-
And his frank recognition of the limits of Catholic life in post-Christian Europe was realistic - and therefore, I think, hopeful.
BBC: Pope Benedict XVI will step down at the end of the month
-
In Lyons, for example, a left-wing Catholic priest, Father Christian Delorme, has spent two decades talking theology with Muslims and backing their demands for a better economic deal.
ECONOMIST: An often vexed relationship
-
Cardinal Angelo Scola, the archbishop of Milan, heads a foundation to promote Muslim-Christian understanding, and looks after Afghanistan's only Catholic Church as if it were in his diocese.
CNN: New pope brings hope for an era of outreach
-
Of immigrant descent (with an Irish grandfather and a Spanish mother), he is a Jesuit-educated Catholic, a man who in a different country would be a Christian Democrat, but who has built bridges to the left with some populist touches.
ECONOMIST: The challenge for Vicente Fox is to keep his balance
-
The effects of large-scale Christian conservative opposition to campaign finance reform still linger, but the campaign says evangelical and Catholic voters will find more to dislike in Obama's Senate record.
CNN: Analysis: Democrats woo disaffected evangelicals