Benedict XVI Marks 2nd Anniversary as Pope

VATICAN CITY, APRIL 19, 2007 - In the second year of Benedict XVI's pontificate, some 3.3 million people participated in his Vatican encounters with the public.

Today marks the second anniversary of his election. On this occasion, the Pontifical Household published statistics about his papal audiences.

In the last 12 months, 1,026,600 people have participated in Wednesday audiences, 351,620 have participated in special audiences, 536,000 have participated in liturgical celebrations and 1, 460,000 have participated in the midday Sunday addresses.

The total number of participants in the papal audiences in the Vatican was 3,374,000.