84-year-old Maybelline eyeshadow spokesperson and current head of the Catholic Church Pope Benedict XVI is closing in on his 85th birthday, and Pope-watchers say that he is growing increasingly frail and weak. He's reduced his schedule of public speeches, has stopped meeting visiting bishops individually, and has taken to using a moving platform to make the 100 meter journey to the altar in St. Peter's Cathedral. more ›

Per an official decree, English-speaking Catholics will now recite certain portions of the mass that are closer to the original Latin translation, in the most earth-shattering changes to Mass since its English translation more than 40 years ago. Some are upset because the translation was meant to fulfill the goal of a more "shared liturgy" with other Christian denominations. Plus, it kind of snaps you out of your peaceful trance when the same thing you've been incanting for four decades is changed. But according to the Times, Corpus Christi Church in Morningside Heights has been giving the ecumenical finger to the Vatican since the 60s, and in effect, the church is catching up to them. Who's the cafeteria Catholic, now? more ›

Click through for more on Magnetic Fields, this year's ATP Festival in New York, and the Pope! Also This Week:

• Yoko Ono and her Plastic Ono Band (including Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, and others) rocked BAM
• An Interview with Stew
• New bands are running out of ideas for band-names
• Guns 'n Roses played an impromptu, 3 a.m. gig during Fashion Week (also, Sebastian Bach saved Axl's life)

Though the Partnership for New York City's Kathryn Wylde told the NY Times that she finds Assembly Leader Sheldon Silver "quite the opposite" of the "dark Darth Vader figure of Albany" that many people think him to be, we're betting that Mayor Bloomberg thinks Silver is quite Vaderish. A number of lawmakers confirmed to the Post that the many people hate Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan for the city, offering comments like "It sucks, it does nothing for anybody, kill it" and "It's likely dead for good." And Streetsblog found out from new Department of Transportation Commisioner Janette Sadik-Khan that the city doesn't quite have a Plan B if congestion pricing doesn't go through. She said:

Everyone is shooting for [approval of the plan on Thursday when the legislative session officially ends] but the promise of a special legislative session later this summer is still out there. So, Plan B is the special session. We are not giving up hope at all. We are fully committed. We need to get this legislation passed. It needs to pass now. It would be ridiculous to throw away hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funds. That's our plan and when the plan passes we're looking to institute a series of immediate short term improvements before the switch is flipped on congestion pricing, including increased express bus service, ferry service and a variety of other initiatives. So, our emphasis is on making sure this congestion pricing program passes. On the transportation side, we don't think there's anything more important for the future of New York than getting this plan through.

The Pope John Paull II's effort to get in touch with culture does not stop at just seeing The Passion of the Christ. Oh, no: The Vatican also hosted an outreach group from Poland that broke into, well, breakdancing. The Pope said, "For this creative hard work I bless you from my work," after the group spun his head on the Vatican's inlaid marble floor. John Paul also said, "Artistic talent is a gift from God and whoever discovers it in himself has a certain obligation: to know that he cannot waste this talent, but must develop it." Word to the pontiff. [Via KB] more ›