Benedict XVI Ends Nearly Eight Year Papacy
Pope Benedict XVI will end his ministry today as spiritual leader of millions of Catholics around the world, becoming the first pope to resign in the last six centuries.
After a nearly eight year papacy, Benedict XVI will officially cease being the Bishop of Rome at 20:00 local time (19:00 GMT), when the Holy See vacancy begins, a period that starts from the resignation or death of a pontiff and continues until the election of his successor.
“I do not neglect the cross, but will remain in a new way for the Crucified Lord; I remain in the service of prayer,” Benedict said last evening before more than 150,000 parishioners gathered in St. Peter’s Square to attend his last public audience.
On February 11, the Vicar of Christ announced that he could no longer bear the physical burden related to management of the Holy See and expressed his willingness to resign from his papacy that began in April 2005.
In the afternoon, at 16:55 local time (15:55 GMT) in San Damacio courtyard he will receive the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, for the last time, and then will leave by helicopter for Castel Gandolfo, the summer residence of the popes.
Shortly before announcing his resignation today, Benedict XVI said goodbye to the cardinals present at the Vatican.
The 85 year old pope spoke in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace with the cardinals who traveled to the capital to attend to the conclave of 117 prelates in the next few days, responsible for electing a new head of the Catholic Church.
Capital Flight Rose to Nearly 180 Billion Euros in Spain in 2012
The net capital flight in Spain totaled 179.221 billion euros in 2012, a 144-percent increase compared to the previous year, the Bank of Spain reported on Thursday.
In 2011, investors drew 73.393 billion euros from Spain, added the source.
According to data on the balance of payment published by the supervising bank, capital flight from January to August, excluding the operations by the central bank, reached its peak in March with 66.125 billion euros.
From September to December 2012, Spain reported monthly net deposits, said the bank.
Therefore, in December 2012, the country received 18.676 billion euros, compared to a flight of capital of 32.454 billion euros in the same month in 2011.
However, the good reports in the last four months of 2012, when investors deposited 74.941 billion euros, did not allow compensating for the total result of the year.
As a result of the annual capital flight, the net assets of the Bank of Spain abroad dropped 173.521 billion euros in 2012, in contrast to 109.153 billion euros in 2011.
Lackland Rape Victim Talks of Ordeal of Military Women
One in every 3 military women in United States is sexually assaulted according to the Pentagon.
The New York Times points out the case of Virginia Messick who was sexually asaulted at the Air Force Base in Lackland, San Antonio,Texas.
After leaving the Air Force, Ms. Messick became the first victim of a still-unfolding sexual assault scandal at Lackland to speak publicly about what she has endured.
Since accounts of sexual violence at the base began to surface in late 2011, it has emerged as the largest such episode in Air Force history.
Ms. Messick, now 21, is one of 62 trainees identified as victims of assault or other improper conduct by 32 training instructors between 2009 and 2012 at Lackland, the base served as Air Force’s basic training center for enlisted personnel.
So far, seven Air Force instructors have been court-martialed, including Staff Sgt. Luis Walker, now serving a 20-year sentence for crimes involving 10 women, including Ms. Messick.
Eight more court-martial cases are pending. Fifteen other instructors are under investigation, and two senior officers have been relieved of command.
While Air Force officials say they have taken steps to better protect their most vulnerable personnel, including appointing a female commander to oversee basic training and tightening supervision of instructors, critics say they do not go far enough in addressing an issue across the military: a high rate of sexual assaults that are often not reported because women fear reprisals.
None of the victims at Lackland told Air Force officials of the attacks, and the episodes came to light only when a female trainee who had not been assaulted disclosed what she knew.
In response to the growing outcry over sexual violence, the Pentagon last year ordered that charging decisions in sexual assault cases be determined by more senior commanders than in the past, but the directive stopped short of taking the decision out of the chain of command.
While more than 3,000 sexual assault cases were reported in 2011 throughout the military services, Leon E. Panetta, the departing defense secretary, has said the real figure could be as high as 19,000.