VATICAN CITY - Wherever journalists and bookmakers may be getting the names on their lists of top candidates for the next pope, it’s not from the cardinals who will actually vote in the election. Both custom and canon law forbid the cardinals to discuss the matter in such detail with outsiders.

VATICAN CITY - The voting by cardinals to elect the next pope takes place behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, following a highly detailed procedure that underwent major revisions by Blessed John Paul II and a small, but very significant change, by Pope Benedict XVI.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI is considering making some changes to the conclave rules and rituals before he leaves office Feb. 28, the Vatican spokesman confirmed.

Pope Benedict XVI’s renunciation of the See of Peter has occasioned much commentary about how rare a papal resignation is. Many have said that it has been 600 years or 700 years, depending on how one counts. It is more radical than that. What the Holy Father did has never been done in the history of the Church. Ever.

VATICAN CITY - In trying to help people understand how belief in God is a natural part of life and provides grounding for the values that protect human dignity and peaceful coexistence, Pope Benedict XVI saw Jews and Muslims as natural allies.

TRIER, Germany - The president of the German bishops' conference has asked Pope Benedict XVI's forgiveness for "errors committed against him" in his homeland, adding that most Germans respect him as a "spiritual and intellectual authority."

VATICAN CITY - When they are not in the Sistine Chapel, seated under Michelangelo's frescoes to vote for the next pope, the cardinal-electors will stay in a modern guesthouse that offers them both privacy and space to gather for relaxed conversation.

TORONTO - The Pope who loved Mozart gave it his all. The Catholic Register’s own Allison Hunwicks had a musician’s closeup view of Pope Benedict XVI in the final weeks of his papacy, investing the last ounce of his strength in the liturgy and the music he so loved.

VATICAN CITY - Sadness and celebration marked Pope Benedict XVI's first public appearance since announcing Feb. 11 that he was stepping down.

VATICAN CITY - At his first public appearance since he announced that he would resign at the end of February, Pope Benedict XVI thanked the faithful for their love and prayers and asked them to pray for his successor.

VATICAN CITY - As much as he astonished the world when he announced his resignation Feb. 11, Pope Benedict XVI's decision seems almost predictable in hindsight. Given his previous statements on the subject and his recent signs of aging, one might say that people should have seen it coming.