From BBC : USA 2-0 Germany

USA 2-0 Germany

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From the Guardian : Fracketeering: how capitalism is power-hosing the last drops of value out of us all

Fracketeering: how capitalism is power-hosing the last drops of value out of us all

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From the Guardian : failure to make IMF payment deals historic blow to eurozone

Greek failure to make IMF payment deals historic blow to eurozone

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Holy Mass with the imposition of the Pallium 2015.06.29

vatican

Streamed live on Jun 29, 2015

Starts at 9:30 am – Pope Francis presides over the Holy Mass with the imposition of the Pallium on the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul.

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Pallium

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

For other uses, see Pallium (disambiguation).

 

Pope Innocent III depicted wearing the pallium in a fresco at the Sacro Speco Cloister

The pallium (derived from the Roman pallium or palla, a woolen cloak; pl.: pallia or palliums) is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the pope, but for many centuries bestowed by him on metropolitans and primates as a symbol of the jurisdiction delegated to them by the Holy See. In that context it has remained connected to the papacy.^[1]

The pallium, in its present Western form, is a narrow band, “three fingers broad”, woven of white lamb’s wool from sheep raised by Trappist monks, with a loop in the centre resting on the shoulders over the chasuble and two dependent lappets, before and behind; so that when seen from front or back the ornament resembles the letter Y. It is decorated with six black crosses, one on each tail and four on the loop, is doubled on the left shoulder and sometimes is garnished, back and front, with three jeweled gold pins. The two latter characteristics seem to be survivals of the time when the Roman pallium was a simple scarf doubled and pinned on the left shoulder.

In origin, the pallium and the omophor are the same vestment. The omophor is a wide band of cloth, much larger than the modern pallium, worn by all Eastern Orthodox bishops and Eastern Catholic bishops of the Byzantine Rite. The theory that explains its origin in connection with the figure of the Good Shepherd carrying the lamb on his shoulders, so common in early Christian art, may be an explanation a posteriori. The ceremonial connected with the preparation of the pallium and its bestowal upon the pope at his coronation, however, suggests some such symbolism. The lambs whose wool is destined for the making of the pallia are solemnly presented at the altar by the nuns of the convent of Saint Agnes. The Benedictine nuns of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere later weave the lambs’ wool into pallia.

WINTER FROZEN PASTELS

Winter Frozen Pastels

From BBC : Cuba stamps out mother-to-child HIV

Cuba stamps out mother-to-child HIV

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Bravo for Cuba!

From BBC : Greece seeks last-minute debt deal

Greece seeks last-minute debt deal

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great compositions/performances: Richard Wagner – Siegfried Idyll (BBC Proms 2012)

Wagner – Siegfried Idyll (Proms 2012)

Kanal korisnika Mandetriens

Published on Sept. 8, 2012

Prom 27: Wagner & Bruckner
Richard Wagner – Siegfried Idyll

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Donald Runnicles conductor

Royal Albert Hall, 3 August 2012

greaat compositions/performances: Pepe Romero: Concierto de Aranjuez ( Joaquin Rodrigo), Recuerdos de la Alhambra ( Francisco Tarrega)

Pepe Romero: Concierto de Aranjuez ( Joaquin Rodrigo), Recuerdos de la Alhambra ( Francisco Tarrega)

Pepe Romero

Published on May 6, 2013

Pepe Romero playing at the GuitArt festival 2011 in Belgrade, Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo and Recuerdos de la Alhambra by Francisco Tarrega, Camerata Serbica, conductor Marcello Rota

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Researchers discover what powers enzyme that helps cancer grow – UPI.com

Although researchers have long been aware of an enzyme that helps cancer cells to grow, they have just identified a protein that assists it and may be able to find a way to prevent the runaway growth of tumors by blocking the helper protein. Photo by Tatiana Shepeleva/Shutterstock

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, June 29 (UPI) — Researchers have discovered the protein that allows the enzyme ADAM17 to remove molecules from the surface of cancer cells, helping them to grow.

The protein PACS-2 helps ADAM17 transport into and out of the cell. However, if the protein is blocked, the enzyme returns to the cell surface less often, meaning it can’t help cells to grow.

via Researchers discover what powers enzyme that helps cancer grow – UPI.com.

picture of the day: Geronimo

Geronimo

Geronimo (June 16, 1829?February 17, 1909) was a prominent Native American leader of the Chiricahua Apache. For over 25 years, Geronimo fought against the U.S.’s encroachment on his tribal lands and people.

Photo: Library of Congress (1886)

Saint of the Day for Tuesday, June 30th, 2015: First Martyrs of the See of Rome

Saint of the Day for Tuesday, June 30th, 2015

First Martyrs of the See of Rome

The holy men and women are also called the �Protomartyrs of Rome.� They were accused of burning Rome by Nero , who burned Rome to cover his own crimes. Some martyrs were burned as living torches at … continue reading

More Saints of the Day

First Martyrs of the See of Rome St. Airick St. Basilides St. Bertrand St. Clotsindis St. Erentrude St. Erentrudis St. Eurgain Bl. Gennaro Sarnelli St. Lucina

St. Marcian St. Martial Martyrs of Rome First Martyrs of Rome St. Ostianus Bl. Philip Powell Bl. Raymond Lull Bl. Raymond Lull St. Theobald of Provins St. Vincent Yen

Pool parasite can live in chlorine for ten days – UPI.com

The Centers for Disease Control recommends that swimmers shower before geting in the pool to prevent them from carrying infectious bacteria into the water. Photo: Monkey Business Images/shutterstock

The Centers for Disease Control recommends that swimmers shower before geting in the pool to prevent them from carrying infectious bacteria into the water. Photo: Monkey Business Images/shutterstock

ATLANTA, June 29 (UPI) — The Centers for Disease Control is warning swimmers to shower before going into the pool in order to avoid spreading the chlorine-resistant pathogen cryptosporidium, which has caused several outbreaks in recent years.

While E. coli and norovirus are killed within hours by chemicals used for treating pools, cryptosporidium survives in pools and hot tubs for up to ten days, and can cause gastrointestinal problems such as diarrhea.

“This parasite is extremely chlorine-resistant,” Michele Hlavsa, an epidemiologist at the CDC, told CBS News. “Swimmers bring it into the water when they are sick with diarrhea.”

Researchers reviewed data from 2011 and 2012, finding that 90 outbreaks related to recreational water resulted in at least 1,788 cases, 95 hospitalizations and 1 death, according to the CDC’s study, which is published on its website.

Of the outbreaks, 77 percent of them were in treated bodies of water such as pools and spas.

Cryptosporidium was responsible for 52 percent of the treated water outbreaks, and was also responsible for 54 percent of all the outbreaks cause by infectious pathogens.

“Since 1988, the year that the first U.S. treated recreational water-associated outbreak of Cryptosporidium was detected, the number of these outbreaks reported annually has significantly increased,” researchers wrote in the report.

If contracted, the parasite can be cleared from the body in about two to three weeks, however it can be fatal in a person with a weakened immune system, Hlavasa said.

“With these outbreaks, we see they disproportionately affect young children,” Hlavasa told ABC News. “They’re the ones who can go to a pool and young children tend to carry lots of germs.”

The CDC recommends swimmers shower before entering the pool, not swallow the water, and not urinate or defecate in the water while swimming; swimmers are discouraged from entering pools altogether if they have diarrhea.

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today’s holiday: Guatemala Army Day

Guatemala Army Day

Guatemala‘s Liberal Revolution, which called for the end of the dictatorship of Vicente Cerna, culminated with a revolt in Guatemala City on June 30, 1871. Originally known as Revolution Day, the anniversary of the revolt became Día del Ejército (Army Day), an official holiday recognizing the service of the armed forces. It has been marked over the years by annual parades, usually in Guatemala City. In 2007, protests against the parade spawned violence in the streets, and the ongoing resistance compelled the government to cancel the official parade the following year. More… Discuss

quotation: “It’s extraordinary how we go through life with eyes half shut, with dull ears, with dormant thoughts….” (Joseph Conrad (1857-1924))

It’s extraordinary how we go through life with eyes half shut, with dull ears, with dormant thoughts. Perhaps it’s just as well; and it may be that it is this very dullness that makes life to the incalculable majority so supportable and so welcome.

Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) Discuss

today’s birthday: Lena Horne (1917)

Lena Horne (1917)

An iconic American singer and actress, Horne began dancing at Harlem’s Cotton Club as a teen and, with the help of her stunning voice and good looks, was soon singing with popular bands. She went on to record and perform extensively and appeared in a number of musicals and films, including Stormy Weather, whose title song became her signature. Her one-woman show, Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music, was hailed as her masterpiece. Why was Horne blacklisted in the 1950s? More… Discuss

this day in the yesteryear: Einstein Introduces Special Relativity (1905)

Einstein Introduces Special Relativity (1905)

In physics, the theory of special relativity generalizes Galileo’s principle of relativity—that all uniform motion is relative and that there is no absolute state of rest. Though physicists Hendrik Lorentz and Henri Poincaré had made contributions to the theory already, Einstein provided a radically new interpretation in his 1905 paper “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies.” In it, Einstein redefines the concepts of space and time and abolishes the concept of “aether,” which is what? More… Discuss

Vieques, Puerto Rico

Vieques, Puerto Rico

Vieques is an island-municipality of Puerto Rico, located east of the Puerto Rican mainland. Most of Vieques was within US military installations from the 1940s. The facilities included a live-ammunition training area for the US navy, a use that was the subject of protests by many Puerto Ricans. In 2001 the federal government announced that it would halt all military exercises on the island by May, 2003. The former installations are now being converted to what? More… Discuss

word: rancor

rancor

Definition:	(noun) Bitter, long-lasting resentment; deep-seated ill will.
Synonyms:	bitterness, resentment, gall
Usage:	After a year Edinburgh dropped him, thus supplying substantial fuel for his ingrained poor man’s jealousy and rancor at the privileged classes. Discuss.

8 Simple Ways To Eat Less Sugar

Eating too much sugar is bad for your health. You’ve heard it before. Excessive consumption can increase your risk for obesity, heart disease and a host of other health complicatio

The World Health Organization recommends the average adult consume no more than 25 grams of sugar a day, but exceeding this is all too easy. A single 12-ounce can of Coca-Cola, for instance, packs 39 grams of the stuff. And added sugar sneaks into unsuspecting edibles, like hamburgers and “healthy” Greek yogurts.

Cutting back on your sugar intake is a smart choice, but it’s tough to know where to start. If you’re looking to taper off, start with a few of the tweaks below. Introduce them to your everyday routine, and eventually they’ll turn into a habit.

1. Make over your morning coffee.

The two sugars you routinely put into your cup of joe can add up. Try reducing the amount of sugar you use little by little, and rely on full-fat dairy to provide satisfaction. See if your taste buds respond well to cinnamon; the spice pairs perfectly with coffee’s nutty hints, and is, above all, sugar free.

2. Quit your soda habit.

Diet or regular, drinking any kind of pop promotes weight gain and amplifies sugar cravings. We’ve mentioned that a standard can of Coke contains 39 grams of sugar, enough to fill a person’s daily recommended intake and then some. And even though the diet kind has no sugar marked on its label, it won’t do any good in the war against sugar. According to a study published in the Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine, the artificial sweeteners in these drinks lead people to overeat, or overcompensate, for the lack of calories contained in the beverages. Artificial sweeteners don’t offer the same hunger-dampening biological rewards that natural sweeteners do, causing the drinker to seek out something caloric. The sweetness in both diet and non-diet soda prompts side effects similar to addiction, making drinkers crave more sugar.

3. Snack on something healthy before food shopping.

Researchers from Cornell University found that snacking on something nutritious before supermarket shopping, like an apple, can actually encourage shoppers to purchase 25 percent more fruits and vegetables than they normally would. Fewer sugary items in your cart means there will be fewer sugary items at home, and fewer sugary items in your belly.

4. Shop the perimeter of the grocery store.

Now that you’ve had your apple, stick to the outer aisles of the supermarket, where conventional stores place the produce, meat and seafood departments — the foods you should focus on. If you avoid the aisles that contain shelves of near-irresistible sugary sweets, you’ll be less likely to buy them.

5. Find a new favorite condiment.

Ketchup is a miracle flavor, but one of the reasons we all love it so much could be because it contains a whole lot of sugar. The sad reality is that dousing your fries in the red stuff is comparable to pouring a couple sugar packets on top. If you’re already eating fries, consider switching to a condiment with less sugar — like mustard or vinegar — instead.

6. Drink more water.

Are you sure you’re hungry? Thirst and dehydration can often disguise themselves as hunger. To determine whether you’re actually hungry or simply thirsty, drink a cup of water and wait a moment. If you’re feeling good, your body was probably trying to tell you it was parched.

7. Eat the grape, not the raisin.

When given the choice, choose fresh over dried fruit. Dried fruit boasts many of the same benefits of its plumper counterparts, but removing a food’s water content concentrates the amount of sugar and calories per serving. A cup of grapes, for instance, contains 15 grams of sugar and around 60 calories. A cup of raisins contains 98 grams of sugar and nearly 500 calories.

8. Make your own salad dressing.

Even if they taste savory, bottled salad dressings typically contain lots of sugar. Two tablespoons of Kraft’s Tuscan House Italian dressing, for example, contains two grams. This seems pretty minuscule, but chances are you’ll be dousing your greens in a serving way over two measly tablespoons. Making your own dressing at home is incredibly easy — and cheap! — and will help you control how much sugar you’re ingesting when you’re eating something as healthy-seeming as a salad.

via 8 Simple Ways To Eat Less Sugar.

From BBC : Data roaming charges to end in EU

Data roaming charges to end in EU

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From the Guardian : The green diet: how to eat healthy and save the planet

The green diet: how to eat healthy and save the planet

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From France 24 : GREECE. ..

Tsipras urges Greeks to vote ‘No’ on bailout referendum

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Why You Should Thank A Caterpillar For Your Mustard And Wasabi

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From NPR News:

California Legislature Passes ‘Mandatory’ Vaccine Bill, Sends It To The Governor

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From NPR News: Greek or Porto Rican?

If The Mess In Greece Is All Greek To You, Then Read This http://n.pr/1JkHyrL

From BBC : Puerto Rico ‘can’t pay $72bn debt’

Puerto Rico ‘can’t pay $72bn debt’

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33317495

Saint Peter’s tomb

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

 

The floor above Saint Peter’s tomb (see text)

 

St. Peter’s baldachin, by Bernini, in the modern St. Peter’s Basilica. St. Peter’s tomb lies directly below this structure.

Saint Peter’s tomb is a site under St. Peter’s Basilica that includes several graves and a structure said by Vatican authorities to have been built to memorialize the location of St. Peter’s grave. St. Peter’s tomb is near the west end of a complex of mausoleums that date between about AD 130 and AD 300.^[1] The complex was partially torn down and filled with earth to provide a foundation for the building of the first St. Peter’s Basilica during the reign of Constantine I in about AD 330. Though many bones have been found at the site of the 2nd-century shrine, as the result of two campaigns of archaeological excavation, Pope Pius XII stated in December 1950 that none could be confirmed to be Saint Peter’s with absolute certainty.^[2] However, following the discovery of further bones and an inscription, on June 26, 1968 Pope Paul VI announced that the relics of St. Peter had been identified.

The grave claimed by the Church to be that of St. Peter lies at the foot of the aedicula beneath the floor. The remains of four individuals and several farm animals were found in this grave.^[3] In 1953, after the initial archeological efforts had been completed, another set of bones were found that were said to have been removed without the archeologists’ knowledge from a niche (loculus) in the north side of a wall (the graffiti wall) that abuts the red wall on the right of the aedicula. Subsequent testing indicated that these were the bones of a 60-70-year-old man.^[4] Margherita Guarducci argued that these were the remains of St. Peter and that they had been moved into a niche in the graffiti wall from the grave under the aedicula “at the time of Constantine, after the peace of the church” (313).^[5] Antonio Ferrua, the archaeologist who headed the excavation that uncovered what is known as the St. Peter’s Tomb, said that he wasn’t convinced that the bones that were found were those of St. Peter.^[6]

The upper image shows the area of the lower floor of St. Peter’s Basilica that lies above the site of St. Peter’s tomb. A portion of the aedicula that was part of St. Peter’s tomb rose above level of this floor and was made into the Niche of the Pallium^[7] which can be seen in the center of the image.

Death of Peter at Vatican Hill

 

Crucifixion of St. Peter by Caravaggio

The earliest reference to Peter’s death is in a letter of Clement, bishop of Rome, to the Corinthians. (1 Clement, (a.k.a. Letter to the Corinthians), written c. 96 AD. The historian Eusebius, a contemporary of Constantine, wrote that St. Peter “came to Rome, and was crucified with his head downwards,” attributing this information to the much earlier theologian Origen, who died c. 254 AD.^[8] St. Peter’s martyrdom is traditionally depicted in religious iconography as crucifixion with his head pointed downward.

Peter’s place and manner of death are also mentioned by Tertullian (c. 160-220) in Scorpiace,^[9] where the death is said to take place during the Christian persecutions by Nero. Tacitus (56-117) describes the persecution of Christians in his Annals, though he does not specifically mention Peter.^[10] “They were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt.” Furthermore, Tertullian says these events took place in the imperial gardens near the Circus of Nero. No other area would have been available for public persecutions after the Great Fire of Rome destroyed the Circus Maximus and most of the rest of the city in the year 64 AD.

This account is supported by other sources. In the The Passion of Peter and Paul, dating to the fifth century, the crucifixion of Peter is recounted. While the stories themselves are apocryphal, they were based on earlier material, helpful for topographical reasons. It reads, “Holy men … took down his body secretly and put it under the terebinth tree near the Naumachia, in the place which is called the Vatican.”^[11] The place called Naumachia would be an artificial lake within the Circus of Nero where naval battles were reenacted for an audience. The place called Vatican was at the time a hill next to the complex and also next to the Tiber River, featuring a cemetery of both Christian and pagan tombs.

Tracing the original tombs

Dionysius of Corinth mentions the burial place of Peter as Rome when he wrote to the Church of Rome in the time of the Pope Soter (died 174), thanking the Romans for their financial help. “You have thus by such an admonition bound together the planting of Peter and of Paul at Rome and Corinth. For both of them planted and likewise taught us in our Corinth. And they taught together in like manner in Italy, and suffered martyrdom at the same time.”^[12]

 

Fourth century glass mosaic of St. Peter, located at the Catacombs of Saint Thecla.

Catholic tradition holds that the bereaved Christians followed their usual custom in burying him as near as possible to the scene of his suffering. According to Catholic lore, he was laid in ground that belonged to Christian proprietors, by the side of a well-known road leading out of the city, the Via Cornelia (site of a known pagan and Christian cemetery) on the hill called Vaticanus. The actual tomb was an underground vault, approached from the road by a descending staircase, and the body reposed in a sarcophagus of stone in the center of this vault.^[11]

The Book of Popes mentions that Pope Anacletus built a “sepulchral monument” over the underground tomb of St. Peter shortly after his death.^[13] This was a small chamber or oratory over the tomb, where three or four persons could kneel and pray over the grave. The pagan Roman Emperor, Julian the Apostate, mentions in 363 A.D. in his work Three Books Against the Galileans that the tomb of St. Peter was a place of worship, albeit secretly.^[14]

There is evidence of the existence of the tomb (trophoea, i.e., trophies, as signs or memorials of victory) at the beginning of the 3rd century, in the words of the presbyter Caius refuting the Montanist traditions of a certain Proclus: “But I can show the trophies of the Apostles. For if you will go to the Vatican, or to the Ostian way, you will find the trophies of those who laid the foundations of this church.”^[12]

Pope Francis’ answer to ‘What is faith?’ :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Vatican City, Jun 28, 2015 / 08:59 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Pope focused on the virtue of faith during his Sunday Angelus address, saying the whole gospel is written in its light.

“Faith is this: to touch Jesus and to draw from him the grace which saves,” Pope Francis explained June 28 at St. Peter’s Square, reflecting on the healing of a haemorrhaging woman in the day’s Gospel reading. She believed that if she could but touch Christ’s clothes, she would be healed.

“And so it is,” said Pope Francis. “The need to be freed drives her to dare, and faith ‘snatches’, so to speak, healing from the Lord.”

He waxed on the Gospel reading, saying that the Father, through Christ’s healing, in a sense, said “Daughter, you are not cursed, you are not excluded, rather, you are my daughter!”

“And every time Jesus comes to us, when we go to him with faith, we hear this from the Father: ‘You are my son, you are my daughter! You are healed, you are healed. I forgive all, all. I heal everyone and everything.’”

Pope Francis also discussed Christ’s raising of a 12 year old girl who had died, saying that in her father’s appeal to Jesus, we feel “the great faith which this man has in Jesus.”

Christ’s reaction – “Do not fear, only have faith” – give courage, the Pope said. “He says to us, so often: ‘Do not fear, only have faith!’”

“These two episodes – a healing and a raising from death – have a single center: faith. The message is clear, and can be summarized in one question: do we believe that Jesus can heal and can raise from the dead? The whole Gospel is written in the light of this faith: Jesus is risen, has conquered death, and because of this victory we too will be resurrected.”

Francis lamented that “this faith, which for the first Christians was secure, can tarnish and become uncertain, to the point that some confuse resurrection with reincarnation.”

“The word of God this Sunday invites us to live in the certainty of the resurrection: Jesus is the Lord, Jesus has power over evil and over death, and wants to take us to the Father’s house, where life reigns. And there we will meet all, all of us in this square today, we will meet in the Father’s house, in the life that Jesus gives us.”

He added that Christ’s resurrection “acts in history as a principle of renewal and of hope. Anyone who is desperate and weary unto death, if they rely on Jesus and on his love, can begin to live again … faith is a force of life, it gives fullness to our humanity; and who believes in Christ must be recognized precisely because they promote life in all situations, so that everyone, especially the weakest, can experience the love of God which frees and saves.”

Concluding, Pope Francis said, “We ask the Lord, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the gift of a strong and courageous faith, which drives us to speakers of hope and of life among our brethren.”

via Pope Francis’ answer to ‘What is faith?’ :: Catholic News Agency (CNA).

‘The unthinkable is real,’ author warns about persecutions of Middle East Christians :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

‘The unthinkable is real,’ author warns about persecutions of Middle East Christians

The remains of St. Mary’s Syrian Orthodox parish in Homs, Syria. Credit: Syrian Orthodox Diocese of Homs. Photo courtesy of the Aid to the Church in Need.

By Gabrielle Cubera

New York City, N.Y., Jun 27, 2015 / 04:07 pm (CNA).- Growing unrest in the Middle East is causing great concern for the Christian community around the world, and author George J. Marlin is hoping to enlighten Western Christians on how seriously matters are progressing, as their brethren in the Middle East continue to undergo persecution.

His latest book, Christian Persecutions in the Middle East: A 21st Century Tragedy, was published earlier this month by St. Augustine’s Press, and details the rise of radical Islamism and its impact on Christians throughout the Middle East.

“Western civilization was built on Christianity which, sadly enough, is being forgotten for Western Europe, and even in this nation here,” Marlin told CNA.

“I think the Church’s job is to remind the West that its civilization was based on the concept that man is a creature made in the image and likeness of God, and therefore is entitled by his very nature … basic rights, including the freedom to practice one’s religion.”  

Marlin is chairman of Aid to the Church in Need- USA, a Catholic charity under the guidance of the Pope that supports and aids the persecuted and suffering Church around the world. Last year, Aid to the Church in Need raised $100 million internationally.

As chairman, Marlin is given information daily about struggling Christians around the world, particularly in the Middle East.

“I’ve been able to see and speak firsthand to bishops and archbishops in the area, and other people who are often persecuted in the area,” Marlin said.

Marlin says that for the Christians, their “most daunting task is to survive.”    

“They’re concerned about survival, they’re concerned about getting three meals a day, they’re hoping they can educate their kids someday. They’re hoping they can come back to their home.”

“More importantly, we have to keep in mind that these Christians are beginning to feel abandoned by the Christian world because, although the Pope has come out and made some statements, Cardinal Dolan of New York has made some statements … in the Western media, a lot of this is being ignored,” Marlin stated.  

The book examines the history of both Christianity and Islam in the Middle East; followed by an in-depth look at eight countries in the region where Christians are particularly persecuted; it then includes perspectives of various experts from the region.

“It’s eye-opening for me as I am talking right now to so many other Americans that they’re shocked to learn that there are Christians in the Middle East,” Marlin stated.  “So I thought it was important to take this data and put together a story of what exactly is happening in Middle East at this point in time.”

He added that Christians can often regard only Europe as historically Christians, and “sometimes forget that the first center [of the Church] was in Antioch, Syria before St Peter moved it to Rome, and so the apostles and early martyrs of the Church were in the Middle East.”

Marlin said that it is important for people to realize that even before the Islamic State “came on the scene two years ago,” the 21st century has continually experienced “systemic persecution of Christians.”

Marlin’s hope is that the book, as well as the work of Aid to the Church in Need, “jolts the conscience of the West, because too many people in Europe and in the United States have their head in the sand trying to ignore this problem here.”  

Marlin emphasized that persecution isn’t restricted to the brutal, attention-grabbing ways the Islamic State uses to execute its captives. Christians in the Middle East are also persecuted through pressure to convert, employment and education discrimination, church bombings, murder, destruction of homes and businesses, kidnapping, and being treated as second-class citizens.

Documents and manuscripts dating back thousands of years have also been destroyed. “We have Christians being driven out, they may never come back,” Marlin stated. “We have the institutional Church being destroyed, and we have the patrimony of the Church being destroyed.”

“These same tactics are used in these countries and are profiled in this book,” Marlin said. “It’s going on every day and it has been going on throughout this century and obviously centuries before this. It’s time, I’m hoping, that people begin to catch on, particularly the Christians in the United States.”

An example he gave was the Chaldean Archeparchy of Mosul: in 2004, a year after the US invasion of Iraq, it had 20,600 members. By 2013 the number had dropped to 14,100, and last summer, most of the remaining Christians in the city and its environs fled before the Islamic State.

In January, its bishop, Amel Nona, was transferred to the Chaldean eparchy for Australia, leaving the Mosul archeparchy vacant, perhaps fated to become a titular see.

Marlin suggested that in light of the scale of persecution faced by many Christians in the Middle East, “the President of the United States to appoint a special Middle East envoy just to deal with these Christian persecutions.” He also raised the possibility of economic sanctions, and denying foreign aid to countries who persecute their citizens.

He said that the only way groups such as the Islamic State “are going to be put out of business is if modern Islam stands up and says ‘this is wrong’. These radical groups, if they are not tamed, if they are not destroyed or eliminated, they may destroy the Christian presence in the Middle East.”

Marlin’s book concludes with an epilogue and an appendix that provides important documents pertaining to the persecution of Christians, including addresses from Pope Francis, Benedict XVI, and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.

Tags: Church in Middle East, Aid to the Church in Need

via ‘The unthinkable is real,’ author warns about persecutions of Middle East Christians :: Catholic News Agency (CNA).

Saint of the Day for Monday, June 29th, 2015: St. Peter, First Pope (St. Apostol Petru)

Saint of the Day for Monday, June 29th, 2015

St. Peter, First Pope

St. Peter, from the Crypt of St. Peter, c.700 Ad Giclee Print

Simon Peter or Cephas, the first pope, Prince of the Apostles, and founder, with St. Paul, of the see of Rome. Peter was a native of Bethsaida, near Lake Tiberias, the son of John, and worked, like … continue reading

The New Testament indicates that Peter was the son of John (or Jonah or Jona)^[4] and was from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee or Gaulanitis. His brother Andrew was also an apostle. According to New Testament accounts, Peter was one of twelve apostles chosen by Jesus from his first disciples. Originally a fisherman, he played a leadership role and was with Jesus during events witnessed by only a few apostles, such as the Transfiguration. According to the gospels, Peter confessed Jesus as the Messiah,^[5] was part of Jesus’s inner circle,^[6] thrice denied Jesus,^[7] and preached on the day of Pentecost.^[8]

According to Christian tradition, Peter was crucified in Rome under Emperor Nero Augustus Caesar. It is traditionally held that he was crucified upside down at his own request, since he saw himself unworthy to be crucified in the same way as Jesus. Tradition holds that he was crucified at the site of the Clementine Chapel. His mortal remains are said to be those contained in the underground Confessio of St. Peter’s Basilica, where Pope Paul VI announced in 1968 the excavated discovery of a first-century Roman cemetery. Every June 29 since 1736, a statue of Saint Peter in St. Peter’s Basilica is adorned with papal tiara, ring of the fisherman, and papal vestments, as part of the celebration of the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul. According to Catholic doctrine, the direct papal successor to Saint Peter is Pope Francis

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More Saints of the Day

St. Peter, First Pope St. Cassius of Narni St. Cocha St. Mary Salome St. Paul Sts. Salome & Judith Bl. Yakym Senkivsky

picture of the day: ‘The Great Compromiser’

‘The Great Compromiser’

Statesman Henry Clay of Kentucky, who died on June 29, 1852, was a master politician in the era preceding the Civil War. Born in 1777, Clay was a lawyer by trade. He began his lengthy political career in the Kentucky legislature and made three unsuccessful bids as the Whig Party’s presidential candidate. By the time of his death, Clay had served his country as secretary of state under John Quincy Adams, U.S. Senator and Speaker of the House of Representatives. Clay was the chief architect of the Compromise of 1850, a contribution that earned him the nickname ‘The Great Compromiser.’

Image: Library of Congress

today’s holiday: Mnarja

Mnarja

Mnarja is the principal folk festival of Malta and a public holiday there, thought to have been originally a harvest festival. It is held in Buskett Gardens, a park with extensive vineyards and orange and lemon orchards not far from Mdina, Malta’s medieval capital. Festivities begin on the eve of Mnarja with an agricultural show that continues through the next morning and folk-singing and folk-music competitions. The traditional food of the evening is fried rabbit. On the following day, bareback horse and donkey races bring the feast to an end. More… Discuss

quotation: Emily Bronte

I cannot express it: but surely you and everybody have a notion that there is, or should be, an existence of yours beyond you.

Emily Bronte (1818-1848) Discuss

today’s birthday: William James Mayo (1861)

William James Mayo (1861)

While working as a surgeon with his physician father and brother—William Worrall Mayo and Charles Mayo—in the hospital his father had helped establish in Rochester, Minnesota, William James Mayo joined the two in co-founding what would become the Mayo Clinic, a world-renowned nonprofit medical practice. William James became especially known for his innovations in stomach, gall bladder, and cancer operations. According to one story, what did William James help his father do when he was just 16? More… Discuss

this day in the yesteryear: Atlantis Docks with Mir for the First Time (1995)

Atlantis Docks with Mir for the First Time (1995)

The first in a series of seven docking missions the US Space Shuttle Atlantis flew to the Russian space station Mir, the STS-71 mission was a notable episode in spaceflight history, as it marked the 100th manned space launch by the US and the first ever on-orbit crew change. The five-day docking of the two crafts also marked the creation of the largest spacecraft ever placed into orbit at that time. When linked, Atlantis and Mir had a total mass of how many tonnes? More… Discuss

Key Biscayne

Key Biscayne is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. While named a ‘key’, it is not geologically part of the Florida Keys, but a barrier island composed of sand eroded from the Appalachian Mountains and carried there. When Hurricane Andrew stripped part of the island in 1992, archeologists found extensive evidence of a large Tequesta community that had lived there up to 2,000 years ago. What is the island’s history with regard to slavery? More… Discuss

word: harelip

harelip

Definition:	(noun) A congenital cleft in the middle of the upper lip.
Synonyms:	cheiloschisis, cleft lip
Usage:	The insurance company argued that the surgery to correct her harelip was not medically necessary. Discuss.

Catedrala în umbrele serii

Catedrala în umbrele serii

From BBC : Resistance to US gay marriage ruling

Resistance to US gay marriage ruling

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-33314220

Pensioners queue outside Greek banks amid withdrawal limits

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/pensioners-queue-outside-greek-banks-092805229.html

Banks and ATM machines were shut throughout Greece on Monday, the first day of capital controls announced by the government in a dramatic twist in the country’s five-year financial saga. Despite the closures, …

Americans Can’t Sell Stocks Fast Enough as Rally Tops Flows

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/americans-cant-sell-stocks-fast-040001100.html

In a year when fund clients pulled about $60 billion from equities, the value of shares has climbed by $527 billion, pushing the total owned by households to $20 trillion, data compiled by Bloomberg and Ned Davis Research Inc. show.

From BBC : Israel stops ship trying to run Gaza blockade

Israel stops ship trying to run Gaza blockade

http://www.cnn.com//2015/06/29/middleeast/israel-blocks-ship-from-gaza/index.html

From BBC : Pancreatic cancer blood test hope

Pancreatic cancer blood test hope

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-33259440

From BBC : Can you teach people to have empathy?

Can you teach people to have empathy?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33287727

From BBC : China-led global bank takes shape

China-led global bank takes shape

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-33307314

From BBC : IS fight ‘struggle of our generation’

IS fight ‘struggle of our generation’

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-33307279

THE LANDS BETWEEN RIVERS

THE LANDS BETWEEN RIVERS

SURF CITY USA

SURF CITY USA