Ahead of Pope Benedict’s solemn funeral on Thursday, 5 January, the Catholic Herald discussed these and other questions with Father Roberto Regoli, an Italian priest and Professor of Contemporary History at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, where he directs the Department of Church History. A specialist in the history of the papacy, the Roman Curia and papal diplomacy for the 19th and 20th centuries, Fr Regoli is author of Beyond the crisis of the Church: the Pontificate of Benedict XVI. In this interview, we also discuss the lasting impact of Benedict XVI’s 2006 Regensburg Address, his deep friendship with St John Paul II and the suggestion that Pope Benedict could one day be declared a Doctor of the Church.

Photo: Vatican Media The crowds are quieter this time. By comparison with the enormous throng of people – most of them Poles – who came to see Pope John Paul II lying in St Peter’s Basilica, the thousands queuing to pay their respects to Pope Benedict are fewer but even more diverse. I met a

Viktor Orbán was among world leaders to visit St Peter’s Basilica in Rome on Tuesday, where he paid his respects to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Photo: all rights reserved VATICAN CITY (January 3, 2023) Heads of state, cardinals, bishops, priests, religious and lay faithful continued on Tuesday and Wednesday to bid farewell to Pope Emeritus

How do we help children and adults who have been abused? The first thing is to talk about it, recognising that it is endemic in our world. The second is to be clear that it isn’t the victim’s fault – that any shame they may feel is misplaced. Abuse is always an abuse of power

An alleged victim of Father Marko Rupnik has spoken out about how she was abused by the priest over thirty years ago. In an interview with the Italian investigative newspaper Domani, the former nun accused Fr Rupnik of exerting “psycho-spiritual” control over her over a period of nine years. She said he forced her to

Pope Francis has ordered the return of three Parthenon fragments which have been held in the papal collections of the Vatican Museums for centuries to Greece. The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis will give the 2,500-year-old fragments to His Beatitude Ieronymos II, the Orthodox archbishop of Athens and All Greece, as a gesture of

Photo: Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia watches as Pope Francis addresses the General Assembly of the Pontifical Academy for Life on 5 October 2017. ALBERTO PIZZOLI/AFP via Getty Images In a recent comment piece commissioned by the Catholic Herald I addressed the clamour of concern raised in the Catholic media at some of the recent appointments to

Cardinal Ouellet said in a statement on Tuesday that he was suing a woman who accused him of sexual assault more than a decade ago when he was the archbishop of Quebec. A prominent figure at the Vatican, Canadian Cardinal Marc Armand Ouellet is the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and President of the