Vatican City

President Reagan, after denouncing the "implacable reality" of a divided Europe, travels today to the Vatican to meet Pope John Paul II. Reagan and his wife, Nancy, fly to Rome from Venice, where Monday he will attend an economic summit of the Western world's seven leading industrialized nations. The centerpiece of their visit to Vatican City, a sovereign state in the middle of Rome, will be Reagan's private meeting with the pope in his private study on the top floor of the Apostolic Palace.

When Ludwig Mies van der Rohe proclaimed that "less is more," the renowned architect was advocating simplicity of detail rather than the virtues of visiting dots on Europe's map. But less can also be more - and littler can be better - for travelers who embark on a dizzying trek such as the one my wife and I took last fall. We collected a priceless set of geographical miniatures by driving 2,400 miles round-trip from Zurich over 11 days to Europe's five smallest continental nations.

VATICAN CITY - The Legion of Christ religious order, already discredited for concealing the crimes of its pedophile founder, suffered another blow to its credibility Tuesday after its superior admitted he knew in 2005 that his most prominent priest had fathered a child, yet allowed him to keep teaching and preaching about morality. The admission by the Rev. Alvaro Corcuera is likely to enrage members of the Legion and its lay branch who have endured years of apologies, hypocrisy and explanations for the crimes of the Catholic order's founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, who sexually abused his seminarians and fathered three children with two women.

Since we were in the neighborhdd traveling through Italy, we thought we'd bop in on San Marino for lunch. San Marino is one of those cute little European countries that have managed to wangle their way through history as independent entities while the rest of the continent bumps and grinds through rough-and-tumble times. Along with Andorra, Monaco, Liechtenstein and Vatican City, San Marino relies on the good humor of the rest of the world to let it stay cute, little and independent.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI celebrated a very Bavarian birthday Monday, marking his 85th with his brother, bishops and a musical band from his native land at the Vatican. Monday's birthday is just the first in a week of milestones for Benedict. He marks the seventh anniversary of his election as pope on Thursday. And April 24 is the anniversary of the start of his pontificate. Despite his age and increasing frailty - he has begun using a cane on occasion - Benedict has quashed speculation of a possible resignation.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI, carrying a tall, lit candle, ushered in Christianity's most joyous celebration with an Easter vigil service Saturday night, but voiced fears that mankind is groping in darkness, unable to distinguish good from evil. Easter for Christians commemorates Christ's triumph over death with his resurrection following his crucifixion. "Life is stronger than death," Benedict, wearing white robes in a symbol of new life, told the faithful in a packed St. Peter's Basilica.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican said yesterday it was astonished and outraged that Belgian police investigating priestly sex abuse had conducted raids that also targeted the graves of two archbishops. The Vatican summoned the Belgian ambassador to the Holy See to convey its anger over the raids, which also included the home and offices of the retired archbishop of Belgium. The ambassador was called in for a meeting with the Vatican's foreign minister. In a statement, the Vatican said any sinful and criminal abuse of minors from members of the church must be condemned and repeated that there is a need for justice and amends.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican has told a breakaway traditional Catholic group that its members must accept some core church teachings if they want to be brought back into the Roman Catholic fold. The Vatican didn't say what the disputed teachings were, but a top official of the group recently made clear it remains opposed to the church's decades-long outreach to Jews, Muslims and members of other faiths. The Vatican's chief doctrinal official, Cardinal William Levada, met this week with Bishop Bernard Fellay, head of the Society of St. Pius X, for two hours to discuss the conditions under which the society could be welcomed back into the church.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican has again been embarrassed by a botched translation of its teachings, with the launch yesterday of an error-plagued book that implies the Holy See approves of contraception and euthanasia. The errors came to light during a Vatican news conference launching "Youcat: Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church," a compilation of the thick volume of core church teachings. The book, a project of the Austrian, German and Swiss bishops' conferences, is to be given to young people attending this year's World Youth Day in Madrid.

Medvedev rejects a return to past MOSCOW - President Dmitry A. Medvedev on Wednesday rejected the idea that Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin's imminent return to the presidency would further strengthen authoritarian trends in Russia and take the country back to its Soviet past. Putin's decision to run in March's presidential election has drawn widespread warnings of a repetition of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev's 18-year rule, known for the political and economic stagnation that set the stage for the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

VATICAN CITY - The Legion of Christ religious order, already discredited for concealing the crimes of its pedophile founder, suffered another blow to its credibility Tuesday after its superior admitted he knew in 2005 that his most prominent priest had fathered a child, yet allowed him to keep teaching and preaching about morality. The admission by the Rev. Alvaro Corcuera is likely to enrage members of the Legion and its lay branch who have endured years of apologies, hypocrisy and explanations for the crimes of the Catholic order's founder, the Rev. Marcial Maciel, who sexually abused his seminarians and fathered three children with two women.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI began his eighth year as pope Tuesday after spending the waning days of his seventh driving home his view of the Catholic Church, with a divisive crackdown on dissenters and an equally divisive opening to a fringe group of traditionalists. The coming year may see more of the same as the Vatican gears up to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 church meetings that reshaped the Catholic Church and are key to understanding this papacy and Benedict's recent moves to quell liberal dissent and promote a more conservative brand of Catholicism.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI celebrated a very Bavarian birthday Monday, marking his 85th with his brother, bishops and a musical band from his native land at the Vatican. Monday's birthday is just the first in a week of milestones for Benedict. He marks the seventh anniversary of his election as pope on Thursday. And April 24 is the anniversary of the start of his pontificate. Despite his age and increasing frailty - he has begun using a cane on occasion - Benedict has quashed speculation of a possible resignation.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI, carrying a tall, lit candle, ushered in Christianity's most joyous celebration with an Easter vigil service Saturday night, but voiced fears that mankind is groping in darkness, unable to distinguish good from evil. Easter for Christians commemorates Christ's triumph over death with his resurrection following his crucifixion. "Life is stronger than death," Benedict, wearing white robes in a symbol of new life, told the faithful in a packed St. Peter's Basilica.

Greek lawmakers approve bailout ATHENS, Greece - Greece's Parliament early Wednesday approved a new international bailout deal. The crisis-hit country will receive $227 billion in rescue loans. Lawmakers voted 213-79 in favor of the new agreement, with deputies backing the coalition government of socialists and conservatives broadly following party lines. Greece narrowly avoided default this month after sealing the loan agreement - the second in two years - with eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund, as well as a massive debt restructuring deal with banks and other private bond holders.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican has launched an internal criminal investigation into the leaks of confidential documents that alleged corruption and financial mismanagement and exposed power struggles among Holy See officials, a Vatican prelate said Saturday. In addition, Pope Benedict XVI himself has set up a commission to shed light on the so-called Vatileaks scandal because he was so distressed by the "disloyalty" shown by those who leaked the memos, Msgr. Angelo Becciu, undersecretary in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday brought 22 Catholic churchmen into the elite club of cardinals who will elect his successor, cementing the Italian majority in a future conclave but also giving New York's archbishop a position of prominence. Cardinal Timothy Dolan emerged as something of the star of the consistory, delivering a highly praised speech on spreading the faith and mentioned in some Italian media as an improbable "papabile," or having the qualities of a future pope.

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI clearly put his stamp on the group that will eventually elect his successor with his naming of 22 new cardinals Friday, including prelates in such key posts as New York and Hong Kong. The group is heavy on Europeans, particularly Italians holding important Vatican posts, and includes only three prelates from outside the West: a Brazilian, an Indian, and a Chinese. The German pope, who long served at the Vatican before his election to the papacy in 2005, has now named half of the prelates eligible to vote in the next papal conclave.