Jerusalem  - Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert welcomed on Sunday the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the Holy Land, disclosing that the visit would take place in May and saying that the "whole Israeli government" was behind it.

Pope Benedict announced the official visit while meeting US Jewish leaders on Thursday, but had not disclosed a date, the moves coming in the wake of the Bishop Williamson Holocaust denial scandal.

Olmert said in a statement released during Sunday's cabinet session that the official reception of the Pope would be carried out by Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Berlin  - German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Pope Benedict XVI chatted on the phone Sunday to set aside their differences over the Holocaust outburst by an arch-conservative bishop.

"It was a good and constructive talk, carried by the deep and constant reminder that the Shoah holds for humanity," said a joint statement released by the Vatican and German government spokesmen.

The pope and the chancellor explained their views "with the greatest of mutual respect," the statement said.

Vatican City  - Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday expressed "concern" for the situation in Madagascar where scores have been killed in clashes between government forces and demonstrators.

The pontiff speaking during his traditional Sunday Angelus blessing, called on the faithful gathered in St Peter's Square to pray for an end to the violence in the Indian Ocean island-state.

"The (Roman Catholic) bishops of the island have set aside a special day of prayer today for national reconciliation and social justice," Benedict said.

Passau, Germany - The Catholic church sees the faithful leaving the church in droves after the controversial lifting of the excommunication of a group of rightist bishops, a German Vatican expert said Saturday.

Father Eberhard von Gemmingen, the head of Radio Vatican's German service, said in an interview with the Passauer Neuen Presse newspaper that a new "wave of exits" had already set in after Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication of four leaders of the St Pius X Society, one of whom denies the Holocaust.

Madrid - Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone on Thursday indirectly criticized Spain's liberal social reforms such as homosexual marriage, downgrading religious education in schools and plans to liberalize abortion.

Cardinal Bertone stressed the right to life and the importance of the heterosexual family in a lecture he gave at the headquarters of the Spanish Bishops' Conference after meeting Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, King Juan Carlos, the deputy prime minister and the foreign minister on Wednesday.

Madrid - A Vatican cardinal regarded as Pope Benedict XVI's right-hand man was Wednesday expected to try to improve relations with Spain during a visit to the country which the Vatican now regards as a leading advocate of liberal secularism in Europe.

Vatican Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone's visit is classed as private, but includes meetings with Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and King Juan Carlos scheduled for Wednesday.