(ANSA) - Vatican City, July 3 - A recent scientific
analysis on a tomb Vatican officials believe belongs to St
Paul does not ``confirm or exclude`` that the relics inside
are those of the apostle, the head of the Vatican Museums`
diagnostics laboratory said Friday.
Speaking at a Vatican press conference Ulderico
Santamaria, who is also a science professor at Tuscia
University, said the analysis did not offer conclusive proof.
However, Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo,

(ANSA) - Vatican City, July 3 - The best-known English
churchman of the 19th century moved a step closer to
sainthood Friday when Pope Benedict XVI approved the
publication of a miracle attributed to him.
The pope`s rubberstamp means Cardinal John Henry Newman
is to be beatified, one move away from becoming England`s
first saint from the last four centuries.
An English deacon said he recovered from an incurable
back ailment in 2001 thanks to Newman`s intercession.
No date h

(ANSA) - Rome, July 3 - Interior Minister Roberto Maroni
on Friday joined other government figures in shrugging off
criticism from the Vatican over a security law cracking down
on illegal immigration that was passed definitively by the
Italian parliament on Thursday.
``It`s the usual liturgy,`` Maroni said, referring to
the Vatican`s standpoint that the law focuses only on crime
and ignores the issue of integration.
``Those who have criticised the security package should
go and

(ANSA) - Rome, July 3 - Foreign Minister Franco Frattini
on Friday rejected criticism from the Vatican over a
controversial security law cracking down on illegal
immigration that was passed definitively by the Italian
parliament on Thursday.
``We respect the concerns of the Vatican,`` he said, but
stressed that the security package ``will not bring suffering
but only punishment to those who commit crimes,`` Frattini
said.
``People (who come here) legally are always
safeguarded`

(ANSA) - Vatican City, July 2 - The Catholic Church risks
approaching modern science with the same prejudices that
resulted in it rejecting the theories of Galileo, a Vatican
official warned Thursday.
Presenting a new edition of documents relating to the
trial of the 17th-century Italian astronomer found guilty of
heresy for saying the earth orbits around the sun, Vatican
Secret Archive Prefect Sergio Pagano said the Church risks
the ``same preconceptions`` against stem-cell research

(by Denis Greenan).
(ANSA) - Rome, July 2 - Defenders of wartime pope Pius
XII have ``nice surprises`` in store, the keeper of the
Vatican`s secret archives said Thursday.
The controversial pope, who has been criticised for not
speaking out clearly against the Holocaust, ``even ran
personal risks`` to save Jews, said Msgr Sergio Pagano,
Prefect of the Secret Archives.
``When the archives can be published there`ll be some
nice surprises,`` he said.
``I can`t tell you any m

(ANSA) - Vatican City, July 1 - Late pope John Paul II`s
beatification process has taken a key step forward and
another could be made at the end of the summer, Vatican
officials said on Wednesday.
Theologians tasked with vetting documentation and
testimony relating to the Polish pope`s sanctity approved the
dossier in a meeting on Tuesday, with six votes in favour and
two abstentions, officials said.
Vatican sources stressed that the two clerics who
abstained had done so for t

(ANSA) - Vatican City, July 1 - Pope Benedict XVI`s third
encyclical will be presented on July 7, the Vatican said
Wednesday.
In the encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in
Truth), the pontiff discusses economics, globalisation and
the need to rise above material goods.
Benedict announced at his Sunday Angelus address that he
had signed the encyclical that day and that it would take up
the ``social themes`` contained in Pope Paul VI`s 1967
encyclical, Populorum Progessio (De

(ANSA) - Vatican City, July 1 - Pope Benedict XVI on
Wedneday underlined the importance of ethical and moral
values in politics as he greeted an Italian
interparliamentary association during a general audience in
St Peter`s Square.
``I salute the members of the interparliamentary
association of Ethics Lovers, whose presence offers me the
opportunity to underline the importance of ethical and moral
values in politics,`` he said.
Ethics Lovers is led by Senator Leonzio Borea of th

(ANSA) - Vatican City, July 1 - Pope Benedict XVI`s third
encyclical will be presented on July 7, the Vatican said
Wednesday.
In the encyclical, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in
Truth), the pontiff discusses economics, globalisation and
the need to rise above material goods.
Benedict announced at his Sunday Angelus address that he
had signed the encyclical that day and that it would take up
the ``social themes`` contained in Pope Paul VI`s 1967
encyclical, Populorum Progessio (De

(ANSA) - Vatican City, June 30 - Pope Benedict XVI is
praying for the victims of the gas train explosion that
ripped through Viareggio Monday, the Vatican said.
The pope said he was joining in the ``grief that has hit
the entire city``.
At least 17 people including three children were killed
when a gas train derailed and blew up, knocking down
buildings and sending flames through the streets.
The toll could rise as some of the injured have suffered
serious burns, officials say.

(ANSA) - Rome, June 26 - The head of the Italian bishops
conference CEI warned politicians on Friday the country
wanted them to shun the limelight and avoid excesses.
In a message published by the Vatican daily Osservatore
Romano, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco said Italians and young
people in particular wanted politicians to adopt ``sound
behaviour`` and to distance themselves from `` din and the
spotlight``.
The cardinal made no direct reference to a media storm
over Premier Silvi

(ANSA) - Vatican City, June 26 - A Roman tomb believed
to be that of St Paul may be opened for the first time in
2000 years, the archpriest of the cathedral where it is
located said Friday.
``We`ve been thinking of opening St Paul`s sarcophagus
for a while and Pope Benedict XVI has not ruled out ordering
a thorough analysis of the tomb,`` said Cardinal Andrea
Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo of St Paul`s Outside the Walls.
``We`ve also studied how we could do it. You have to
bear in

(ANSA) - Vatican City, June 24 - Pope Benedict XVI will
meet Japanese, Canadian and Australian premiers when they
come to Italy for the Group of Eight summit next month,
Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told ANSA Wednesday.
Taro Aso, Japan`s first Catholic premier, will see the
pope on July 7 while Australia`s Kevin Rudd will meet him on
July 9.
Canadian Premier Stephen Harper`s audience has not yet
been scheduled, Lombardi said.
Australia is not in the G8 but Rudd is attend

(ANSA) - Vatican City, June 24 - The Vatican on Wednesday
confirmed July 10 as the date of Pope Benedict XVI`s first
meeting with United States President Barack Obama.
The Vatican`s spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, told
ANSA the pope would meet Obama on the afternoon of July 10.
Earlier on Wednesday the Catholic News Service reported
that the leaders would meet at 4 p.m. on July 10.
The Vatican in March condemned Obama`s lifting of
restrictions on funding for stem-cell resea