The Last of the Legendary Mitfords , now the Duchess of Devonshire, tells the story of her fascinating family, which among the sisters included one novelist, one Communist, one Fascist, one admirer of Hitler, and herself.
Millions and millions of people died in the “Bloodlands” of eastern Europe in World War II, not in battle but because people murdered them, writes Anne Applebaum in a review of two new books on the subject.
For the Royal Society, England’s most prestigious scientific organization, “Climate change has served as the encompassing environmental narrative ,” writes Ben Pile, “ . . . used to connect the human and natural worlds, and to provide a basis for many political institutions that, without a climate crisis, would simply lack legitimacy .”
Celebrating Mass at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, the pope “saw the unleashing of the botafumeiro — the Spanish shrine’s famous 5-foot-tall mega-thurible, suspended from its ceiling and said to reach top speeds approaching 70 kilometers an hour (42mph) as it swings across the sanctuary, peaking at an arc of some 200 feet.”
Five bishops of the Church of England have resigned in order to become Catholics and join the new Ordinariate for former Anglicans when it is formed in England. One of them, John Broadhurst, is the leader of the resistance movement in the CofE.
Physicians in the Middle Ages used urine wheels to diagnose illnesses , and “in many ways uroscopy paved the way for modern laboratory medicine.”
Requests for exorcism have risen sharply in Switzerland , though a priest in charge of exorcisms in his canon says that only four or five a year are genuinely needed.
A Nigerian writer explains the relation of “Nollywood” and religion , and the related rise of Pentecostalism which attracts Muslims as well as Christians from established churches.
America is not evenly divided on social issues . “Those of us who believe in God, have successful marriages, oppose abortions in most instances, want less government than more, think the government and media are part of the problem, and are supportive of religion in the public square are not a minority . . . . We are part of the quiet consensus at work in this country.”
Thanks to MercatorNet , Michael Liccione , Judy Warner, and Mary Ellen Kelly for links.
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