"Since the beginning of my pontificate, I have been encouraged that relations between Catholics and Lutherans have continued to grow, especially at the level of practical collaboration in the service of the Gospel," the Holy Father said. He expressed hopes that "continuing Lutheran-Catholic dialogue both in the United States of America and at the international level will help to build upon the agreements reached so far."

The Pontiff noted dialogue between Catholics and Lutherans "so promisingly started after the Second Vatican Council," and he said an "important remaining task will be to harvest the results. To build on what has been achieved together since that time," Benedict XVI proposed "a spiritual ecumenism should be grounded in ardent prayer and in conversion to Christ, the source of grace and truth. May the Lord help us to treasure what has been accomplished so far, to guard it with care, and to foster its development."

The Bishop of Rome concluded citing words from Pope John Paul II, "during whose pontificate so much was accomplished ON THE ROAD TO FULL VISIBLE UNITY AMONG CHRISTIANS."

The 27 leaders never even discussed how they might shore up Greece or the rest of Club Med. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she was not willing to broach the subject at all. The only relevant topic was whether Greece was complying with Treaty obligations, and how the country would slash its budget deficit from 12.7pc to 8.7pc this year - in a slump.

"They offered nothing," said Jochen Felsenheimer, a credit expert at Assenagon in Frankfurt. "It was just words without any concrete measures, hoping to buy time." Whether the EU has time is an open question. Credit Suisse says Greece must raise 30 billion euros (26 billion pounds) in debt by mid-year, mostly in April and May. Greek banks have been shut out of Europe's inter-dealer markets, forcing them to raise money at killer rates. They are suffering an erosion of deposits as rich Greeks shift money abroad. This could come to a head long before April.

"Economically, we are in a very risky situation. Greece is close to default. We face systemic risk like the Lehman collapse and unless there is a bail-out for Greece, there will have to be a bail-out for the whole European banking system within two or three months," he said. Yet they are damned if they don't, and damned if they do. "A Greek bail-out increases the risk of EMU break-up, because monetary union can only work if everybody sticks to the rules," Mr Felsenheimer said.

But priests in the Birmingham Oratory have a similar epistle from Pius IX, in 1847, accompanying what was purported to be Valentine's entire body. Meanwhile, the Blessed John Duns Scotus Church in Glasgow's Gorbals offers Valentine's 'genuine remains' in a gold casket marked 'Corpus Valentini Martyris'. Time to call in CSI Miami!

In some towns and cities a quarter of shops lie vacant as the recession has exacerbated the effect of other problems, such as rising rents and the growth of out-of-town shopping centres. The report, from retail research firm the Local Data Company, comes at the same time as shopping experts warned that the high street will never be the same again.

Matthew Hopkinson, from the Local Data Company, said the recession is not the main reason why there has been such a huge wave of closures in high streets. He blamed a toxic combination of 'upward-only' rent reviews, parking restrictions, soaring business rates and out-of-town developments taking customers from town centres. Another major reason is the internet-retailing boom, with millions doing most of their shopping online. Mr Hopkinson said: 'The recession was just the straw which broke the camel's back.'

However, in answer to the earlier question I think there are some compelling reasons why people in Britain should look forward to this historic event.

Firstly, this is a visit from a head of state whom Britain benefits from having good relations with. Quietly, in recent years, Britain and the Vatican have worked together to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which aim to eradicate extreme poverty, combat aids and protect the environment. Recently, Douglas Alexander, the International Development Secretary, writing in L'Osservatore Romano, the Vatican's semi-official newspaper, explained that, "the Catholic Church... has been a crucial partner to the international community in helping to achieve the MDGs."

Second, the Pope's visit is not only for Catholics. He's the most prominent Christian leader in the world and won't just be addressing his own followers - as if they were part of a sect - when he speaks. His desire is to address, in the words of the seminal Second Vatican Council text, Gaudium et Spes, "the joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age."

Third, the visit will show that Catholicism makes a valuable contribution to Britain. Secularists will want to portray Catholics as closed-minded oddballs obsessing about sex, but the truth is rather different. A recent Ipsos Mori poll found that Catholics, due to their faith, place a higher than normal emphasis on helping the poor, homeless and giving aid abroad.

Without doubt the visit will generate controversy, but to those who wish to see it, the Pope can offer a morale boost to the country and some badly needed moral leadership.

The Methodist Church is prepared to be absorbed by the Church of England if that is the price of unity, Britain's most senior Methodist said yesterday. The Church of England and Methodists have been flirting with reconciliation ever since their divorce two centuries ago. Formal talks between the two churches began in the 1960s, but an attempt in 1972 at full unity failed at the last hurdle because Anglo-Catholics were opposed. It took a generation for the Methodists to recover from the humiliation of being rejected after voting for a reunion.

Now, with only 265,000 members and heading towards extinction within a few generations, they are willing to try again. Yet the Church of England is also facing steady decline, having barely 960,000 monthly worshippers, and the Methodists have a strong hand. The Methodist Church owns prime real estate such as Westminster Central Hall.

Seven years ago the Churches signed a document intended to lead to reunion. In 2003, in the presence of the Queen, who is Supreme Governor of the Church of England, the leaders signed a covenant affirming each other's orders and sacraments and committing themselves to full unity. A progress report is due next year. Dr Williams told the synod that partnership with the Methodists had been crucial to the success of the church growth project Fresh Expressions. They also work closely with Westminster Abbey, and in many places unity is already in effect, with congregations sharing buildings and even services.

Despite a show of Franco-German unity on the crisis and the first statement from EU leaders pledging to safeguard the currency's stability, hopes on the markets of a German-led rescue plan to shore up Greece's critical public finances were dashed by Merkel, who repeatedly emphasised that Athens would need to put its own house in order and brushed aside all questions of financial support.

"Germany is stepping totally on the brakes on financial assistance," said a senior EU diplomat. "On legal grounds, on constitutional grounds and on principle." Another senior diplomat said of the Germans: "They're not waving their chequebooks." An EU summit of 27 government chiefs in Brussels was the first opportunity to tackle the Greek crisis and also send a strong message to the financial markets, which have been betting against the euro for the last week.

The split meant 16 finance ministers could not agree a common position before the summit. "Germany cannot justify its taxpayers having to finance the lovely lives of the Greeks," said a senior diplomat. Rather than bailing out Athens, Berlin is insisting on rigorous policing of the Greek austerity programme by a triple force from the commission, the ECB and the International Monetary Fund, an exercise never attempted in the eurozone. "We recognise our responsibility for the stability of the eurozone," said Merkel. "Greece is not demanding any money from us."

The figures highlight how marriage has substantially fallen out of favour. From a peak in 1940, when 426,1000 young couples - spurred on by the urgency of World War II - married for the first time, just 147,130 marriages in 2008 were where both partners were getting wed for the first time. In total, just 228,204 marriages took place during 2008 in England and Wales.

The escalating cost of weddings, and the failure of the Government to support the institution of marriage were among the factors blamed. Though, long-term changes in society, especially the increase in the number of women working and their desire to get married later in life, are also key factors. The average age of women marrying for the first time has nearly hit the symbolic 30-year-old barrier, at 29.9, up from 29.8 during 2007. For men, the average age of getting married for the first time was 32.1 years, up from 32 the previous year.

Many expressed sadness at the statistics. Dave Percival, a campaigner for marriage, said: "Living together and marriage are increasingly seen as the same by the public, yet the outcomes are radically different. Two thirds of all the first marriages in 2008 can be expected to last a lifetime. Less than 10 per cent of cohabiting relationships last even to their tenth anniversary."

Mr Miliband argued the evidence should remain secret as it was based on intelligence passed on by America. But three judges rejected his case after a US court published details of the ex-Guantanamo Bay detainee's treatment during CIA questioning in Pakistan in 2002. It said the Ethiopian refugee, 31 - who lives in Britain - faced "sleep deprivation and threats" and was "shackled" when questioned.

It said his treatment was "cruel, inhuman and degrading". Mr Miliband told MPs the case had been followed "with a great deal of concern" by the US. He discussed the matter with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday. He said: "Intelligence belonging to another country should not be released without its agreement." He added Britain "firmly opposes" torture.

The 8 billion pound pension fund is likely to come under close scrutiny over its commitment to promote a low-carbon economy while struggling to reverse an estimated 2 billion pound deficit. Concerns are growing that BBC journalists and their bosses regard disputed scientific theory that climate change is caused by mankind as "mainstream" while huge sums of employees' money is invested in companies whose success depends on the theory being widely accepted. The fund, which has 58,744 members, accounts for about 8 pound of the 142.50 pound licence fee and the proportion looks likely to rise while programme budgets may have to be cut to help reduce the deficit.

The BBC is the only media organisation in Britain whose pension fund is a member of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, which has more than 50 members across Europe. Its chairman is Peter Dunscombe, also the BBC's Head of Pensions Investment. Prominent among its recent campaigns was a call for a "strong and binding" global agreement on climate change - one that fell on deaf ears after the UN climate summit in Copenhagen failed to reach agreement on emissions targets and a cut in greenhouse gases.

Stephanie Harris, Head of Accountability at BBC News, said: "BBC News takes the view that our reporting needs to be calibrated to take into account the scientific consensus that global warming is man-made." She went on to quote from a BBC-commissioned report published in June 2007, which said: "There may be now a broad scientific consensus that climate change is definitely happening and that it is at least predominantly man-made. The weight of evidence no longer justifies equal space being given to opponents of the consensus."

A number of companies tired of constantly changing tax regimes and onerous regulations introduced under Labour have already moved abroad. And many business leaders have become increasingly infuriated with the Government for hitting hardest those British firms that make large slices of their profit overseas. Unilever chief executive Paul Polman is the latest to fire a warning shot.

In an interview with the Daily Mail he said: 'We already have a tougher economic environment because consumers have less money to spend. If on top of that we would get an additional regulatory or tax environment that would make us non-competitive that would be unfortunate for the UK.' The UK has one of the highest corporation tax rates in Europe, while the return to 17.5 per cent VAT will also deal a blow to firms.

High-earners from April will be hit with Gordon Brown's 50p tax rate, a move which some critics have said will trigger an exodus of workers.

Mr Polman said: 'We do have choices where we put research laboratories, choices for manufacturing facilities and choices where we put our senior management. Any responsible businessman needs to continue to assess that within an everchanging global environment.' Unilever has now expanded into 100 countries, employs 174,000 workers around the world - 9,000 in the UK - and is worth 25 billion pounds. It is the 19th largest company in the the UK and profit last year was 3.5 billion pounds. Mr Polman is concerned about rising corporate tax, which currently stands at 28 per cent and is levied on profit.

The Prime Minister will this morning arrive in Brussels for a crucial European leaders' summit amid fears that the UK could get dragged into a full European Union bail out plan. Downing Street, however, insisted that the focus of responsibility should fall on the eurozone countries and, failing that, a G20 group of leading nations solution.

Last night European officials were involved in furious efforts to try and complete a 20 billion euros rescue package, designed to halt the looming crisis in Greece before it spreads to other countries. France and Germany were at the forefront of the eurozone negotiations. However, Mr Brown - when challenged in the Commons over Britain's position - was unable to rule out Britain's involvement in a Greek rescue package.

The package would involve credit assurances being given to Greece to enable it to start borrowing money again at affordable rates - something that has been impossible because of its credit rating. But the issue of other countries needing urgent help, as well as Greece, is also pressing. The economies of both Spain and Portugal are in serious trouble as their deficits spiral. It means a total rescue package for the so-called PIGS - Portugal, Ireland, Greece and Spain - could be as high as 60 billion euros.

EU rules prevent eurozone members from jointly bailing out Greece. But bilateral help might be forthcoming. It is the first big test for European Council President Herman Van Rompuy. He wants the summit to focus on a new strategy for jobs and growth - a blueprint for the next 10 years. The other main agenda items are climate change and help for earthquake-devastated Haiti.

Other eurozone countries with big deficits, such as Portugal and Spain, are seen as vulnerable if Greece's budget crisis is not tackled resolutely. The talks are all the more urgent coming just hours after a public sector strike brought many services to a standstill in Greece. The government's decision to freeze public sector salaries and raise the retirement age are among the austerity measures that have angered Greek trade unions.

The European Commission is working on the blueprint for the EU's new economic strategy, called Europe 2020, which is expected by early March. It will replace the Lisbon Strategy, launched in 2000, which became a victim of the global financial crisis and of fiscal rule-breaking by EU governments. Mr Van Rompuy is reported to favour tighter EU co-ordination of economic policy and enhanced EU surveillance of member states' budgets.

The jury's ruling in a St Louis court against Bayer's CropScience division follows a related case in December, in which Bayer was ordered to pay $2 million, the chemicals and drugmaker said on Friday after the close of trading in Germany. "The company will assess this ruling thoroughly and consider its options," a Bayer spokesman in Germany said. "Bayer CropScience is standing by its view that the company has handled its biotech rice responsibly and appropriately at all times," he added.

A rice variety whose genetic code had been modified by a Bayer subsidiary for research purposes and which was not approved for commercial cultivation was found in the food supply chain in August 2006 after it had been tested by a US university. As a result, Japan and the European Union restricted US rice from crossing their borders, leading to a plunge in rice prices, a drop in exports and extensive losses incurred by US rice farmers.

"Since the amounts claimed differ considerably from case to case, the rulings so far do not allow for conclusions regarding the outcome of the remaining cases pending," Bayer said. The long-grain rice in question had a protein known as Liberty Link, which allows the crop to withstand applications of a certain weed killer.

The reserve bubble is actually an Asia-wide phenomenon. And we should stop viewing this monetary arms race as a source of strength. Here are three reasons why it's fast becoming a bigger liability than policy makers say publicly.

One, it's a massive and growing pyramid scheme. The issue has reached new levels of absurdity with traders buzzing about crisis-plagued Greece seeking a Chinese bailout. After all, if economies were for sale, China could use the $453 billion of reserves it amassed last year to buy Greece and Vietnam and have enough left over for Mongolia.

Two, reserves are dead money. The wisdom of currency stockpiling came from the chaos of 1997. Speculators sensed authorities in Thailand were sitting on few reserves, and they were right. Their attack on the Thai baht set the stage for an Asian meltdown. Governments spent the 2000s determined not to repeat the mistake.

Three, reserves add to overheating risks. When policymakers buy dollars, they need to sell local currency, increasing its availability and boosting the money supply. Next they sell bonds to mop up excess money in economies. It's an imprecise science that often leads to accelerating inflation. The strategy works out to be an expensive one.

Think about how Dubai shook the global economy, or how the mere hint that Chinese growth may dip below 8 percent inspires panic. These disappointments pale in comparison with the turbulence that may come from Asia's biggest bubble popping.