New Padre Pio???

From Catholic News:

The British Daily Telegraph reports that like Padre Pio, who displayed stigmata for the last 50 years of his life, Br Elia, whose face, hands and feet appear covered in blood each Lent is revered by fans from the country's poorest to World Cup-winning footballer Francesco Totti.

Yesterday was supposed to be a chance for as many as 10,000 people, including visitors from Britain, to meet Br Elia, 45, at the headquarters of the Jesuit movement in Naples.

Now that Lent has begun, time is running out to see him before he takes to his bed over April to undergo his annual torment.Instead, his appearance was cancelled at the last minute by the Catholic Church, which is concerned about the rapid spread of Br Elia's fame.

The Vatican is reported to have asked Br Elia not to give interviews or to hold any public religious services until it has made up its mind on the veracity of his stigmata.

More from Michael Dubruiel

The Myth of Muslim Support for Terror

From The Christian Science Monitor:

Those who think that Muslim countries and pro-terrorist attitudes go hand-in-hand might be shocked by new polling research: Americans are more approving of terrorist attacks against civilians than any major Muslim country except for Nigeria.

The survey, conducted in December 2006 by the University of Maryland's prestigious Program on International Public Attitudes, shows that only 46 percent of Americans think that "bombing and other attacks intentionally aimed at civilians" are "never justified," while 24 percent believe these attacks are "often or sometimes justified."

Contrast those numbers with 2006 polling results from the world's most-populous Muslim countries – Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria. Terror Free Tomorrow, the organization I lead, found that 74 percent of respondents in Indonesia agreed that terrorist attacks are "never justified"; in Pakistan, that figure was 86 percent; in Bangladesh, 81 percent.

3,000 Celebrate 40th Anniversary of the Charismatic Renewal

In Detroit, from the Archdiocese of Detroit site:

Fr. Cantalamessa, 73, had his own Charismatic experience of being baptized in the Holy Spirit 30 years ago, and was appointed to his post with the Holy See in 1980 by Pope John Paul II, then reconfirmed in his position by Pope Benedict XVI.
He told the gathering the best way to prepare for a new Pentecost was to study the opening chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, in which the original Pentecost is described.
Traditional Western and Eastern depictions of that event at which the Holy Spirit descended on a rather sedate gathering of the Apostles do not seem to match the event as he understands it, Fr. Cantalamessa said.

More on the "Finding of Jesus' Tomb"

From the archeologist who oversaw the excavation of the tomb some twenty-seven years ago, as reported in Newsday:

But Bar-Ilan University Professor Amos Kloner, a Jerusalem archeologist who officially oversaw the work at the tomb in 1980 and has published detailed findings on its contents, dismissed the claims."It makes a great story for a TV film," he told The Jerusalem Post Saturday night.

"But it's impossible. It's nonsense," he said.

Now: Some Ponder If Jesus Could Be Cloned

Read my post yesterday on the Discovery Channel program and then of course my first question this morning when I read this was where are you going to get the DNA from? Their answer:

What if you found skin cells from Jesus on the Shroud of Turin or on a shard of the cross?Could you clone God?That's the question raised in three new books--"In His Image: Book One of the CloneChrist Trilogy" by James BeauSeigneur; "The Jesus Thief," by J.R. Lankford; and "Cloning Christ," by Peter Senese and Robert Geis.

The Latest Outrage--The Tomb of Jesus and Mary Magdalene?

Since the Discovery Channel is carrying this garbage, you might expect that their take on it would be the most outlandish. The tomb in question was discovered twenty-seven years ago and if it were anywhere near as spectacular as they are claiming in this piece you would be hearing about it on all the cable networks around the clock (it would bump Anna Nicole's lack of a tomb coverage), and the networks as well. So what we have is someone who is going to do a lot of conjecturing and in the end a lot of blaspheming for those of us who worship the Son of God.
One other note about this, what is the DNA they are matching the bodies to, something they got from the Shroud of Turin?

From the Discover Channel:

New scientific evidence, including DNA analysis conducted at one of the world's foremost molecular genetics laboratories, as well as studies by leading scholars, suggests a 2,000-year-old Jerusalem tomb could have once held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth and his family.
The findings also suggest that Jesus and Mary Magdalene might have produced a son named Judah.
The DNA findings, alongside statistical conclusions made about the artifacts — originally excavated in 1980 — open a potentially significant chapter in Biblical archaeological history.
A documentary presenting the evidence, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," will premiere on the Discovery Channel on March 4 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The documentary comes from executive producer James Cameron and director Simcha Jacobovici.

For an intelligent, quick overview of the Mary Magdalene saga, check out Amy's:

De-coding Mary Magdalene: Truth, Legend, And Lies

Book Review-Short Podcast

A short book review of Raymond Arroyo's latest book: