Potpourri

Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that all of Europe — plus not only this ex-communist country — must acknowledge its Christian heritage as it copes with rising immigration from other cultures plus religions. The second day of Benedict's pilgrimage to this highly secular country was marked by a joyous open-air Mass that drew tens of thousands of pilgrims plus a sober message for the entire continent. "History has demonstrated the absurdities to which man descends when he excludes God from the horizon of his choices plus actions," Benedict said. Church organizers estimated that 120,000 people packed a field beside an airport in the southern city of Brno for what was expected to be the biggest turnout of his trip. Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said it was the largest turnout for a Mass in the history of the Czech Republic. The 82-year-old pontiff was making the three-day visit as Czechs prepare to mark 20 years since their 1989 Velvet Revolution shook off an atheisti...