to move up and down
Giant carpet made of sand — View of a carpet made of sand from the National Park of El Teide to mark the Corpus Christi feast in the town of La Orotava, on the Spanish Canary Island of Tenerife, on June 06, 2013. (DESIREE MARTIN/AFP/Getty Images)
David Bowie’s new music video draws ire of The Catholic League
Bowie’s video for The Next Day, with its religious themes and partial nudity, has prompted the Catholic League to label the iconic musician a “senior citizen from London.” oooOOOoooh. See the video and read more about the controversy here: natpo.st/10u4DzW
Nepalese swirling chariots — Nepalese devotees gather during the Panch Areh chariot festival in Katmandu, Nepal, Thursday, April 11, 2013. Three different chariots of Hindu deities Kankeshwori, Shankata and Bhadrakali are taken through the streets during the festival celebrated by Nepalís Newar Community. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
Graphic: Christianity then and now
More than 30% of the world’s population — 2.2 billion people — are Christian, according to a major religious survey. The 32% of the world that was Christian in 2010 was down from 35% a century ago, says the survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life that analyzed more than 2,500 censuses, surveys and population registers. About half of all Christians are Roman Catholic (50%) and an estimated 37% of Christians belong to the Protestant tradition, broadly defined as Anglicans, independents and non-denominational churches. (Richard Johnson/National Post)
Thousands of faithful filled St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Tuesday, March 19, 2013 for the new pope’s inauguration. Pope Francis officially began his ministry as the 266th pope on Tuesday in an installation Mass simplified to suit his style, but still grand enough to draw princes, presidents, rabbis, muftis and thousands of ordinary people to St. Peter’s Square to witness the inauguration of the first pope from the New World.
Pope Francis urges protection of the environment, the poor during his installation Mass
Pope Francis urged princes, presidents, sheiks and thousands of ordinary people gathered for his installation Mass on Tuesday to protect the environment, the weakest and the poorest, mapping out a clear focus of his priorities as leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics.
The Argentine native is the first pope from Latin America and the first named for the 13th-century friar St. Francis of Assisi, whose life’s work was to care for nature, the poor and most disadvantaged. Echoing the gentleness for which St. Francis is known, the pope said a little bit of tenderness can “open up a horizon of hope.”
The Vatican said between 150,000-200,000 people attended the Mass, held under bright blue skies after days of chilly rain and featuring flag-waving fans from around the world. “Shalom!” read one banner, Hebrew for “Peace.” “Viva il Papa” read another, “Long live the pope.” In Buenos Aires, thousands of people packed the central Plaza di Mayo square to watch the celebration on giant TV screens.
Francis was interrupted by applause several times during his homily, including when he spoke of the need to protect the environment, serve one another with love and not allow “omens of destruction,” hatred, envy and pride to “defile our lives.” (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, Oded Balilty)
Pope Benedict XVI recalls ‘joy’ of papacy in emotional sendoff as 150,000 gather for his final public audience
Pope Benedict XVI basked in an emotional sendoff Wednesday from a massive crowd at his final general audience in St. Peter’s Square, recalling moments of “joy and light” during his papacy but also times of difficulty when “it seemed like the Lord was sleeping.”
An estimated 150,000 people, many toting banners saying “Grazie!” (“Thank you!”), jammed the piazza to bid Benedict farewell and hear his final speech as pontiff. In this appointment – which he has kept each week for eight years to teach the world about the Catholic faith – Benedict gave deep thanks to his flock for respecting his decision to retire. (Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)
Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet would bring ‘strong sense of collegiality’ as pope
Mere hours after Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation Monday, Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet became one of the most talked about candidates to replace him as leader of the world’s one billion Catholics.
If elected by his 120 or so peers in the Vatican next month, the hockey-playing kid from Abitibi, Que., would make history not just as the first Canadian pope, or even the first from North America, but the first ever appointed from outside Europe — a move observers are urging the church to make as it looks to minister to growing ranks of believers in the global south and remain relevant to the rest of the world.
“Cardinal Ouellet is a man who has beautiful spiritual qualities,”Archbishop of Quebec, Gérald Cyprien Lacroix, said. “He’s a man with deep spiritual convictions and that is certainly very, very important.”
Canadian cardinal who said being pope ‘would be a nightmare’ a frontrunner to replace Benedict
Pope Benedict XVI’s shock resignation could open the door for the Church’s first non-European leader, with a Canadian and an Argentinean considered among the leading candidates to become the next pope.
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, formerly the archbishop of Quebec City, has the best odds of replacing Pope Benedict XVI according to an Irish betting site, at 11 to 4.
Cardinal Ouellet, 68, is the head of the Congregation for Bishops, essentially the Vatican’s top staff director. He was once quoted saying being the pope “would be a nightmare.”
He also told Quebec City’s Le Soleil newspaper that a pope’s duties “are perhaps not very enviable” adding a pope’s responsibilities are “crushing.” (AFP PHOTO/GETTY / ALBERTO PIZZOLI)
Pope Benedict XVI to resign due to ‘deteriorating’ health, the first pontiff to do so in nearly 600 years
Pope Benedict XVI announced Monday that he would resign on Feb. 28 because he was simply too infirm to carry on — the first pontiff to do so in nearly 600 years. The decision sets the stage for a conclave to elect a new pope before the end of March.
The 85-year-old pope announced his decision in Latin during a meeting of Vatican cardinals on Monday morning.
He emphasized that carrying out the duties of being pope — the leader of more than a billion Roman Catholics worldwide — requires “both strength of mind and body.”
“After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths due to an advanced age are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry.” (Alexander Heimann/Getty Images)
The offices of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team were set on fire early Friday in an apparent arson attack, police said, a day after four of the club’s fans were charged with anti-Muslim chanting at a recent game. Tensions have been bubbling ever since the team announced last month it would sign on two Muslim Chechen players — Zaur Sadayev and Gabriel Kadiev — in a break from the team’s unofficial tradition of not signing Arabs or Muslims. (Bernat Armangue/The Associated Press)
How Christianity saved Justin Bieber from being aborted: Pop star’s mom stirs debate with new pro-life film
Pattie Mallette’s position on abortion is clear: Had she not converted to Christianity before getting pregnant as a teen, her pop star phenom son Justin Bieber would have never been born.
But now, with a memoir under her belt and her son’s next album dropping soon, the Stratford, Ont., born mother is carving out a niche as an anti-abortion crusader, amid reports Bieber may not be comfortable with it.
The 37-year-old is the new, public face of a short-film fundraising project to raise at least $10-million for American pregnancy centres, which encourage women to go through with a pregnancy, not terminate it. (Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/ File)
Graphic: The state of religion in Canada
A new Forum Research poll, commissioned exclusively for the National Post, shows two-thirds of Canadians are spiritual while just half say they are religious. The poll comes at a time when church attendance rates are dipping, when most Canadians say they do not consider religion important and when claiming “no religion” is a more common answer than ever before — less than 1% of Canadians ticked off “no religion” four decades ago, but according to 2001 census data, the latest census data available, 16% marked that box.
Without fanfare, Jehovah’s Witnesses quietly soften position on blood transfusions
For years, the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ fiercely held belief that blood transfusions are contrary to God’s will led to emotional and very public disputes, hospitals clashing with parents over whether to infuse sick children.
That long history of messy legal confrontations appears to be vanishing, however, amid changing approaches to the issue on both sides, health-care officials say.
The church’s ban on accepting blood still stands, but some major pediatric hospitals have begun officially acknowledging the parents’ unorthodox beliefs, while many Jehovah’s Witnesses are signing letters recognizing that doctors may sometimes feel obliged to transfuse, they say.
As institutions show more respect toward parents’ faith and try harder not to use blood, Witnesses often seem eager to avoid involving child-welfare authorities to facilitate transfusions, and more accepting that Canadian case law is firmly on the doctors’ side, some hospital officials say.
“They get it that we’re going to transfuse where it’s medically necessary. They’ve lost that battle; they understand that,” said Andrea Frolic, a bioethicist at McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, Ont. (Calgary Herald/Files)
Saskatoon could face human rights complaint after refusing to yank ‘Merry Christmas’ message from buses
The city of Saskatoon is facing the possibility of a human rights complaint after it refused to yank the “Merry Christmas” message from the top of its buses despite allegations of discrimination.
On Monday Ashu Solo vowed to take the matter to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, claiming the Christmas greetings violate his right to be free from religion.
He said the salutation also favours Christianity over other religions, which is particularly problematic for Saskatoon’s immigrant community, many of whom rely on bus service.
“Christmas messages on Saskatoon Transit buses make them feel like they need to convert to Christianity to be first-class citizens,” he wrote in a complaint.
“Therefore, the Christmas messages on Saskatoon Transit buses are a forcible attempt at Christian indoctrination.” (Gord Waldner/Postmedia News)
