This is unusual for a Church that boasts its own Pontifical Academy of Sciences.
It will be held at the Pontifical Catholic University (PUC-Rio), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
He even donned pontifical hats and other clothing that hadn't been worn in decades.
Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher to the Pontifical Household, held the first meditation as outlined by the Apostolic Constitution, Lombardi said.
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Davide Cito, a Vatican adviser and professor of canonical law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome.
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He had another interaction with Catholic theologians this time from the Pontifical Academy for Life, which oversees issues of bioethics.
His official title is president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue.
But as British astrophysicist Sir Martin Rees told the Insider, the Pontifical Academy seems to have lost its edge in recent years.
The cardinal, who is president of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for the Family, suggests that governments should urge people not to use condoms.
He prefers simple robes to ornate pontifical attire, and shunned a papal car after his election to travel with his electors by bus.
Science Insider reports that Pope Benedict XVI has selected a longtime member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences to be its new head.
The Pontifical Academy for Latin will promote the knowledge and study of the language from classical times to the present day, said the Vatican.
Monsignor Paul Tighe, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, confirmed in an email that the account will hibernate, not close, until the new pope is chosen.
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The son of a butcher, he was born in Mafra, Santa Catarina, as one of eight children and completed his theological studies at Rome's Pontifical Gregorian and Pontifical Lateran Universities.
The Legion, founded in Mexico City in 1941, calls itself a religious congregation of pontifical right and says its mission involves "extending the Kingdom of Christ in society, " according to its website.
It is understood it is the first time a serving minister of a foreign government has given an address to the staff and students of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the British Embassy to the Holy See said.
One former Curia cardinal said in an interview that holding monthly meetings among the heads of Curia departments, such as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, would vastly improve internal communications.
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Last month, the Vatican gave Cardinal Julian Herranz a "pontifical mandate" to uncover the source of hundreds of personal letters and confidential documents given to Gianluigi Nuzzi, an Italian journalist and author of "Sua Santita, " a book that translates to "His Holiness" and includes the documents.
Last month, the Vatican gave Cardinal Julian Herranz a "pontifical mandate" to uncover the source of hundreds of personal letters and confidential documents that have been released to Gianluigi Nuzzi, an Italian journalist and author of "Sua Santita, " a book that translates to "His Holiness" and includes the documents.
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On his visits to Rome he so pleaded for a family policy, browbeating the future Pope John Paul II even as they waited in the rain for a car, that John Paul in 1990 asked him to run that pontifical office for him, not knowing it would soon become a war room.
Exceptional is the fact that he has Knighthoods from two Popes: His Holiness the late Pope John Paul II honoured him as Knight of the Pontifical Equestrian Order of St Sylvester (KSS), and His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI has further elevated him to Knight Commander of the said order (KCSS), in recognition of his pursuit of peace and culture amongst nations.
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