pope

Chalk it up to what happens in  the digital age;  When Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI left the papacy today, folks wondered what would happen to the Vatican's official Twitter account. Now we know.

Many of us will never visit The Vatican yet alone be there for the Conclave;  As Cardinals from around the globe get ready to meet to elect the next Pope, a lot of people are wondering what it all looks like from the inside.

More details continue to come from Vatican City, following the announcement that Pope Benedict XVI will step down from his role as the head of the See of Peter on February 28th.

Is he resigning or retiring?  The answer is in  the semantics that surround the announcement that Pope Benedict XVI will step down officially on Thursday, February 28th - the first pontiff to do so since the Middle Ages.  It's natural to wonder what will happen to the Pope afterwards?

While it's been over 600 years since the Roman Catholic Church has had to find a new Pope following a resignation, the election process remains the same as it does for choosing a successor following the death of the pontiff.  What might be different this time around is the influence that American cardinals have on the process.

For the first time in nearly 600 years, the head of the Catholic Church is resigning. Pope Benedict XVI announced the decision in Latin in Rome early Monday morning.

The technologically-savvy Pope Benedict XVI has already encouraged priests to blog and helmed the launch of the Vatican’s YouTube channel and Pope2You mobile and Facebook apps. So it’s really no surprise that as part of his newly-launched news portal, the pontiff sent his first tweet recently — from the papal iPad. You can follow the Vatican on Twitter at @news_va_en.

Everybody loved Pope John Paul II. One more miracle and he will be eligible for Sainthood. The Catholic Church moves very slowly on these matters however, if it happens at all, it could take years. Pope John Paul II was nearly 85 when he died Blood taken from Pope John Paul II before he died is to go on display at his beatification on Sunday. One of four small vials of blood removed from John Paul