Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger

Pope Benedict XVI will meet cardinals from around the world on Thursday in his final hours as leader of 1.2 billion Catholics before he becomes the first pontiff to resign since the Middle Ages.

Tens of thousands were expected to attend Pope Benedict XVI's last Sunday prayers, as cardinals began arriving in Rome to elect his successor and the Vatican battled reports of high intrigue.

In its long struggle to grapple with sexual abuse, the Vatican often cites as a major turning point the decision in 2001 to give the office led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger the authority to cut through a morass of bureaucracy and handle abuse cases directly. The decision, in an apostolic letter from Pope John Paul II, earned Cardinal Ratzinger, now...

Church files obtained exclusively by the Associated Press show that before becoming pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger resisted defrocking a San Francisco Bay-area priest who molested children.

Pope Benedict XVI will meet cardinals from around the world on Thursday in his final hours as leader of 1.2 billion Catholics before he becomes the first pontiff to resign since the Middle Ages.

Tens of thousands were expected to attend Pope Benedict XVI's last Sunday prayers, as cardinals began arriving in Rome to elect his successor and the Vatican battled reports of high intrigue.

In its long struggle to grapple with sexual abuse, the Vatican often cites as a major turning point the decision in 2001 to give the office led by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger the authority to cut through a morass of bureaucracy and handle abuse cases directly. The decision, in an apostolic letter from Pope John Paul II, earned Cardinal Ratzinger, now...

Church files obtained exclusively by the Associated Press show that before becoming pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger resisted defrocking a San Francisco Bay-area priest who molested children.