ROME (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry suggested on Wednesday that Washington hoped to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks within a short time frame, as he announced his fourth visit to the region this year.

Kerry will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on May 21 or 22, he said as he began three hours of talks with Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who is overseeing the Israeli effort to relaunch negotiations.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis said on Wednesday that clergy who were “careerists” or “social climbers” were doing serious damage to the Catholic Church, his latest utterance aimed at instilling a sense of frugality and service in the Vatican and beyond.

Francis, 76, the former Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, made the comments while addressing a gathering of superiors general of orders of nuns from around the world.

ROME (Reuters) – Giulio Andreotti, who served as Italian prime minister seven times and whose name was synonymous with political survival and cunning in the land that gave the world Machiavelli, died on Monday at the age of 94.

Andreotti, who for more than half a century was known as “Mr Italy” because of the many offices he held, died at home, family sources said. He had suffered from respiratory problems for years and had been in hospital several times.

VATICAN CITY, May 2 (Reuters) – Benedict XVI moved back to
the Vatican on Thursday, opening an uncertain era in Catholic
Church history where an “emeritus pope” and a ruling pontiff
will live as neighbours for the first time.

Benedict, the first pope to abdicate in 600 years, will live
out his retirement in a restored convent in the Vatican gardens
with a view of the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica and just a short
walk from the residence of his successor, Francis.

VATICAN CITY, May 2 (Reuters) – Benedict XVI moved back to
the Vatican on Thursday, opening an uncertain era in Catholic
Church history where an “emeritus pope” and a ruling pontiff
will live as neighbours for the first time.

Benedict, the first pope to abdicate in 600 years, will live
out his retirement in a restored convent in the Vatican gardens
with a view of the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica and just a short
walk from the residence of his successor, Francis.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Wednesday condemned the conditions of workers who died in the Bangladesh factory collapse as “slave labor,” saying unjust salaries and the unbridled quest for profits were “against God”.

His words were his toughest yet on workers’ rights since his election on March 13, and another indication that the former archbishop of Buenos Aires was intent on making social justice a major plank of his pontificate.

ROME (Reuters) – The Italian government ordered an investigation on Wednesday into slurs on right-wing websites against the country’s first black minister, a case that has put Italy’s racial problems back in the spotlight.

Cecile Kyenge, an eye doctor and Congo-born Italian citizen, was named integration minister in the new government of Prime Minister Enrico Letta last Saturday. She is one of seven women in the government.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis urged Israelis and Palestinians to resume talks and make “courageous decisions” to bring peace after his first meeting with Israel’s President Shimon Peres on Tuesday and accepted an invitation to visit the Holy Land.

The two discussed the civil war in Syria, tensions in Iran and the scourge of anti-Semitism during half an hour of private talks in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Israeli President Shimon Peres invited Pope Francis on Tuesday to visit Israel, at his first meeting with the new pontiff who has appealed for peace in the Middle East.

The pope accepted the invitation “with willingness and joy,” a Vatican spokesman said, but there was no indication when a trip would be made.

ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s prime minister-designate Enrico Letta started “encouraging” talks on Thursday for a new government to end two months of political deadlock, but said significant differences with the centre-right would take more time to iron out.

Letta, the 46-year-old deputy head of the centre-left Democratic Party (PD), said he would use Friday as a “day to reflect” on his chances of piecing together a broad coalition to govern the euro zone’s third-largest economy.