ROME — In his first question-and-answer television appearance, shown by Italy’s national broadcaster on Friday, Pope Benedict XVI urged the Christian minority not to abandon Iraq and offered his thoughts on euthanasia and the tsunami in Japan.

In a segment recorded last week and broadcast on one of the holiest days in the Christian calendar, the pope, dressed in white and seated behind a desk in his library, responded to questions from seven people selected from among thousands of submissions.

Read the complete story(Some news sites require registration)