(ANSA) - Castel Gandolfo, September 1 - Catholics should love the Church even though it has been "wounded by the sins of priests," Pope Benedict XVI said Wednesday in what was seen as his latest reference to child sex scandals.

The pope's remarks came in a sermon devoted to a 12th-century German mystic nun and polymath who distinguished herself at a time, like today, when the Church was "suffering".

Hildegard of Bingen, he said, was a model for the way Catholics should react to worldwide paedophile scandals.

The visionary nun, who preached to popes and condemned sins like paying money to obtain benefits after death, had "a courageous capacity to discern the signs of the times".

The Church she loved, Benedict said, was "suffering also at that time, wounded by the sins of priests and the laity".

Benedict's public pronouncements on the child sex scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church have been sparing.

He has apologised to victims and vowed to root out sex abuse.

Critics say he has not gone far enough in punishing cover-up

(ANSA) - Milan, September 1 - Italian researchers have helped pinpoint a gene responsible for the fatal and incurable nerve-wasting disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Scientists at the University of Milan, the Dino Ferrari Centre and the Auxologico lab have worked with colleagues in the US, UK, Netherlands, Ireland, France, Sweden and Belgium to identify the part of the human chromosome responsible for 'sporadic ALS'.

This type of ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease, accounts for some 90% of all cases.

"The identification was made possible by the Genome-Wide Association (GWA) technique which is able to analyse almost a million genetic variations in a 'hot' zone of the genome," said Auxologico's Vincenzo Silani, one of the authors of the study published in The Lancet.

"The discovery represents a substantial step towards understanding the causes of ALS".

"It is only through these compulsory stages that a therapy may be prepared," Silani stressed. ALS is one of the most common neuromuscular diseases worldwide, and people of all races and ethnic backgrounds are affected. One to two people per 100,000 develop ALS each year.

(ANSA) - Rome, September 1 - Rome will stage a Formula One Grand Prix either in 2012 or 2013, Mayor Gianni Alemanno said Wednesday.

The mayor admitted that officials still had to get round objections from residents of the area where the race is planned but said he was confident the issues could be resolved.

"There are still problems because we have to find a full agreement with the residents," he said on breakfast TV.

"But the Rome Grand Prix will take place. There are no certainties in life, but this is a very solid promise".

Sweeping away doubts that the race might be only a one-off, Alemanno said the GP would be "fixed" in the F1 calendar. Quizzed on opposition to the event because of its impact on the environment, Alemanno replied: "it would take place in August when air pollution is very low".

As to whether the Rome GP will make it in time to get on the F1 calendar in 2012, he said: "it's up to us, it depends how long it'll take to make the necessary changes to the EUR district".

The EUR district is a Fascist-era southern part of Rome, currently seeing several flagship redevelopment projects including what has been billed as Rome's first skyscraper, where the planned GP is expected to be run.

F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone recently said Rome should get its GP in 2013 but Alemanno is hoping to beat that deadline by a year.

Alemanno reiterated Wednesday there would be "no clash" with the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Rome is hoping for its "own special slot", the mayor said after Ecclestone's thumbs up.

Rome was determined to press ahead with the plan, he said, "because a billion euros a year is a boost to the city's economy that we can't do without".

(ANSA) - Macerata, September 1 - The many roles of Italian women in the late 19th and early 20th centuries are spotlighted in a new exhibition inspired by one of the country's first feminist authors, Sibilla Aleramo.

The event takes place in the small port town of Civitanova Marche where Aleramo set 'La Donna', the most famous of her autobiographical works exploring the difficulties of life as an Italian woman in the late 1800s. Inspired by Aleramo's literary interest in how women were perceived, the exhibition sets out to explore the same subject through art.

More than 50 paintings and sculptures are on show, although just two women artists are represented: Giulia Panichi, who studied with the Roman fresco master Cesare Mariani, and Giulia Centurelli, who used her artistic skills to promote the Risorgimento. The rigidity of Italian society that so enraged Aleramo also barred women from taking up art as a career and very few were willing to brave the risk of social exclusion such a choice entailed.

(ANSA) - Udine - Archaeologists working on the remains of an ancient dwelling in northern Italy have reassessed their ideas about the site after uncovering lavish decorations and imposing architectural features.

The building in Aquileia, which previously appeared to be a normal Roman villa, has now emerged as a majestic mansion complex, covering an entire block.

Archaeologists say the house, or domus, was the largest building in the Ancient Roman city of Aquileia and was probably the residence of a powerful figure, perhaps an imperial official.

The location of the 'Domus of the Dancing Cherubs', between the river port and the forum, has long indicated that its owner was an important person.

But a string of recent discoveries have revealed the extent of its inhabitant's status, said the archaeologist leading the team, Federica Fontana.

"During the latest excavations we have found the eastern entrance to the home," she explained. "This was preceded by a large, paved piazza with a well in it".