LATIN AMERICA: German Pope Names Only 2 New Cardinals From Continent.

C.PRESS/
   Pope Benedict XVI, a German, has named 24 new Roman Catholic cardinals but only two from heavily Catholic Latin America : Archbishop Raul Eduardo Vela Chiriboga of Quito, Ecuador and Archbishop Raymundo Damasceno Assis of Aparecida, Brasil.
   Warsaw's Archbishop Kazimierz Nycz was also named a Cardinal.
   The two appointments are considered by some a major disappointment for Latin America's representation at the highest levels of the billion-member church.
     "The preponderance of Italians would suggest the scale has tipped in favor of an Italian candidate for the next conclave," said Gerard O'Connell, a veteran Irish Vatican correspondent.

A Hundred Thousand Welcome Pope In Czech Republic.

REUTERS VIA NYTIMES/
"Waving national flags from several neighbouring countries, the crowd heard the pope urge people gathered in Brno, the country's second-biggest city to keep God in their lives.
Many in the crowd came from nearby Poland, Slovakia and Hungary to greet the pope in the Czech Republic, where centuries of religious wars and decades of brutal Communist repression have made it one of the world's most secular countries.
The three-day visit is his first trip to the central European country in 12 years and precedes the 20th anniversary in November of the 'Velvet Revolution' that ended decades of Communist totalitarian rule."

Pope Faces Challenge In Czech Republic.

AP VIA WSJOURNAL/
While scores of pilgrims poured into Prague for the nation's first papal visit in 12 years, most Czechs shrugged it off or were openly hostile.
"It's just a waste of money," said Kveta Tomasovicova. "At a time of economic crisis, when our salaries are going down, the visit is a useless investment."
Secularism is so ingrained in the modern Czech Republic, "the practice of religion is reduced to a minority," said the pope's spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi.