Pope to visit Spain in November: Vatican

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis put his humility on display during his first day as pontiff Thursday, stopping by his hotel to pick up his luggage and praying like a pilgrim before a beloved shrine in a decidedly different style for the papacy usually ensconced inside the frescoed halls of the Vatican. The former archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, made an early morning visit in a simple Vatican car to a Roman basilica dedicated to the Virgin Mary and prayed before an icon of the Madonna.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis put his humility on display during his first day as pontiff Thursday, stopping by his hotel to pick up his luggage and pay the bill himself in a decidedly different style of papacy than his tradition-minded predecessor, who tended to stay ensconced in the frescoed halls of the Vatican.

A priceless 12th century guide to Spain's Way of Saint James pilgrimage, the Codex Calixtinus, has disappeared from the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, police said Thursday.One of the Western world's first 'guidebooks', it is only shown to the public on special occasions such as Pope Benedict XVI's visit last November to the northeastern Spanish city.Cathedral staff reported it missing on Wednesday afternoon, said a police spokeswoman."We are investigating its disappearance," the spokeswoman said.

Environmental group Greenpeace was on Monday unfurling a banner on Barcelona's landmark Sagrada Familia church calling for action against climate change, ahead of a UN conference in the city."More than 20 Greenpeace activists are in the process of hanging the 600-square-metre (6,500-square-foot) banner on the Sagrada Familia ... to mark the beginning of the United Nations summit on climate," it said in a statement."World leaders make the climate call," said the banner in English on the Antoni Gaudi-designed church which is as yet unfinished.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI will be known as “emeritus pope” in his retirement and will continue to wear a white cassock, the Vatican announced Tuesday. The pope’s title and what he would wear has been a major question ever since Benedict stunned the world and announced he would resign on Thursday, the first pontiff to do so in 600 years. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Benedict himself had made the decision in consultation with others.

Fire erupted Tuesday in a suspected arson attack on Barcelona's historic Sagrada Familia church, forcing 1,500 tourists to evacuate, officials said.Firefighters extinguished the fire in the sacristry before it could consume the stonework of Antoni Gaudi's world-renowned masterpiece, but some furnishings were damaged, they said.Ambulances ferried away four men working on the church who had inhaled smoke belching out from the blaze in the Barcelona landmark which was consecrated by Pope Benedict XVI on November 7 last year.

Greenpeace activists on Monday scaled Barcelona's landmark Sagrada Familia church in a protest to call for action against climate change, as a UN conference got underway in the city.Around 20 members of the environmental organisation first attempted to unfurl a 600-square-metre (6,500-square-foot) banner reading "World leaders make the climate call", but were prevented then from doing so by strong winds.They later pasted a black and yellow poster reading "Save the Climate" on a crane amid the spires of the Antoni Gaudi-designed church, which is as yet unfinished.

World leaders arrived in Rome ahead of an inauguration mass for Pope Francis who receives compatriot President Cristina Kirchner of Argentina on Monday in his first meeting with a head of state.