Pope Benedict has called for an end to violence in Libya and the Ivory Coast and has prayed for the victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

Violence committed in the name of God or religion is a "favorite instrument of the Antichrist," Pope Benedict XVI writes in a new book on Jesus.

A House of Commons Select Committee has asked why £1.85 million was taken from the international aid budget to fund Pope Benedict's 2010 visit to Britain.

The current ills of the Western church are more to be found in sickness within than in threats without, suggests Simon Barrow, echoing a recent landmark comment from the Pope. Likewise the way forward is through radical reformation not fearful reaction.