Today we celebrate the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord God, an important day in the liturgical calendar which is marked each year on the fortieth day after Easter. The Feast itself commemorates when, on the fortieth day after His Resurrection, Jesus led His disciples to the Mount of Olives, and after blessing them and asking them to wait for the fulfillment of the promise of the Holy Spirit, He ascended into heaven. Benedictine Abbott Timothy Wright explains to Linda Bordoni what it is, exactly, that we celebrate... listen... ...

Pope Benedict XVI viewed a screening of a film on the life of the Mother of God Wednesday evening at the Vatican. Following the screening, the Holy Father thanked the producers of the film – an international collaborative effort titled, Mary of Nazareth .

During his Wednesday audience Pope Benedict XVI had a very special greeting for the President of Caritas Internationalis, Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, and Members of the Executive Board and Representative Council of the global Catholic organisation. Speaking in English he said: “Your presence here today expresses your communion with the Successor of Peter and your readiness to welcome the new juridical framework of your organisation.

The German Church is holding its bi-annual meeting, more commonly known as Katholikentag , in Mannheim, with over 30 thousand participants and guests assembled to discuss, to worship, to celebrate and to share the current state of the Church in Pope Benedict XVI’s homeland. From Mannheim, Father Bernd Hagenkord S.J. reports. Listen The book containing all the events of this „Katholikentag“ is nearly 600 pages long, all 1.200 events show the breadth and length of the catholic Church in Germany.

Pope Benedict XVI wrote to the newly sworn-in President of France, Francois Hollande. In his telegram, the Holy Father expresses the hope that France continue to be, "a factor of peace and solidarity in the active search for the common good, respect for life and the dignity of every person and all peoples," in Europe and the international community.

Vatican City, 16 May 2012 (VIS) - After having examined prayer in the Acts of the Apostles, Benedict XVI announced that he will dedicate his next series of catechesis to prayer in the Letters of St. Paul, which always begin and end with an expression of prayer and which have given us a rich range of forms of prayer. In Wednesday's general audience, celebrated in St. Peter's Square before more than 11,000 people, the Pope explained that the Apostle to the Gentiles wants us to understand that prayer "should not be seen as a simple good deed made to God, an action of our own.

Vatican City, 16 May 2012 (VIS) - Early this afternoon, the Holy See Press Office issued the following communique regarding the Society of St. Pius X: "As reported by news agencies, today, 16 May 2012, an Ordinary Session of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith met to discuss the question of the Society of St. Pius X. In particular, the text of the response of Bishop Bernard Fellay, received on 17 April, 2012, was examined and some observations, which will be considered in further discussions between the Holy See and the Society of St. Pius X, were formulated.

Continuing his catechesis on Christian prayer, this Wednesday Pope Benedict turned to the teaching of the Apostle Paul, whose letters show us that “in reality there is no human cry that is not heard by God” and that “prayer does not exempt us from trial and suffering”, “but allows us to live and cope with a new force, with the same confidence of Jesus”.

Marking the World Day for Family, Pope Benedict XVI has appealed for the right to work and to rest for families worldwide. In comments following his Wednesday lesson on prayer in the life of the early Church the Holy Father said : “Yesterday, Tuesday, May 15th, we celebrated the World Day of Families, established by the United Nations and dedicated this year to balance between two closely related issues: family and work. This should not hinder the family, but rather support and unite it, helping it to be open to life and to enter into a relationship with society and with the Church.

Milan, Italy’s economic hub, is the host city for the VII World Meeting on the theme The Family: Work and Celebration . From Wednesday May 30th to Sunday June 3rd, it will welcome Catholic families from around the globe to celebrate together the vocation to family life and its specific role within the life of the universal Church. Listen to Emer McCarthy's report: Activities include a theological pastoral congress, an international family fair, workshops and liturgies of prayer and adoration.