatican City, Rome (AHN) - Thousands continue to gather and attend events marking the first anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II. Pope Benedict XVI told many that the late Pope "animated by the indomitable courage of faith." Huge crowds are...

AP - Pope Benedict XVI recalled the legacy and final days of suffering of Pope John Paul II on the first anniversary of his death Sunday, saying the late pope lived out until the very end his mission to guide the Catholic Church.

Reuters - Tens of thousands of people from around the world flocked to the Vatican on Sunday to mark the first anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul and pray that he be made a saint soon.