Pope Benedict has been a leader devoted to ecumenical efforts, according to a professor of Christian history and ecumenism at Fuller Theological Seminary, a Protestant school in Pasadena, Calif. "I have appreciated his commitment to ecumenism," Cecil M. Robeck, Jr., who is also a minister in the Assemblies of God, an ecclesial community in the Pentecostal tradition, told CNA Feb. 19.

Robeck participated in the third inter-faith gathering at Assisi with Pope Benedict in 2011, and corresponded with him when he was still prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

"He's the first Pope we've heard make a verbal statements in his speech welcoming the Pentecostals, wishing us well and saying how important he felt the (Pentecostal-Catholic) dialogue was," Robeck remembered.

Robeck said Pope Benedict's three-book series on Jesus of Nazareth was warmly received by Pentecostals. "Benedict really won them over with his three volume series on the life of Jesus; that's a very important contribution he's made to the evangelical community."

Members of St. Timothy's voted on Feb. 10 whether to leave The Episcopal Church and whether to enter the Ordinariate. Eighty of 100 parishioners were present; 55 were voting members. Of the voting members, six people abstained; 83 percent elected to leave The Episcopal Church and 76 percent to enter the Ordinariate.

"This has been a long process of discernment, guided by the Holy Spirit," said the Rev. Terry Sweeney, rector. He added, "I am grateful for the gift of faith nurtured within the Episcopal Church and for the opportunity for those members who have been called to continue their journey of faith within the Catholic Church to be able to do so without losing the beauty of Anglican traditions."

Two shops on the School of Mines and Technology campus are performing one of the world's first experiments in Biocryptology - a mix of biometrics (using physical traits for identification) and cryptology (the study of encoding private information). Students at the Rapid City school can buy a bag of potato chips with a machine that non-intrusively detects their hemoglobin to make sure the transaction is legitimate.

How tiny? One application that Freescale says the chips could be used for is swallowable computers. Yes, you read that right. "We are working with our customers and partners on providing technology for their products that can be swallowed but we can't really comment on unannounced products," says Steve Tateosian, global product marketing manager.