The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Vatican City - As many as 500,000 people packed St. Peter's Square Sunday to attend a mass that marked the official start of the pontificate of Benedict XVI. The crowd erupted into applause as the Pope emerged from St. Peter's Basilica and stood for a few moments to smile and wave before the mass began. More cheering greeted the Pope as he kissed the altar. In one of the most symbolic moments, Benedict was given his Fisherman's Ring and a woollen pallium or shawl, both symbols of his papal authority. The ring is emblazoned with an image of Peter casting his fishing nets. It was used historically as a seal for apostolic letters. The 78-year-old Pope, former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who was known as the enforcer of church orthodoxy, said in his papal installation homily that he would listen along with the Church to the will of God in governing the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics. Baalbek, Lebanon - Syria was pulling its last troops from Lebanon yesterday after a 29-year presence in the country, news reports say. Hundreds of tanks and military trucks, full of soldiers and equipment such as cannons and rockets, passed through the Masnaa border crossing into Syria on Saturday. By Saturday night, Syrian soldiers and intelligence forces had completely pulled out of the eastern city of Baalbek, a stronghold of the pro-Syrian Shia Muslim militant group Hezbollah.
