Vatican City- The Vatican said Tuesday it had "regretfully" learned of the decision by the Church of England to approve the ordaining of women bishops.

Vatican City  - Pope Benedict XVI prepared Wednesday for a nine-day break in his summer residence in the hills south of Rome, ahead of his July 12 trip to Australia.

Before boarding a scheduled afternoon chopper flight to Castel Gandolfo, the 81-year-old pontiff presided the traditional mid-morning general audience at the Vatican.

Istanbul  - Celebrations to mark the 2,000th anniversary of the birth of St Paul began Saturday in Tarsus, Turkey, the birthplace of the evangelist and author of much of the Christian New Testament.

A prayer was given in the historic Church of St Paul to start the Year of St Paul declared by Pope Benedict XVI, which officially begins June 29 and is expected to bring Christian pilgrims to Turkey throughout the year.

The 12th century church was confiscated by the government in 1943 and was used for decades as an army storehouse before being made into a museum. Christians are allowed to worship there, but must not leave anything in the building.

Vatican City  - Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday appointed Archbishop Fouad Twal as Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem - the Roman Catholic Church's top Latin rite cleric for Israel and the Palestinians territories.

A Vatican statement also said Benedict had accepted the resignation on age grounds of Twal's predecessor, 75-year-old Archbishop Michel Sabbah, who has held the post since 1987.

Vatican City  - Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday met Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila, for talks at the Vatican which focused on the central African country's security situation.

The pontiff received Kabila at the Apostolic Palace overlooking St Peter's Square for a meeting which lasted 15 minutes.

Benedict, speaking in French, greeted Kabila and then asked him how things were in civil war-scarred Congo, to which the president replied: "A little better."

A meeting between the two had been scheduled in December 2007 but was cancelled due to a fresh outbreak of fighting in Congo, Italian news reports said.