Pope Honors 'Courageous' Brits Who Resisted Nazis

On the 70th anniversary of the Nazis' attack on the British mainland, Pope Benedict paid homage to Britons who "courageously" resisted "the forces of that evil ideology" in an open-air Mass today near Coventry, which was shelled heavily. "For me as one who lived and suffered through the dark days of the Nazi regime in Germany, it is deeply moving to be here with you to recall how many of your fellow citizens sacrificed their lives," the pope said, in his first reference as pontiff to his personal experience.

Benedict also beatified Cardinal John Henry Newman, a 19th-century convert to the church; the move marked the pope's first canonization. British police, meanwhile, released the six men charged with plotting an attack on the pope. Searches of various homes came up empty-handed, reports the AP. For more on the pope's UK visit, click here. (More Pope Benedict XVI stories.)