BARCELONA Pope Benedict s last visit today was to the Child Jesus Nen Deu project in Barcelona a home for the disabled run by Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart founded by an Anadalusian nun beatified in 2007 nbsp He greeted teenagers with learning difficulties many with Down s Syndrome

BARCELONA The liturgy was to die for There were more than 1 000 celebrants and the chief among them was pretty hard to beat And it helped to have the King and Queen of Spain in the congregation But the real star of Pope Benedict XVI s dedication this morning of the Sagrada Familia cathedral --

Cambridge MA I spent a bit of time on this quiet Saturday rearranging books in the vain hope that by moving them around and to hitherto unnoticed corners and book-case bottoms I might find more space For the rule is sure if the graduate student spends a lot of time accumulating books with an

BARCELONA Ask an observer about Spanish religion and politics and most people will mention two Spains one left-wing and anti-Catholic the other Catholic and politically conservative That polarization existed long before the Civil War and was reinforced by Franco wrapping himself in the flag

BARCLELONA Hundreds of young Catholics who had gathered to celebrate Pope Benedict s arrival in the Catalan capital tonight with candles and songs were rewarded with a three-minute papal blessing from the Archbishop s balcony They chanted s iacute s iacute s iacute el Papa ya est aacute aq

BARCELONA Over on the other side of Spain speaking in the Plaza del Obradoiro outside the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela Pope Benedict has issued a bracing and often lyrical call for Europe to see faith as our guiding star in the night of time From this place as a messenger of the Gosp