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Here's a new Vaticanews to satisfy your craving:

Vaticanews 06/18/09

BULLETINS:
Villanova's Virtual Vatican Visit
It doesn't matter who you are, using the Internet is easier than traveling to Italy. Which is why Villanova University is using both its technological know-how and its long-standing relationship with the Catholic church to cut out the middle man with virtual tours of the Vatican's holiest hot spots. Not only that, but the tours allow users to zoom in on things they couldn't see with the naked eye, which means that going to the Vatican in real life may soon be a disappointing experience when held up against the virtual version. Much like how the Internet has affected sex, shopping, and academic research.
(source= The Philadelphia Inquirer)


How Chris West Makes Catholicism Kinky
Chris West has no official authority in the Catholic world but that doesn't stop him from telling couples to pray over each other's genitalia, urging Catholics to rediscover the Virgin Mary's "abundant breasts," and condoning anal sex as long as it precedes traditional intercourse. West is the author of Good News about Sex and Marriage, a book which attempts to combat the shame and fear he thinks many Catholics feel about their sexual desires. Or maybe all it does it attempt to be provocative and bizarre enough to give West his fifteen minutes. Like when he blesses women's ovaries at seminars. Or the "very profound historical connections" he sees between John Paul II and Hugh Hefner. Or the rest of his career.
(source= Slate)

HEADLINES:
Benedict Starts "Year of the Priest" Celebrations with Angry Letter
Pope Benedict XVI has declared that June 2009-June 2010 will be the Year of the Priest. China had already declared that 2009 was the Year of the Ox, but lucky for Benedict, these are not mutually exclusive.
What does it mean to have a Year of the Priest? For one, St. John Vianney is finally getting promoted from patron saint of parish priests to patron saint of priests worldwide. And next June, St. Peter's Square is set to host the World Meeting of Priests, which ought to be the party of the century. Problem is, Benedict's cracking down on moral corruption. Pope Buzzkill XVI.
Benedict published a letter today asking for "frank and complete acknowledgement" of the Church's mistakes. The pontiff never directly referenced any one of a myriad of priest-related scandals in recent years: child abuse, controversial abortions, denying the Holocaust. Instead, he frankly and completely acknowledged that there have been "situations which can never be sufficiently deplored." He is of course, right about these situations, and right to try and stop them, but you must admit that forcing priests to man up to their mistakes is hardly the way to kick off the Year of the Priest festivities. Not even so much as a pizza party at the roller rink? Tough love, Benedict. Tough love.
(sources= Catholic News Service & Associated Press)

Vaticanews is Bigger than Ever (And Space Pope's Back Again)

Greetings,

Space Pope just updated her blog again, which you can read here.

And because today's a big day for PBXVI, here's the third installment of Vaticanews:


Vaticanews 04/19/09

BULLETINS:
— Anniversaries Abound!
April is a big month for Pope Benedict XVI, who celebrated his 82nd birthday on Thursday, and who, today, celebrates the fourth anniversary of his election to the pontificate on April 19, 2005. The birthday party was a quiet, private event, which is atypical of papal events, but it's his party and he can invite just a few friends and his older brother if he wants to. And for his Benedict's birthday last year, President Bush had a choir sing "Happy Birthday" on the White House lawn, so this year provided as a less noisy, less international contrast. Nice for Benedict, but kind of a bummer for American TV news.
(source=http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1471168.php/Pope_Benedict_XVI_spends_82nd_birthday_resting_)

— Paraguayan President and Former Bishop Also Former Sinner
Fernando Lugo, President of Paraguay, admitted recently that while still a Roman Catholic bishop he'd had an affair a woman named Viviana Carrillo, and that affair had produced a son. This was, naturally, quite a shocking announcement, but Lugo ruined the scandalous mood by very seriously promising to take full responsibility of the child, and then refusing to comment further so he could focus on his presidency. It was offensively decent and honest, this attitude, and not at all becoming of a man who supposedly slept with a woman and had an illegitimate child while employed by the church. Hopefully, he'll make a fresh mistake soon, and we'll be able to pounce on that.
(source=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jjbPzVkmGnEQa5_DKeXXiHroX1pgD97HSASO0)

— As if God Making the Sun Wasn't Enough
It's hard to imagine the Vatican providing the world with anything other than messages of hope, unity, and the Bible, but in five years it may also generate and export electricity for itself and much of the rest of Rome. The Vatican, one of the smallest nations in the world, is readying itself to invest 500 million euros in Europe's largest solar plant. The plant will produce 100 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 40,000 households. And since the Vatican only houses some 900 people, the everyday Italians who live nearby will be able to enjoy some of this energy. While there have been some negative responses to this kind of spending in this kind of economy, the Vatican's stance is that investing in this project now will pay off big time in the long run. Besides, it has the money and sovereignty to do it, so screw what other people think, anyways.
(source=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aO042nyR0px4&refer=europe)

HEADLINES:
But Did John Paul Read any of Fidel's Poetry?
A claim (somewhat outrageous): It doesn't matter who you are, everyone likes attention and everyone likes to hear about themselves.
Support for the claim (somewhat outrageous): A new book on Pope John Paul II's daily life, He Liked Tuesdays Best, tells a fascinating little anecdote about the 1996 meeting between the former pope and the former leader of Cuba, Fidel Castro. Apparently, not wanting to run out of things to talk about, Castro prepared for the meeting by reading many of the pope's teachings and poetry ahead of time. And it worked. According to Archbishop Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki, a secretary of John Paul's from 1996 until 2005, "The Holy Father... was very impressed."
He Liked Tuesdays Best, which been authorized by the Polish Roman Catholic Church, is based entirely on interviews with Mokrzycki. It sold more than 20,000 copies in its first week, and that's just the Polish version. An Italian version is soon to come, and there are talks going on now to get English, German, French, and, of course, Ukrainian versions published ASAP. Soon readers worldwide can read their languages' translations of "The nuns had to bring a cookie," Mokrzycki said. Intrigued? Then write to your local publisher and tell them to get He Liked Tuesdays Best in every bookstore across the nation post-haste.
(source=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j8hkBhiiL9cD5XYrhCSArb-WP19AD979OIKG0)