Rome  - The Vatican on Friday announced the official programme for Pope Benedict XVI's tour of France, which includes visits to Paris and Lourdes.

Rome  - Pope Benedict XVI plans to read out the

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.

Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI on Friday told Hong Kong and Macao's top Roman Catholic clerics he "hopes and prays" their colleagues from mainland China will one day be allowed to visit Rome.

Benedict expressed his wish in a speech to the clerics, including the Archbishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen, who met the pontiff at Vatican City.

Benedict said he looked forward to the day "when your Brother Bishops from mainland China come to Rome on pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul, as a sign of communion with the Successor of Peter and the Universal Church."

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.