"All of us need to tread a path of purification and healing of desire," Benedict XVI said at his general audience this morning (full text, video). The Pope also announced that the Vatican's plan to send a high-level delegation to Syria has been cancelled (full text). Pope Benedict and Cardinal Timothy Dolan have congratulated President Barack Obama on his re-election. The Pope will visit a home for the elderly on Monday to mark the European Year for Active Ageing. Cindy Wooden points out that this month's consistory will not be the first at which no Europeans are made cardinal. Jim Graves investigates why an increasing number of Catholics are deciding to be cremated. And Michael Sean Winters reveals that he cried when he discovered that voters in Massachusetts had rejected physician assisted suicide. Follow me on Twitter @lukecoppen for updates throughout the day.