News/International

VATICAN CITY - Pope John Paul II’s intense pastoral ministry, “but even more, the Calvary of agony and the serene death of our beloved pope let all people of our age know that Jesus Christ really was his everything,” Pope Benedict XVI said.

As Zimbabwe suffers another round of brutal repression at the hands of President Robert Mugabe and his henchmen, everybody is offering solutions.

DUBLIN, Ireland - Irish and British church officials welcomed the announcement that political parties in Northern Ireland have agreed to share power again.

TORONTO - A charity established by 12-year-old Catholic school children a dozen years ago has landed a $1.2-million grant from the Canadian founder of eBay, who as a student pumped gas in the neighbourhood.

WASHINGTON - In a sharply worded letter to his religious superior, Jesuit Father Jon Sobrino said that a Vatican document criticizing his work is an effort “to put an end to the theology of liberation.”

TORONTO - The claim by a Toronto filmmaker that he had found the true burial site of Jesus of Nazareth — along with Jesus’ wife and child — began to sink under withering criticism almost as soon as he revealed his new film Feb. 26.

VATICAN CITY - Catholics must believe in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist, celebrate the liturgy with devotion and live in a way that demonstrates their faith, Pope Benedict XVI said.

HAMILTON, Ont. - It was after dark when the Canadian medical team pulled up outside the rural Ugandan clinic. Just outside of Kampala, St. Stevens was, as is often the case, shrouded in darkness due to a power outage. Inside, they found that many of the 20 patients were suffering the effects of malaria. A nurse was triaging a patient by the light of a kerosene lamp.

ROME - A Catholic archbishop and an Anglican bishop who lead work on a document about witnessing to commonly held points of faith said the document will be “very honest” about current tensions within the Anglican Communion and the problems that poses for ecumenical dialogue.

ROME - South Korea’s leading Catholic churchman welcomed the news that North Korea had agreed to wind down its nuclear program in exchange for fuel assistance from outside countries.