Friday, April 9, 2004

Flights Banned Over Vatican

From Bloomberg.com: Europe:



"Italy has imposed a no-fly zone over Rome and boosted security against a possible terrorist attack as tens of thousands of pilgrims and tourists arrive in the Vatican City for Easter, Corriere della Sera reported, citing police.



Non-commercial flights will be banned from taking off or landing around Rome on Easter Sunday and Monday, the paper said. Streets around the Vatican City and St. Peter's square will be closed to traffic.



About 12,000 police and 4,000 military are being deployed through Monday, including snipers placed in strategic points and surveillance helicopters, Il Messaggero reported yesterday. Pope John Paul II will conduct Easter Mass on Sunday to a crowd of tens of thousands in St. Peter's square. "

Thursday, April 8, 2004

Last Days of My Lenten Meditations

They can be accessed by clicking on the gate to the right. These have been a rough draft of a book that I am working on that will be available before next Lent. The last posting will be on Easter Sunday.

No Travel Time Credit For Bishop O'Brien

From KPHO Phoenix - No Travel Time Credit For Bishop O'Brien:



"No break from the Judge for retired Bishop Thomas O'Brien regarding his probation!



You'll remember the Bishop was convicted and sentenced to a thousand hours of community service in the run and run death of pedestrian Jim Reed last year.



We told you Monday O'Brien requested that his travel time be included in his community service requirement.



Late Wednesday night the Judge ruled O'Brien will receive NO credit for the time he must travel to his counseling appointments."

De-Coding Da Vinci--Amy's Zenit Interview

From Zenit News Agency - The World Seen From Rome:



Q: What are the most important assertions about Christian origins that author Dan Brown makes in this novel? What seems to be disturbing people the most?



Welborn: Brown makes several assertions, none of which would be taken seriously by real, as opposed to fictional scholars.



The basis of the book is that Jesus, a mortal teacher of wisdom, was intent on reintroducing the notion of the "sacred feminine" back into human consciousness and experience. He drew followers, and was married to Mary Magdalene, whom he designated as the leader of his movement.



This was opposed by another party -- the "Peter party" -- which worked to suppress the truth, which was ultimately achieved through the actions of Emperor Constantine who "divinized" Jesus at the Council of Nicaea in 325.



It is this suggestion that the Christian Church has been engaged in a destructive cover-up of the truth that has disturbed readers, as well as the idea -- propped up by Brown's assertions that "historians believe" -- that Jesus was not experienced as divine by his earliest followers.




de-Coding Da Vinci: The Facts Behind the Fiction of the Da Vinci Code

Wednesday, April 7, 2004

Maybe the Pope was Right about Iraq!

Sad that we probably will lose a pro-life president because he surrounded himself with horrible advisors.

Albany Priest's Death Ruled Suicide

From The Record:



"After more than three months of examination, autopsy results reveal that Minkler did commit suicide just days after allegations surfaced that he wrote a 1995 letter to the late Cardinal John O'Conner condemning Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard and other priests for having alleged homosexual relations.



Coroner Herman Thomas confirmed Tuesday by telephone from his home that it was a suicide, but made no official statement on the case. "

If Your Eye Offends You...

I remember Father Dick Teal telling the story of a University of Florida student doing the same thing (over twenty years ago)...

Amy, there is good Flannerish story to be told here.



WorldNetDaily: Man plucks out own eye, quotes Bible:



"A murder suspect in Grayson County, Texas, quoted a Bible verse after using his hand to pluck out his own right eye.



According to the Sherman Herald Democrat, confessed killer Andre Thomas was in a county jail cell directly across from the book-in station Friday when he turned his back on the jail staff. After hearing a scream, personnel saw Thomas turn around with his eyeball in his hand.



Thomas is no stranger to mutilation. Police say he killed his wife, son and wife's daughter in the woman's apartment, mutilating each victim. According to the report, Thomas turned himself into police the day the bodies were discovered, having cut himself with a knife. After undergoing surgery, Thomas was transferred to the Grayson County Jail and placed on 'suicide watch.' "