Popes

Pope Benedict XVI marked his 80th birthday by lunching with cardinals and listening to music by one of his favorite composers, Mozart, in a relatively low-key celebration. Benedict spent the morning meeting with well-wishers from his native Germany, including the governors of Bavaria and Schleswig-Holstein. Gifts poured in, including 80 bottles of Bavarian beer and a giant teddy bear, which the pontiff donated to a local children's hospital.

Pope Benedict XVI has changed the rules for electing popes, making it potentially harder to name a successor but ensuring that when the white smoke rises from the Sistine Chapel, the new pontiff will have broad support among cardinals. Benedict issued a one-page document in Latin requiring that two-thirds of the cardinals in a conclave agree on the new pontiff.

Roman Catholics embarked Sunday on a new year with a new pope, who used the day's festivities to urge stronger faith in God as a way to make peace in a world threatened by "terrorism, nihilism and fanatic fundamentalism." Benedict XVI, presiding over the first New Year's Day program of his papacy, led a morning Mass inside St. Peter's Basilica and afterward addressed thousands of pilgrims gathered in the square outside. The Vatican marks Jan.

The Turkish gunman who shot Pope John Paul II in 1981 was freed from prison today after serving more than 25 years in Italy and Turkey for the plot against the pontiff and the slaying of a Turkish journalist. Dozens of police officers stood guard as Mehmet Ali Agca left Kartal prison. John Paul personally forgave him 2 1/2 years after the attack.

Turkey's justice minister ordered a review of the release of Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who shot Pope John Paul II nearly 25 years ago. Agca, now 48, served nearly 20 years in prison in Italy, then was extradited to Turkey, where he was serving time for the murder of a Turkish journalist. Justice Minister Cemil Cicek ordered a review to see whether any errors were committed in the release.

It has persisted as one of the most mysterious cases of international intrigue in recent times: Who shot the pope? A committee of Italy's Parliament investigating the 1981 attempt to assassinate John Paul II released its conclusion Thursday that "beyond any reasonable doubt" the Soviet Union ordered the attack that seriously wounded the pope as he greeted crowds in St. Peter's Square. The Turkish gunman, Mehmet Ali Agca, was long ago condemned in the shooting and served 19 years in jail.

Pope John Paul II played down his ailments and was often reluctant to receive medical treatment, according to a book by some of his closest aides, including his personal physician. The book, which hit the stands here Wednesday, also shows the Vatican knew that the late pope had symptoms of Parkinson's disease in 1991 but kept quiet about it for five years.

No one would ever accuse Pope Benedict XVI of being overly charismatic. Benedict clearly prefers quiet study or the professorial delivery of a homily to the flashy performances before adoring crowds that his predecessor favored. In his first year on St. Peter's throne, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has confounded critics and supporters alike while beginning to reshape the papacy.

The Vatican opened part of its secret archives to let historians review millions of diplomatic letters, private correspondence and other church documents to gain insight into how the Holy See dealt with the persecution of Jews before World War II. Researchers said it could take months or years to study about 30,000 bundles of documents from the 1922-39 papacy of Pius XI, a span when the rise of Nazism, fascism and Soviet-bloc communism gripped Europe.

He already has been spotted as a fashion follower, from his signature shades and shoes to his ermine-trimmed velvet robes, but now Pope Benedict XVI is trying his hand at modeling for a 2007 calendar. It features 14 original poses of the pontiff, taken this summer at Castel Gandolfo, his country residence near Rome. Proceeds will go to a mission in Rwanda.