Vatican City  - Pope Benedict XVI celebrated All Saints Day Saturday by urging the faithful to follow the example of the Christian martyrs and other men and women who dedicated their lives to God.

Benedict made the appeal when he delivered the noon Angelus blessing before thousands of people gathered in St Peter's Square.

Among those present were participants in the "Race of the Saints" a 10 kilometre run through Rome in which the Italian capital's Mayor Gianni Alemanno also took part.

Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI met Friday with Lebanese President Michel Suleiman and expressed hope for the safeguard of Lebanon's "peculiar identity", the Vatican said.

Talks between Benedict and Suleiman, the Maronite Christian president of the majority Muslim nation, lasted for 25 minutes with St Peter's Square closed off to the public amid tight security.

Benedict conveyed his "appreciation for the efforts" made by Lebanese leaders to restore their Middle East nation along "the rails of a normal political dialectic," the Vatican said in a statement.

Suleiman took office in May following intense wrangling between Lebanon's political and religious factions.

Vatican City - Secret Vatican archives on Pope Pius XII's controversial World War II pontificate will not be made public for at least another "six or seven years," the papal spokesman said Thursday.

"Before then, it is unrealistic to think (they) will be made accessible to researchers," Father Federico Lombardi was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.

Beirut - Lebanese President Michel Suleiman is due to travel to Vatican City later this week for talks with Pope Benedict XVI, a presidential palace source said Tuesday.

Washington - The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday renewed its push for the Vatican to open its archives for Europe's Holocaust period, saying it would allow historical conclusions to be based on fact and not rhetoric.

The call comes amid growing controversy over plans by the Vatican to beatify Pope Pius XII, a move that would put him on the path to sainthood as the church commemorates the anniversary of his death 50 years ago this month.

Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday delivered an impassioned defence of Pope Pius XII's World War II record, but stopped short of indicating if or when he will approve the controversial pontiff's path towards sainthood.

Benedict celebrated a Mass in St Peter's Basilica commemorating the 50th anniversary of the death of Pius, who some accuse of having failed to speak out against the Nazi massacre of the Jews.