Pope Francis says atheists can be good | World news | The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/22/pope-francis-atheists-can-be-good
Francis’s reaching out to atheists and people who belong to no religion is in marked contrast to the attitude of his predecessor, Benedict, who sometimes prompted complaints from non-Catholics that he seemed to see them as second-class believers.
Teresa Forcades, the radical Catalan nun on a mission - video | World news | guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/may/17/teresa-forcades-radical-catalan-nun-video
Sister Teresa Forcades is one of Catalonia’s foremost political figures, but uniquely for a faith-led figure in #Spain, her ideology is #feminist and left-wing. Against a backdrop of continued economic contraction and austerity, she spoke to the Guardian about the need for an alternative to capitalism and criticised the #misogyny of the Catholic #church
#religion #catholicisme #gender #austerity #austérité #néolibéralisme #réforme #ows #occupy #misogynie #église #Kirche
The Enemy Within - NationalJournal.com
http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/the-military-s-rape-problem-20120913
http://cdn-media.nationaljournal.com/?controllerName=image&action=get&id=22046&width=314
Nearly 20,000 service members are raped or sexually assaulted each year by predators who often evade punishment....
Les victimes (d’hommes toujours) ne sont pas seulement les femmes,
Although uniformed women are sexually assaulted at a higher rate than men, the total number of male victims is actually higher because there are so many more men in uniform; of the 19,000 estimated assaults each year, more than 11,000 target men
Et ne pas accepter son sort témoigne d’un « trouble de la personnalité, »
When Norris had to renew her Air Force security clearance, she admitted on the paperwork that she had received mental-health counseling for PTSD. She refused to release her medical records to a clearance investigator, essentially ending her career. She was separated from the Air Force after 15 years in the service, five years before she could collect full retirement benefits. “Basically, I was fired for being raped,” Norris says, “while three of the four people who assaulted me retired with full military benefits.”
She was just the tip of the iceberg. Petty Officer 3rd Class Jenny McClendon’s ordeal began during an overnight shift on a Navy ship at sea, when a petty officer 2nd class began forcefully groping her. She asked not to serve night watches with him, but the request was denied. Eventually, she says, he raped her. McClendon reported the attack directly up her chain of command, but her senior chief accepted the man’s denials and refused to take the word of a lower-ranking woman. When the assaults continued, McClendon went all the way up to the ship’s captain, who ordered a criminal investigation. Nevertheless, the case lacked evidence because the ship carried no rape kits (despite a mixed-gender crew). The perpetrator finally admitted to “consensual sex” and got knocked down one rank.
McClendon says she was assaulted again by an investigator while based in Norfolk, Va. This time, when she reported the attack, her lieutenant called her a “whore” and sent her to a Navy therapist, who suggested that she was a bad fit for the Navy. “Essentially, I was diagnosed with a personality disorder for failing to adjust adequately to being raped,” McClendon says, even though “borderline psychotics ... could never make it through boot camp.”
The “Dirty War” Pope - World Socialist Web Site
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/03/16/pers-m16.html
... mais il rejette toutes les accusations (voir le papier du NYT)
A suivre...
The “Dirty War” Pope
16 March 2013
For over a week, the media has subjected the public to a tidal wave of euphoric banality on the Roman Catholic Church’s selection of a new pope.
This non-stop celebration of the dogma and ritual of an institution that for centuries has been identified with oppression and backwardness is stamped with a deeply undemocratic character. It is reflective of the rightward turn of the entire political establishment and its repudiation of the principles enshrined in the US Constitution, including the wall of separation between church and state
Signalé par ma belle-sœur sur Facebook, ces deux photos de l’accueil du Pape par la foule romaine, en 2005 et en 2013.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2293785/Pontiffs-stumble-Pope-Francis-takes-tumble-mass-cardinals-recovers-joke
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/03/15/article-2293785-18AF1BDC000005DC-852_634x317.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/03/15/article-2293785-18AF1C59000005DC-332_634x317.jpg
A sea of technology: These astonishing images show Pope Francis has ushered in a new era - as iPads, camera phones and other tablets replaced the traditional Rome welcome
Faudrait que ça cesse, cette habitude détestable de ne plus regarder avec ses yeux et de tout tout tout filmer avec son putain de smartphone.
La Chair Fantôme - The Quietus
http://thequietus.com/articles/11469-stelarc-interview
Filipe Kalinowski a interviewé Stelarc. C’est une illusion métaphysique d’imaginer qu’il y a quelque chose dans nos #corps, explique l’artiste. Ce qui est important, n’est pas à l’intérieur de vous ou de moi, mais au milieu, dans l’espace où nous communiquons, dans la langue que nous utilisons pour nous comprendre, dans les institutions sociales où nous exerçons nos activités et dans la culture que nous avons été conditionnés à habiter. Tags : internetactu (...)
Philippine performance artist jailed for “offending religious feelings” - World Socialist Web Site
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/02/09/phch-f09.html
Philippine performance artist jailed for “offending religious feelings”
By Joseph Santolan
9 February 2013
In late 2010, Philippine performance artist and tour guide Carlos Celdran, dressed in late nineteenth century attire, entered Manila Cathedral during an ecumenical service celebrating the distribution of bibles and silently held up a cardboard sign with one word: “Damaso.” Celdran was escorted from the church by security guards. He was subsequently arrested and charged with “offending religious feelings,” a criminal offense in the Philippines. He was found guilty and sentenced to an indeterminate jail term of up to one year, one month and 11 days.
Lebanon’s Christian Patriarch prays for peace in Syria
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=563650
The head of Lebanon’s Maronite Catholic church, Patriarch Beshara al-Rai, prayed in an old Damascus church on Saturday for an end to Syria’s civil war.
Rai, whose church has 900,000 members in Lebanon, a quarter of the country’s population, is on the first visit to Syria by a Maronite Patriarch since the independence of neighboring Lebanon in 1943.
Dutch minister [Secretary of State] slams Pope for gay hate Christmas message « MasterAdrian’s Weblog
http://masteradrian.com/2012/12/24/dutch-minister-secretary-of-state-slams-pope-for-gay-hate-christmas-me
Dutch minister [Secretary of State] slams Pope for gay hate Christmas message
Netherlands foreign affairs minister Frans Timmermans blasts head of the Catholic Church for gay marriage attack
24 December 2012 | By Matthew Jenkin
Netherlands foreign affairs minister Frans Timmermans blasts Pope for gay marriage attacks
Dutch foreign affairs minister Frans Timmermans has slammed the Pope for attacking gays in his annual Christmas message.
The head of the Catholic Church is calling on faith groups to unite against same-sex marriage, saying the legislation which is being passed around the world is a threat to the survival of the human race.
However, Netherlands foreign affairs minister Frans Timmermans has blasted Pope Benedict XVI over his continuing homophobia.
‘If every person is unique, as the Pope’s representative said in Dublin last week, then why should that unique person not have the right to stand up for their own sexual orientation?’ Timmermans told RTL.
‘Why can Romeo marry Juliet but not Julius?
‘Marriage between two people of the same sex is having respect for the uniqueness of the individual.’
The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalize gay marriage in 2001.
Gay rights group COC is urging Timmermans to campaign to have the Vatican lose its special position within the United Nations.
A Dutch Facebook group called ‘No flowers for the pope’ has also been set up calling on the Netherlands to stop its tradition of sending flowers to the Holy See at Easter.
In his festive speech, the pope said the ‘traditional family’ must be protected, and stressed all faiths, even non-Christian religions, must come together to stop marriage equality.
He added that gay and Trans people were destroying humanity itself, saying they are ‘manipulating their God-given gender to suit their sexual choice’ and destroying the ‘very essence of the human creature’ in the process.
Earlier this month, in comments released for the upcoming World Day of Peace 2013 in January, the Pope said gay people, like abortion or euthanasia, was a threat to justice and world peace.
Catholic Church denies teenager confirmation until he publicly denounces gay equality
By Staff Writer, PinkNews.co.UK
16 November 2012,Lennon Cihak has been denied a confirmation ceremony because he supports gay rights (Photo: Twitter profile)
Lennon Cihak has been denied a confirmation ceremony because he supports gay rights (Photo: Twitter profile)
A teenage Catholic boy in Minnesota has been banned from confirmation after he posted a photograph on Facebook urging people to vote for equal marriage rights. He will only be allowed to take part in the rite if he denounces his support for equality.
Lennon Cihak defaced an anti-equality sign, crossing out the words ‘Vote Yes’ and replacing them with ‘Vote No’ to an attempt to pass a constitutional amendment to ban gay couples marrying. He posted a photograph of the sign on Facebook and it was spotted by his local priest, Rev Gary LaMoine.
The boy’s mother, Shana told, local newspaper, the Forum that she was shocked to hear of the decision after the priest called her into a private conversation. She told the newspaper, “He said ‘I cannot, cannot confirm him. Father would not confirm him, and they won’t confirm him unless he changes his views.” She also claimed that the family have been denied Holy Communion in the parish.
Rev LaMoine says: “They’re my parishioners, and so when the press comes after me from different points of view and asks me all types of questions about their situation, I hesitate very much because I owe them, I owe that family confidentiality,” he said.
Italian Catholic Church to pay property tax from next year
source:
http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2012/11/italian-catholic-church-to-pay-property-tax-from-next-year
Posted: 15 Nov 2012 04:25 PM PST
Italy’s Catholic Church will be forced to pay taxes starting in 2013 after the EU pressured the country’s government to pass a controversial law stripping the Church of its historic property tax exemption.
The Catholic Church in Italy is excluded from paying taxes on its land if at least a part of a Church property is used non-commercially – for instance, a chapel in a bed-and-breakfast. “The regulatory framework will be definite by January 1, 2013 – the start of the fiscal year – and will fully respect the [European] Community law,” Italian premier Mario Monti’s government said in a statement on Tuesday.
Vatican pledges to continue campaign of homophobia and bigotry
Vatican doubles down on homophobia and bigotry
In opposition to justice, the Vatican will continue to fight against marriage equality. According to the Vatican, the Roman Catholic Church will continue their immoral campaign of bigotry and homophobia in an attempt to deny gay and lesbian individuals the right to same-sex marriage.
In two separate, strongly worded editorials this weekend, the Vatican reaffirmed the Roman Catholic Church’s unequivocal opposition to marriage equality. Despite the recent moral progress of the West, the Catholic Church is determined to cling to their immoral and unjust homophobia and bigotry.
The Vatican editorials come after recent victories for same sex marriage in the U.S., France and Spain. Speaking on Vatican Radio, Father Federico Lombardi said:
“It is clear that in Western countries there is a widespread tendency to modify the classic vision of marriage between a man and woman, or rather to try to give it up, erasing its specific and privileged legal recognition compared to other forms of union.”
One must marvel at the moral audacity of Father Lombardi and the Catholic Church. To think that a morally corrupt institution like the Catholic Church presumes to make any moral directives is astonishing. An institution with a long and well established history of protecting and enabling pedophiles, an institution that puts its own reputation above the health and welfare of children, has no business making any moral pronouncements.
The Catholic Church is a morally backward, bankrupt and corrupt institution. Their continued endorsement of homophobia and bigotry is just one of their many crimes against humanity. By continuing their campaign opposing same-sex marriage, they only confirm that they are a dangerous and despicable institution that stands opposed to human decency and human happiness.
Well, as it took the Vatican to acknowledge and realize that the Sun was not circling around the Earth, but that facts were the other way round, it will probably take centuries for the RCC to acknowledge that human beings are intended to be together, regardless of gender....
In time even the RCC will see the light, and if not... the light will go out for the RCC
“The Last Member Of The RCC Turns Off The Light”
Julian Assange: Luther of the 21st Century?
http://michaelmcconkey.com/talk/julian-assange-luther-of-the-21st-century
http://michaelmcconkey.com/talk/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/julian-assange.jpg
As the founder and leader of Wikileaks takes refuge in Ecuador’s London-based embassy, I find myself reflecting upon an intriguing historical comparison. Martin Luther generally (if a bit over-simplistically) is credited with creating the great reformation movement that definitively divided Christianity, bringing the Catholic Church into conflict with the various Protestant sects and leading ultimately, indirectly to the establishment of the Anglican Church.
Head of Catholic Church in San Francisco decries gay marriage victories | Gay Star News
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/head-catholic-church-san-francisco-decries-gay-marriage-victories091112
Head of Catholic Church in San Francisco decries gay marriage victories
Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone: Marriage is between man and woman ’or it is nothing at all’
09 November 2012 | By Greg Hernandez
It’s already known that Salvatore Cordileone, archbishop of the Catholic Church in San Francisco, is a fervent supporter of Proposition 8 which banned same-sex marriage in California.
So it’s no surprise that following voters approving gay marriage in Maine, Maryland and Washington this week, Cordileone would not be happy.
’No matter what policy, law or judicial decision is put into place, marriage is the only institution that unites a man and a woman to each other and to any children born of their union. It is either this, or it is nothing at all,’ he wrote in a letter posted on the Archdiocese website.
In addition, voters in Minnesota rejected a ballot measure that would have banned gay marriage.
’November 6, was a disappointing day for marriage, as the effort to preserve the unique meaning of marriage in the law lost by only a narrow margin in four states, even though vastly outspent by those who promote the redefinition of marriage,’ Cordileone also wrote.
His appointment to be head of a church in a city with such a large gay population and history of LGBT activism drew protests earlier this year.
Cordileone was officially installed just last month and was recently arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.
In 2008, he helped raise funds to get Prop 8 on the ballot box and donated approximately $6,000 of his own funds in support of the referendum.
It would be very interesting how this Archbishop would define the marriages between the priests and jesus, or the marriages between the priests and the holy virgin mary, not to speak of all the nuns........
As far as I know it is not allowed within the RCC to marry a man (as the Archbishop so bigottedly tells us), and msot certainly the RCC does not promotes polygamy.....
And then... what about the lesbian marriages between the nuns within the RCC and the Virgin Mary?
|Does the Archbishopp has any definition for those lesbians and the obviously straight mary, mother of jesus, who was pregnant prior to marriage.........
Seems to me that the RCC has a problem there, and there... and everywhere...
Vatican defiant in face of marriage equality wins | Gay Star News
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/vatican-defiant-face-marriage-equality-wins101112
Vatican defiant in face of marriage equality wins
The Vatican newspaper has denied that the church is losing the fight on same-sex marriage and has warned US President Barack Obama about moving too fast on social issues
10 November 2012 | By Andrew Potts
Vatican City
Photo: Enrique Cornejo
The newspaper of the Holy See in Rome has denied that the Catholic Church is losing the fight on same-sex marriage despite recent gains in the US and France following national elections.
In an article in L’Osservatore Romano, Vatican journalist and historian Lucetta Scaraffia wrote that the Catholic Church was the only institution at a global level that was capable of resisting those that would ‘break up … human society’ following the US election.
‘You could say that the church, on this level, is bound to lose,’ Scaraffia wrote, ‘But this is not the case.’
Scaraffia wrote that the Church’s opposition to allowing same-sex couples to adopt in the UK and against government mandated access to birth control in the US had shown the world that ‘this is not about [fighting] progress.’
Instead Scaraffia claimed that the Catholic Church was fighting against ‘the loss of one of the founding freedoms of the modern state - religious liberty.’
Scaraffia is the first female writer to be allowed to contribute to L’Osservatore Romano in the newspaper’s 151 year history.
A November 8 editorial in L’Osservatore Romano also warned of a religious backlash against the second Obama Administration if it tried to move too far on social issues.
‘The United States chose to place their trust in the current president, guaranteeing him a second term,’ the editorial reads.
‘But if Obama wants to be the president of all American people, he must eventually acknowledge the requests that are rising with strength from the religious communities - the Catholic Church being the first in line - in favour of the family, life and religious liberty.’
A complaint has been made to the US Internal Revenue Service after it was suggested that efforts by several prominent Catholic bishops to tell parishioners how to vote may have broken the laws governing the church’s tax free status in the US.
NFL’s Kluwe Slams Archbishop’s Anti-Gay Views - masteradrian’s posterous
http://masteradrian.posterous.com/nfls-kluwe-slams-archbishops-anti-gay-views
NFL’s Kluwe Slams Archbishop’s Anti-Gay Views
By Jason St. Amand
Web Producer / Staff Writer
Thursday Oct 11, 2012Chris Kluwe
Chris Kluwe
Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe has been making headlines recently for his strong support for marriage equality and gay rights. The football player has called out athletes and politicians and has now criticized the archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis for a letter he wrote to a woman pleading for acceptance for her gay child.
Truth Wins Out and Think Progress have circulated a 2010 letter written by Twin Cities Catholic Archbishop John Nienstedt on social networking websites. The two-year-old letter is a response to a woman’s letter where she asks for acceptance for her gay child. But the bishop says that she might go to Hell if she comes to terms with her child’s sexual orientation.
“I write to inform you that the teaching of the Catholic Church on homosexuality, as described in paragraphs 2357 and 2358 and 2359 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church is rooted in Scripture and based on the Natural Moral Law,” Nienstedt wrote. "It, therefore, shares in God’s revelation to us. Catholics are bound in conscience to believe this teaching. Those who do not cannot consider themselves to be Catholic and ought not to participate in the sacramental life of the Church.
“Indeed, some might find this is a hard saying but many of Jesus’ teachings were likewise received as such,” he continued. “I urge you to reconsider the position that you expressed in your letter. Your eternal salvation may well depend upon a conversation of heart on this topic.”
Nienstedt’s letter sparked Kluew to respond in an op-Ed piece in the Minneapolis-St.Paul Pioneer Press.
“It fills me with great sadness and regret that a steward of the Catholic Church on this Earth feels the need to take a stance of oppression, intolerance, and fear,” Kluwe wrote.
“Millions of children grow up raised in the Catholic faith. Some of these children will be gay, through no choice of their own, but because of how God created them,” he continued. "What does it say to those children when the head of their religion in this state, a man who claims to ’explain and defend the teaching of the Church because I have been ordained to do so and I believe those teachings with all my heart,’ a man acting under the direct auspices of the Pope himself, tells them that they can’t be as worthy as everyone else, even though they believe in the teachings of Jesus?
“What will these children think, as they suffer the barbed insults of their classmates and teachers; I ask you, sir, what will these children think as they are belittled and tormented due to teachings you espouse? What judgment will be passed on your soul when yet another poor child reaches for the knife or the noose to end his or her earthly torment due to your example?”
Kluwe, who also calls out Pope Benedict XVI, asks why the Catholic leaders don’t practice empathy and uses the Bible’s teachings to make his point for equality.
“If you strike me, I shall turn the other cheek. If you ask me to walk with you for a mile, I will do so,” the athlete writes. “If you ask me to respect your faith, your beliefs, then all I ask is that you do the same for everyone else. For is that not the most pertinent of Jesus’ teachings, and one that everyone, no matter their religion, can strive to achieve?”
Nienstedt’s letter may have been from two years ago, but it seems as though the bishop still hasn’t changed his anti-gay marriage views. Last week EDGE reported that Nienstedt sent a letter asking Roman Catholic followers to support a legislation that would ban same-sex marriage in Minnesota.
When the letter was read, many parishioners were so upset that they walked out during church services.
Catholic Church: Scotland gay marriage bullies children as Nazis | Gay Star News
http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/catholic-church-scotland-gay-marriage-bullies-children-nazis101012
Catholic Church: Scotland gay marriage bullies children as Nazis
The Catholic Church has alleged that children are bullied and branded as Nazis if they oppose marriage equality in Scotland
10 October 2012 | By Dan Littauer
John Deighan, spokesperson for the Catholic Church in Scotland said children are bullied and manipulated by the “equality lobby” over same-sex marriage
The Catholic Church has claimed that school children as young as 12 who disagree with marriage equality in Scotland have been branded as ‘Nazis’ and ‘bigots’.
John Deighan, the Roman Catholic Church’s parliamentary officer in Scotland, claimed that the Catholic Church and children are being victimized because of the planned Scottish marriage equality bill which is due to be put to the vote early next year.
He stated: ‘I know, for example, of children in Scotland, including my own 12-year-old child, who have been branded as “Nazis” and “bigots” because they have dared to disagree with the idea of same-sex marriage.’
Deighan made these comments in the European parliament in Brussels during a recent meeting of the EU’s most right wing parties, the group of European conservatives and reformists and the group of the European People’s Party.
Deighan warned the meeting that LGBT campaign groups, such as the Equality Network and Stonewall subject anyone who opposes their views to ‘intense levels of hostility.
‘People are increasingly being subjected to manipulation by what I would call the equality lobby.
‘This is a blatant attempt to manipulate the ideas and views of people, including school children, so that they become more intolerant of the Catholic message.’
Deighan also alleged that it is ‘very difficult’ to persuade politicians in Scotland to speak out marriage equality because ‘they are afraid that in doing so they will jeopardise their careers’.
A 2011 survey by the Scottish Youth Parliament showed 74% of young people actually support marriage equality.
While Stonewall Scotland poll conducted by YouGov poll published in late June this year showed two-thirds (65%) of the general public in Scotland support for marriage equality.
The Scottish government has consistently stated that the proposed marriage equality law will ensure churches, and individuals within them, do not have to conduct same-sex marriages if they do not agree with them.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman previously stated: ‘The Scottish Government is committed to a Scotland that is fair and equal and that is why we intend to proceed with plans to allow same-sex marriage and religious ceremonies for civil partnerships. All views have been taken into account in coming to this decision.
‘Our next consultation, due later this year, will seek views on protections in areas such as religious freedom, education and freedom of speech.’
This statement coming form specifically and especially the Roman Catholic Church is making the statement ridiculous and absurd!
The whole world knows of the practices of and by the Roman Catholic Church, especially and specifically were and when it concerns children, from instructions by the highest ranked officials of the Roman Catholic Church in the Vatican, to the lowest-leveled practitioners in the smallest villages and communities, to protect the criminals who abused, raped, assaulted and tortured the children who were in their care and protection, to voluntarily and with utter speed ordering and creating possibilities of relocation of the criminals to locations were they were and are able to continue with their foul inhuman practices, as well as the whole world knows of the wholehearted support and even protection by the Roman Catholic Church of creatures who were developing plans, who executed plans to murder millions of people just for their faith, their sexual orientation and or their political convictions during and while WorldWar 2, and as well as the whole world knows of the atrocities that were committed by the Roman Catholic Church during ages when they murdered, tortured and burned people because of so-called witchcraft and other reasons just because people were opposing the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church during the well-known Inquisition period, and then to be reading that that same organization is accusing people who want to inform, educate and make better people of young people of bullying these children..... well, that is something I call “having balls” BUT then in the most negative way and manner!
It is shocking, shaming and totally un-acceptable that a criminal and terrorist organization like the Roman Catholic Church even dares to think of sending out a reaction on matters that are relating to children (in the first place), and it is even more un-acceptable to see the Roman Catholic Church issue a statement that refers to bullying and referring to the nazis!
The Roman Catholic Church, as THE organization for suppression, oppression, hate-mongering, discrimination, practitioner, endorser and enforcer of human rights violations worldwide, protector of human rights violators and sexual criminals, instigator and supporter of worldwide atrocities by its employers and enforcer of acknowledged crimes against human values and dignity by its rulers, that organization of all organizations should be silent when it comes to educate young people who are the future of the world, to bring prosperity, happiness and hope to all people!
Belgian Catholics quit church over refuge for notorious murderer’s wife | Secular News Daily
http://www.secularnewsdaily.com/2012/10/belgian-catholics-quit-church-over-refuge-for-notorious-murderers-
Belgian Catholics quit church over refuge for notorious murderer’s wife
October 8, 2012 | Filed under: Secular Press Releases,UK & Europe | Posted by: National Secular Society
Scandals and misjudgements in the Catholic Church in Belgium have resulted in a rise in the number of people seeking debaptism.
In 2009, 643 people quit the church but the following year, when the former bishop of Bruges, Roger Vangheluwe, stepped down after admitting having sexually abused his own nephew, it rose to 6,382. It dropped to 1,827 in Flanders last year.
Although the figures for 2012 are not yet available, Church officials say requests for debaptism have risen again after the Poor Clare sisters welcomed a notorious criminal, Michelle Martin, into their convent.
Martin was convicted of letting two girls kidnapped by her husband Marc Dutroux die of starvation in a cell in their basement. He was convicted of kidnapping and abusing six girls, four of whom died. Michelle Martin was granted conditional release from prison last month after serving 16 years of her 32 year sentence.
Angry protests outside the convent near the city of Namur resulted in a rush of people downloading the debaptism forms from the website Ontdoping.be.
The protest is stronger in Flanders, the more traditionally Catholic half of Belgium, but two dioceses in French-speaking Wallonia —Liege and Tournai — have begun asking for stamps with their letters to pay the cost of processing the request.
Le pape a dit que les personnes gays ne sont pas des humains complètement développé... En Langue Anglaise : http://www.gaystarnews.com/article/pope-says-gay-people-are-not-fully-developed-humans280912
Nuns become soldiers in the battle for the White House – USATODAY.com
http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2012-09-09/nuns-election-politics/57706952/1
“They live in the suburbs. They’re professionals and managers in corporations. Romney is one of their neighbors or reminds them of their boss, so they’re very comfortable for them,” Reese said, and they don’t just vote on Catholic values, but on their pocketbooks. That’s why such Catholics helped Romney, a Mormon, defeat former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, a conservative Catholic, in the Michigan primary and others.
Conflit en Colombie : La Norvège au centre des efforts de paix - Ouverture début octobre 2012 à Oslo des pourparlers de paix
La presse a annoncé que Jan Egeland, Jennifer Schirmer et Dag Nylander sont "nommés" pour faciliter les pourparlers de paix qui devraient débuter à Oslo en octobre 2012. Deux d’entre eux n’étaient apparemment pas au courant, mais il se disent heureux d’avoir été choisis... Seront présents des représentants des FARC et de l’ELN et Juan Manuel Santos qui représentera les autorités colombiennes.
Jennifer Schirmer est chercheur au Centre pour l’environnement et le développement de l’Université d’Oslo, et travaille depuis 10 ans sur des projets de paix en Colombie.
Jan Egeland a une longue expérience des pourparlers de paix. Homme politique et diplomate, il est aujourd’hui Conseiller spécial des Nations unies sur les questions de prévention et de règlement des conflits avec le rang de Secrétaire général adjoint
Dag Nylander est un ancien chargé d’affaires de l’ambassade de Norvège à Bogota , il a été de 2009 à 2011 "représentant spécial pour le ministère des affaires étrangères en relation avec les questions liées au processus de paix en Colombie".
Il est cité dans un câble diplomatique confidentiel rendu public par Wikileaks daté d’avril 2007 (quelques jours avant la reprise des pourparlers de paix qui ont eu lieu à Cuba) qui révèle comment les chancelleries occidentales à Bogota essayaient de faire pression sur l’ELN pour amener au moins ceux de leurs membres "qui n’avaient pas commis d’atrocités".
Voir le câble ici ---> http://leaks.hohesc.us/?view=07BOGOTA2283
Selon NTB, l’ambassadeur de Norvège à Cuba, John Petter Opdahl, sera sans doute présent à une réunion entre le gouvernement colombien et les représentants des FARC à La Havane le week-end. Le Venezuela sera aussi présent aux côtés de Cuba et de la Norvège.
Jennifer Schirmer signale toute fois : « il y a un groupe de personnes, autour de l’ancien président Álvaro Uribe, qui n’est pas du tout dans l’état d’esprit de discuter des conditions de la paix. Ils prétendent encore que les FARC et l’ELN ne sont pas fiables, et "qu’on ne négocie pas avec les terroristes." »
Juan Mauel Santos et l’ex-président Álvaro Uribe ont été des alliés politiques très proches, mais ont profondément divergé dans leur approche des groupes de la guérilla (FARC et ELN).
http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/verden/1.8298690
Publisert 29.08.2012
Utnevnes som Colombia-meglere – har ikke blitt spurt
Stridsvogn, Colombia. I nærmere 50 har krigen mellom colombianske myndigheter og de venstreorienterte geriljaene holde landet i et voldelig jerngrep. Nå kan det bære mot slutten, med hjelp fra Norge.
Jan Egeland, Jennifer Schirmer og Dag Nylander navngis som tilretteleggere for fredssamtaler i Colombia. To av dem er ikke spurt, men stiller gjerne.
Det er colombianske aviser som navngir Egeland, Nylander og Schirmer som mulige tilretteleggere for konkrete fredssamtaler mellom myndighetene, anført av president Juan Manuel Santos, og FARC-geriljaen.
#colombie #norvège #négociations-de-paix #pourparlers-de-paix #amérique-du-sud
Maronite Church warns that Lebanon might collapse economically by 2016 like Greece and Italy
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Maronite-Church-warns-that-Lebanon-might-collapse-economically-by-2016-like
In the middle of a regional crisis due to the Syrian conflict, burdened by its own political and security challenges, Lebanon faces even worse problems, a Greek-style economic meltdown by 2016, Maronite bishops said in an appeal to government leaders and the population that includes an analysis of the country’s economic situation that does not seem to get the attention it needs.
The statement, issued on 1 August, warns against the state’s “economic collapse” by 2016, similar to what is occurring in Greece and Italy as well as in some Asian and Latin American nations whose consequences could be very serious.
Bulgarian bones could be John the Baptist’s as claimed, scientists say – CNN Belief Blog - CNN.com Blogs
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/22/bulgarian-bones-could-be-john-the-baptists-as-claimed-scientists
When the tools of modern science are applied to religious relics, the results are almost always the same: Science says the relics aren’t what their supporters claim.
The most famous of them all, the Turin Shroud, is widely regarded as a Middle Ages forgery, and even the Catholic Church does not insist the shroud was actually used to wrap the body of Jesus himself.
So when Bulgarian archeologists announced two years ago that they had found the bones of John the Baptist, Tom Higham was skeptical.
He got a surprise.
Number of Muslims in US grows as Catholic Church faces decline
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/number-muslims-us-grows-catholic-church-faces-decline
Among major religions, the census found the number of Catholics, the largest single faith, declined 5 percent to 58.9 million during the decade.
Pour @baroug
Indian skeptic charged with “blasphemy” for revealing secret behind “miracle” of weeping cross - Boing Boing
http://boingboing.net/2012/04/13/indian-skeptic-charged-with.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUqhq9MuRG8#!
Sanal Edamaruku, an Indian skeptic, went to Mumbai and revealed that a “miraculous” weeping cross was really just a bit of statuary located near a leaky drain whose liquid reached it by way of capillary action. The local Catholic Church demanded that he retract his statements, and when he refused, they had him arrested for blasphemy.
Letter from Sanal Edamaruka defence committee
‘FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION UNDER ATTACK’
Sanal Edamaruku, well known rationalist, under
threat of arrest for exposing the “miracle”
http://stephenlaw.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/letter-from-sanal-edamaruka-defence.html
#église #kirche