NEWS

TORONTO - When Chaminade College School football coach Pat Diodati met James Bodanis, he immediately knew playing football would pay off for the then Grade 9 student. Convincing Bodanis of that, however, proved to be less instantaneous.

VATICAN CITY - Cardinal-electors are caught in a Catch-22. They are eager to give the world a new pope; however, they need time to pick the right leader, said South Africa's cardinal.

Joyce de Gooijer is on the lookout. As the first lay director of the Volunteer International Christian Service (VICS), de Gooijer is eager to increase the organization’s recruits through improved public awareness.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI's final trip as pope was a 15-minute helicopter ride from the Vatican to the papal summer villa at Castel Gandolfo.

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI, who began his papacy describing himself as a "humble servant in the Lord's vineyard," described his retirement as a time of being a "simple pilgrim, who begins the last stage of his pilgrimage on this earth."

OTTAWA - A Supreme Court of Canada decision in the case of William Whatcott has disappointed religious freedom and free-speech advocates.

VATICAN CITY - The last general audience in St. Peter's Square turned into a farewell party with balloons, flowers, flags, posters, cheers, standing ovations and a touching thank-you speech from Pope Benedict XVI.

VATICAN CITY - In one of his last public appearances, Pope Benedict XVI told an overflow crowd in St. Peter's Square Feb. 24 that his upcoming retirement does not mean he is abandoning the church, but that he will be serving it in a new way, through prayer and meditation.

VATICAN CITY - On his last full day as Pope, Pope Benedict XVI delivered an unusually personal and emotional farewell address, thanking the faithful around the world for their support and assuring them that he would remain in their service even in retirement.

The following is the text from Pope Benedict XVI's final general audience at the Vatican Feb. 27.