Castel Gandolfo, Italy  - Following a week of intense Easter festivities, Pope Benedict XVI was set Thursday to spend his 82nd birthday resting at the papal residence of Castel Gandolfo in the hills south of Rome.

The low-key commemoration contrasted with April 16, 2008 when Benedict, who was on an apostolic visit to the US, was feted in Washington by then US president George W Bush.

On that occasion a choir sang "Happy Birthday" for the pontiff on the White House lawn.

Castel Gandolfo, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday thanked the organizers of a symposium examining role played during World War II by Pius XII - a pope criticized by some for his stance towards the Nazi-led persecution of Jews.

Benedict, referring to Pius as "this noble Pope" said the symposium's work had helped appreciate that pontiff's "human wisdom and pastoral intensity... especially in providing organized assistance to the Jewish people," Benedict said.

Castel Gandolfo, Italy - Pope Benedict XVI on Monday received former hostage Ingrid Betancourt, who since she was liberated in July, had expressed a desire to thank the pontiff in person for his support.

The Franco-Colombian Betancourt, accompanied by her mother, Yolanda Pulecio, met Benedict for private talks at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.

Pulecio had met Benedict in January when the pontiff made one of his several appeals for the release of hostages in Colombia where leftist FARC rebels kept Betancourt captive for over six years.