Purgatory is "an interior fire purifying the soul", Benedict XVI said at today's general audience dedicated to St Catherine of Genoa (video).

The cardinal-members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints have reportedly approved a miracle attributed to the intercession of John Paul II, paving the way for his beatification.

Vatican Archbishop Dominique Mamberti held an urgent meeting with the Egyptian ambassador to the Holy See last night after Cairo strongly criticised the Pope's "state of the world" address.