Vatican City  - The reaction of Belgium's parliament to Pope Benedict XVI's remarks against the use of condoms, is "astonishing" the Vatican's chief spokesman said Friday.

Father Federico Lombardi was commenting on a vote by Belgian lawmakers on Thursday in which they approved a motion which could lead their country's government to lodge an unprecedented, formal protest with the Vatican over the pontiff's remarks.

Vatican City - The Vatican on Thursday said it felt "deep pain" over the re-arrest in China this week of an elderly Roman Catholic bishop from the country's "underground" church which remains loyal to the pope.

Police on Monday arrested Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding, a county in China's Hebei Province some 260 kilometres south of the capital Beijing, Catholic media reported.

Rome - Pope Benedict XVI called Tuesday for the Group of 20 big economies meeting in London this week to address global poverty.

In a message to G20 host British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Benedict called on participants to unite in helping the world's poor.

He said his recent visit to Africa earlier this month had emphasized how much "the weak suffer due to a crisis about which they can do nothing."

Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI has ordered an internal investigation a religious order in the wake of revelations that the conservative religious group's late founder had fathered a child.

The decision was announced Tuesday by the Legionnaires of Christ order on it website. It posted a letter written by Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone to the head of the order Father Alvaro Corcuera

Luanda  - In what was billed as the high point of his three- day visit to the southern African country, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated an open-air mass Sunday in Angola's capital Luanda in front of hundreds of thousands of worshippers.

Benedict was joined by southern African bishops in saying the mass on the Cimangola Esplanade at the entry to the city.

The celebration was overshadowed by the deaths on Saturday of two youths in a stampede Saturday at a sports stadium in Luanda, where the pope addressed thousands of youth.

Luanda  - At least two people were killed and eight injured in a stampede Saturday at a stadium in Angolan capital Luanda before Pope Benedict XVI addressed thousands of youth.

While Angolan authorities confirmed the incident before the outdoor ceremony at the Dos Coquieros sports stadium, the details were unclear.