Pope Francis was greeted by enthusiastic crowds in Rio de Janeiro as he returned to his native continent for the first time as pontiff, but was involved in a security scare as his car took a wrong turn on the way from the airport. Later petrol bombs were thrown and protesters accused riot police of an unprovoked attack in clashes outside the presidential palace.

Referencing a mix of history and personal experience, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny exhorted 4,395 Boston College graduates today to “let go, let fly.” In his speech, Kenny touched on the deep ties between the United States and Ireland, forged over centuries.

While the political influence of the Vatican might be limited to public diplomacy, the spiritual influence has great significance for millions of Christians around the world. Consequently, the pope has always had a great impact on global peace and security...Indeed, I hope that Pope Francis will renew the Catholic-Muslim Forum with new energy and commitment to the spirit of the A Common Word Initiative which Pope Benedict XVI helped begin.

Pope Benedict XVI's sudden abdication of the papacy has far-reaching consequences for world affairs. They extend beyond theological divisions in the Church and thorny liturgical and eschatological issues to a potentially sharpened confessional rivalry between Islamic extremism and Christianity.

The pontifical council for the promotion of the new evangelisation represents a significant benchmark to measure the Vatican's capability to regain some influence in what was once "its" Europe...It has to fight against what the Vatican perceives as "the supremacy of the fragments": a cultural approach which tends to isolate and disperse western societies, and by consequence also Catholics: a sort of "grassroots relativism".

The priest said he feared young people will "turn their backs on the church" and say, "You never stood with us ... you never taught us to stand up for our rights."

America’s ambassador to the Holy See says the two sides are working to rebuild trust following the leak of embarrassing diplomatic cables late last year.

Pope Benedict XVI lamented that the Vatican acted "slowly and late" in a scandal surrounding the Legionaries of Christ, and a Vatican official called Tuesday for an investigation into who covered up for the conservative order's disgraced founder.