The Italian police force has been left red-faced by revelations it tapped into phone calls made by Pope Benedict.
In the course of an investigation into alleged corruption by Italy's civil protection chief Guido Bertolaso, police listened into and taped conversations between him and the Pontiff in the wake of last year's devastating L'Aquila earthquake.
In all, Pope Benedict made four calls to Bertolaso's tapped phone, expressing thanks to him and his rescue teams for their efforts in L'Aquila.
For the surveillance officers involved in the tapping, the subject of L'Aquila was central to their probe as Bertolaso is alleged to have been party to sexual favours and financial back-handers in reconstruction projects in the region.
The Vatican has reacted angrily to the revelation that the Pontiff was taped. One unidentified Churchman reportedly said: ''To think that someone recorded Pope Benedict without him knowing is outrageous even if it is part of a police investigation.''
The police force has stated that the tapes of the conversations have been destroyed.
Vatican
Pius letter to Roosevelt
A wartime letter written by Pope Pius XII to US President Franklin D. Roosevelt has been published for the first time.
Dated August 30, 1943, the letter was penned in the wake of a number of Allied bombing raids on Rome as the tide of war turned against the Nazi forces, and carried a plea for Rome to be spared destruction by the Allied advance.
''Of [Rome's] desire for peace and to be done with the war, there can be no doubt,'' the Pontiff writes, ''but in the presence of formidable forces opposing the actuation or even the official declaration of that desire she finds herself shackled and quite without the necessary means of defending herself.
''If under such circumstances Italy is forced still to bear devastating blows against which she is practically defenceless...we hope and pray that the military leaders will find it possible to spare innocent civilian populations and in particular churches and religious institutions from the ravages of war.''
Having been discovered by the Knights of Columbus - who acted as a diplomatice channel between the Vatican and US - the letter is now on display at the Knights' headquarters in Rome.
Italy
Blood clot killed saint
Modern science techniques have been employed to reveal the cause of death of a revered saint in the country. Using enhanced X-ray technology, researchers examined the remains of Santa Rosa in her resting place near Rome and concluded that the 700 year-old saint most likely succumbed to a blood clot in her heart.
The research was undertaken as part of a process to further preserve the saint's remains. Though Santa Rosa was previously said to have died as a result of tuberculosis, the investigators found no evidence of this.
Turkey
Funeral of Papal Nuncio
Members of the Christian and Muslim communities have joined in marking the funeral of murdered Apostolic Nuncio Bishop Luigi Padovese.
Gathering in Iskanderun Cathedral, mourners heard Archbishop of Smyrna, Ruggero Franceschini, describe the slain bishop as a Churchman devoted to the idea of peaceful co-existence between faiths. ''In the spirit of collaboration with local authorities on the day before he died, he met with them to discuss the issue of religious minorities in Turkey and to find ways of collaboration for the common good,'' Archbishop Franceschini said.
Police are still investigating what was, it has transpired, a frenzied attack on the nuncio by his government-appointed driver, Murat Altun. The victim was stabbed at least eight times in the heart, among other injuries, and an attempt had been made to decapitate him. An allegation that the attack was prompted by homosexual advances has been angrily denied by friends and colleagues of Bishop Padovese.
The bishop's remains were due to be transported to his native city of Milan following the June 7 funeral ceremony.
China
Church is destroyed
A Catholic church, the only one in the region of Ordos in Inner Mongolia, has been destroyed and its priest arrested.
The action against the church was taken on June 7 and is believed to have been court ordered. Though the church serves some 1,000 faithful, it had been targeted by the authorities who claim it lies in the path of an intended road construction.
Parish priest Fr Gao En, and lay worker Yang Yizhi were arrested as they tried to prevent the demolition. It is reported the men were released some 20 hours later.
Afghanistan
Pope effigy burned
Muslims outraged by perceived activities of Christian charities in the country have burned an effigy of Pope Benedict at a protest.
The protest came following the suspension by the government of two charities, the Church World Service and Norwegian Church Aid, following allegations they were seeking to spread Christianity as they worked within Afghan communities. The two groups deny the allegation.
Egypt
Court ruling rejected
The leader of the country's Coptic Orthodox Church has rejected a court ruling that allows divorced Coptic men to remarry, in contravention of their teaching.
Criticising the ruling, which was itself a reaction to his earlier call to overturn a 2008 judgement, Coptic Pope Shenouda said: ''The [Orthodox Coptic] Church respects the law but it does not accept rules except from the Bible.''
Observers have suggested the ruling is designed to undermine Coptic control of its faithful, in a country where the majority faith is conservative Islam.
Under Egypt's personal laws, marriage and divorce proceedings are based on the couple's religion. But in any marriage between a Muslim and non-Muslim, Islamic law prevails.
South Africa
Football for peace
With the World Cup underway, the Catholic bishops of the African nation have organised a football tournament for peace in parallel with the main event.
The thrust of the tournament is to bring together different groupings now making up modern South Africa.
''In the last tournament, there were white South Africans who set foot for the first time in a township,'' said a spokesman for the bishops. ''And the results are very positive. We place much hope in this initiative to promote peace and understanding among all.''
United States
Mother Teresa honour
An initiative to honour Mother Teresa on the date of her 100th birthday by beaming her image onto the side of New York's Empire building has gained massive support since the building's management rejected the idea. Since announcing its plan, The Catholic League has received 40,000 calls of support, including one from a leading New York councilwoman.
Jeff Field, spokesperson for The Catholic League said: ''Why not honour a saintly nun who has won the Nobel Peace Prize? It was the least that we could do to honour such an admired woman.''
Pakistan
Christian attacks
There is growing concern at fresh violence against Christians in the Punjab region.
In recent weeks, International Christian Concern (ICC) has recorded a number of Muslim on Christian attacks, including one on a pregnant woman accused of evangelising.
In another case, a Christian family was forced to flee when a Muslim mob claimed to have found pages of the Koran in their rubbish bins. Meanwhile, in a majority Muslim village in Khanewal district, the ICC reports that 250 Christian families have been ordered to leave, following their complaints of sexual harassment by Muslim employers on women. The ICC stated that Christians are made victims in Pakistan ''because they express their faith in Christ''.
