The Catholic Sun

In one of his last public appearances, Pope Benedict XVI told an overflow crowd in St. Peter's Square Feb. 24 that his upcoming retirement does not mean he is abandoning the Church, but that he will be serving it in a new way, through prayer and meditation.

A prominent voice at the Vatican in the run-up to the papal election, Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi is a well-known biblical scholar who can quote just as easily from Sufi poets, Dante and Danish philosophers as he can from sacred Scripture.

In his last week as pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI issued new rules for conclaves, including a clause that allows the College of Cardinals to move up the date for the beginning of the conclave to elect his successor.

The last few popes have been elected and installed within a fairly short period of time after the deaths of their predecessors. The conclave to choose Pope John XXIII began June 19 and lasted two days.

Since his installation as Vienna's archbishop in 1995, Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn has weathered several major storms with his patient pastoral approach.

iPads are making their way onto the educational scene. Some Catholic high schools, like Brophy College Preparatory, have provided every student with some type of personal computing device for years. This year’s freshmen class was the first Brophy students to receive iPads. Junior high students from at least three other Catholic campuses in the Phoenix Diocese use them too, which means ‘iGrad’ generations are coming as early as May.

Villagers didn't want a radio station, but the volunteer-run station launched in West Africa through the help of Catholic Relief Services has been broadcasting 10 years now.

Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, 69, may have very little direct pastoral experience, but remarks he made to a group of U.S. bishops last year seem to show he knows the church has an image problem, and it's up to the church to fix it.

Ambrogio Piazzoni, vice prefect of the Vatican Library and author of the book, "History of Papal Elections," shared facts and curiosities with journalists at the Vatican Feb. 20.

Cardinal Robert Sarah, 67, has both the pastoral experience and the Roman Curia experience that many observers believe is necessary for a future pope.