Benedict XVI, one of few popes to resign, shocked the Catholic Church

Black flags have been raised across the country as millions of workers go out on strike in Sri Lanka. President Gotabaya Rajapaksa continues to ignore calls for him to step down.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Thursday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Thursday.⁣

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Saturday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Saturday.⁣

At least 50 people were killed and others injured after gunmen attacked a Catholic church in Nigeria's Ondo state during mass on Sunday, a doctor and local media reported. A doctor at a hospital in Owo, a town in the state in Nigeria's southwest, told Reuters that no fewer than 50 bodies had been moved to the FMC (Federal Medical Center) in Owo and to St. Louis Catholic Hospital.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Tuesday.

This week, Iraq was plunged into more political uncertainty. Lawmakers from the parliamentary bloc of powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr resigned en masse at their leader's request. The Sadrist bloc is the largest in parliament and since an election last October, parties have been unable to form a government. The move aims to up pressure in a bid to end the country's political paralysis. We take a closer look.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.⁣

The Church, which employees around 800,000 people in Germany, has changed its labor laws so that people can no longer be fired for being in a same-sex relationship or remarrying after divorce.

He changed the role of the pope in order to preserve it. Now, Benedict XVI, the first German pope in almost 500 years, has died at the age of 95.

The first German-born pope in centuries has been hailed as a "formative figure" in the Catholic Church. Mourners gathered at Benedict's Bavarian birth village to pay their respects following his death at the age of 95.

The sexual abuse scandal in Germany's Catholic Church continues as a leading cardinal offers his resignation to Pope Francis. So, can the church be reformed? Guests: Anna Diouf (Maria 1.0), Max Cappabianca (priest), Matthias Katsch (abuse survivor organisation)

Father Victor Ntambwe is not content with just reciting psalms during mass on Sunday mornings in Congo's capital. With presidential elections just months away, he has more earthly concerns.