From KCRW in Santa Monica and PRI, Public Radio International, this is To the Point.

Pope Benedict XVI makes history by stepping aside.

Hello again, I'm Mormon Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International,

a daily look at the issues Americans care about most.

Speaking in Latin, the 85-year-old Pope told a group of cardinals today that advanced age will cause him to resign on the last day of this month.

It's the first such action in 600 years.

The Vatican says one billion Roman Catholics should have a new Pope before Easter.

Even close AIDS reportedly were surprised by the end

of an eight-year reign tainted by clerical

sex abuse and divided between

traditionalists and reformers. We'll hear more

about the decision, the state of the church,

and the prospect of a new pope from Africa

or Latin America. On reporter's notebook later on, we'll talk with Al Gore,

whose latest book is described as an inconvenient

truth for everything.

First, here's the news.

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Hello again, Warren Allie, back with To the Poet.

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