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Thursday, June 20, 2013 | 3:43 a.m.

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A list of the most recent stories about Pope Benedict XVI.

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Harley Davidson motorcycles riders park their motorcycles in Via della Conciliazione leading to the Vatican, seen at left, as they wait for Pope Francis to drive by to bless them ahead of mass in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, June 16, 2013. The riders are gathered in Rome for a four-day event to celebrate the motorcycle company's 110th anniversary.  (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope blesses hundreds of Harley-Davidsons

Biker culture came to the Vatican on Sunday as Pope Francis blessed thousands of Harley-Davidsons and their riders celebrating the manufacturer's 110th anniversary with a loud parade and plenty of leather. Thundering Harley engines nearly drowned out the Latin recitation of the "Our Father" prayer that accompanied Francis as he ...

In this photo provided by the Vatican paper L'Osservatore Romano, Pope Francis meets a group of French lawmakers during a private audience at the Vatican Saturday, June 15, 2013. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho)

Pope taps trusted prelate to oversee Vatican bank

Pope Francis took a first big step in reforming the troubled Vatican bank on Saturday by tapping a trusted prelate to help oversee its management, in a sign he wants to know more about its activities. Francis signed off on naming Monsignor Battista Ricca as interim prelate of the Institute ...

Pope wades diplomatically into gay marriage debate

Pope Francis waded diplomatically into the gay marriage debate Friday, telling the Archbishop of Canterbury he wants to work together to promote family values "based on marriage." Francis, who vigorously opposed gay marriage in his native Argentina, and Archbishop Justin Welby chatted, prayed and had lunch together at the Vatican ...

Int'l court case against ex-pope fizzles

The International Criminal Court has rejected a longshot request by clergy sex abuse victims to investigate former Pope Benedict XVI and Vatican cardinals for possible crimes against humanity. The tribunal, based in The Hague, told attorneys for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests that "there is not a ...

UN leprosy ambassador upset at pope's remarks

The U.N. goodwill ambassador for eliminating leprosy has written to Pope Francis complaining about his recent comment that careerism among Catholic Church officials was "a leprosy." In a letter to Francis released Thursday, Ambassador Yohei Sasakawa wrote that such remarks can reinforce discrimination against leprosy patients and their families. He ...

Faithful fill St.Peter's Square during Pope Francis' general audience, at the Vatican, Wednesday, June 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Vatican credit stop emblematic of finance woes

The Vatican put a new coin on sale last week to commemorate its historic papal transition. Too bad overseas collectors won't be able to buy it for months. The Associated Press has learned that the Vatican still hasn't fully resolved an embarrassing shutdown in credit card services, despite announcing four ...

Pope Francis reads a message during the Angelus noon prayer he celebrated from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's square at the Vatican, Sunday, June 9, 2013.(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Pope confirms 'gay lobby' at work at Vatican

In private remarks to the leadership of a key Latin American church group, Pope Francis lamented that a "gay lobby" was at work at the Vatican. It was an apparent reference to allegations in the Italian media that blackmail was taking place within the Vatican against high-ranking prelates who are ...

Pope Francis smiles he listens to children reading out their message during an audience with students of Jesuit schools and institutions in Italy and Albania, at the Vatican, Friday, June 8, 2013. Francis is the first pope from the Jesuit order, which is known for its missionary zeal. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Francis gets personal: 'I didn't want to be pope'

Pope Francis revealed Friday that he never wanted to be pope and that he's living in the Vatican hotel for his "psychiatric" health. Francis showed a personal and spontaneous side as he met with thousands of children from Jesuit schools across Italy and Albania. Tossing aside his prepared remarks, Francis ...

Today in History

Today is Thursday, June 13, the 164th day of 2013. There are 201 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On June 13, 1983, the U.S. space probe Pioneer 10, launched in 1972, became the first spacecraft to leave the solar system as it crossed the orbit of ...

Pope Francis blesses the crowd during the Angelus noon prayer,  from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, June 2, 2013. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope appeals for release of hostages in Syria

Pope Francis is appealing to the "humanity" of kidnappers in Syria to release hostages. Francis urged prayers for "beloved Syria" as he spoke from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square on Sunday to a crowd below. He lamented that the war there has stricken a defenseless people aspiring to ...

Pope Francis waves as he leaves at the end of his weekly general audience, in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 29, 2013. The rain hasn't stopped Pope Francis. The 76-year-old pontiff, who lost part of a lung during his youth to an infection, got soaked Wednesday as he braved a brief spring shower to kiss babies and greet crowds at his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square. Zooming around the piazza in his open-air jeep, Francis had no umbrella or cover over him as he made his way through a sea of brightly colored umbrellas, happily stopping to caress and kiss babies handed up to him. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Vatican bank chief's priority: clean up reputation

The new head of the Vatican bank says his top priority is to clean up the bank's reputation, saying the institution hasn't served the pope well but provides valuable financial services to the Holy See and its clients that should continue. Ernst von Freyberg was named president of the Institute ...

Pope Francis celebrates the Corpus Domini mass in front of St. John at the Lateran Basilica, to mark the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, in Rome, Thursday, May 30, 2013. The event is dedicated to the mystery of the Eucharist and concludes the cycle of feasts following Easter. Pope Francis celebrated the evening Mass at St. John in Lateran Basilica then traveled a short distance in a procession to St. Mary Major Basilica. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

In shift, Pope Francis walks procession

Pope Francis has again broken with the practice of his predecessors, walking the full length of an annual 1.5 kilometer (mile-long) procession from one Roman basilica to another. The 76-year-old Francis, who walks with a slight limp because of apparent lower back pain, paused several times in prayer during the ...

Pope Francis waves to faithful as he arrives for his general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 29, 2103. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope gets soaked as he braves rain to greet crowds

The rain hasn't stopped Pope Francis. The 76-year-old pontiff, who lost part of a lung during his youth to an infection, got soaked Wednesday as he braved a brief spring shower to kiss babies and greet crowds at his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square. Zooming around the piazza ...

Pope Francis celebrates mass in the St. Elizabeth and Zacharia parish church, in Rome, Sunday, May 26, 2013. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Pope urges Mafiosi to stop exploitation of others

Pope Francis paid tribute to a courageous priest murdered by the Sicilian Mafia as a martyr and urged mobsters on Sunday to abandon their evil ways, particularly the exploitation of people in trafficking rackets such as prostitution. Francis issued his call to organized crime members to convert their hearts, a ...

Rene Brulhart, director of the  Financial Information Authority, an institution established by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 to monitor the monetary and commercial activities of Vatican agencies, and Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi, meet the press at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 22, 2013. The Vatican took another step Wednesday in trying to show greater financial transparency by publishing a first annual report from its financial watchdog agency and announcing new regulations to fight money laundering and terror financing that are expected in the coming weeks and months. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Vatican releases 1st report of financial watchdog

The Vatican took another step Wednesday to show greater financial transparency by publishing the first annual report from its financial watchdog agency and announcing new regulations to fight money laundering and terror financing. The report from the Financial Intelligence Authority showed the agency received six internal reports on suspicious transactions ...

Pope issues first appeal for Chinese Catholics

Pope Francis has issued his first appeal directed at Catholics in China, long the source of concern for his predecessor Benedict XVI. Francis urged special prayers Wednesday for China's faithful that they may "live their daily lives in service to their country and their fellow citizens in a way consistent ...

In this image made from video provided by APTN, Pope Francis lays his hands on the head of a young man on Sunday, May 19, 2013, after celebrating Mass in St. Peter’s Square. The young man heaved deeply a half-dozen times, convulsed and shook, and then slumped in his wheelchair as Francis prayed over him. The television station of the Italian bishops’ conference said it had surveyed exorcists, who agreed Francis either performed an exorcism or a prayer to free the man from the devil. The Vatican was more cautious Tuesday, saying Francis “didn’t intend to perform any exorcism. But as he often does for the sick or suffering, he simply intended to pray for someone.”  (AP Photo/APTN)

The pope and the devil: Is Francis an exorcist?

Pope Francis' fascination with the devil took on remarkable new twists Tuesday, with a well-known exorcist insisting Francis helped "liberate" a Mexican man possessed by four different demons despite the Vatican's insistence that no such papal exorcism took place. The case concerns a 43-year-old husband and father who traveled to ...

Pope expresses solidarity with tornado survivors

Pope Francis has expressed his "closeness to the families of all who died in the Oklahoma tornado," with special concern for "those who lost young children." The pope posted a Twitter message to the survivors Tuesday, and followed up with a telegram to the archbishop of Oklahoma City, Paul S. ...

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