Monthly Archives: August 2013

Nuns on the Bus, Nonsense on a Roll

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Andrew Stuttaford

The leftist Catholic News Service reports: Members of Congress may be out of town and immigration reform legislation may be stuck until at least this fall, but the summer recess has been time for Catholic activists to rally their forces … Continue reading →

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Desperate

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Andrew Stuttaford

Writing in the Catholic Herald, a priest, Fr. Alexander Lucie-Smith, compares Kim Jong-Un with Henry VIII, the king who (according to paper’s headline-writers “founded the Church of England”: nope, it was Elizabeth I who did that, but no matter): …The … Continue reading →

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Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Andrew Stuttaford

From Seeing Things (1991): Lightenings viii The annals say: when the monks of Clonmacnoise Were all at prayers inside the oratory A ship appeared above them in the air. The anchor dragged along behind so deep It hooked itself into … Continue reading →

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Russia Takes on the Pastafarians

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Andrew Stuttaford

I’ve always thought that the joke about the Great Spaghetti Monster was a touch on the leaden side, but compared with Russia’s response to the “Pastafarians”… NBC reports: MOSCOW, Russia — The march of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti … Continue reading →

Posted in Church & State | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Chávez: Still With us?

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Andrew Stuttaford

Cross-posted on the Corner: The Financial Times reports: [Venezuelan president Maduras] campaigned on the basis that his predecessor spoke to him in the form of a little bird. Last week, he admitted that he regularly sleeps in the mausoleum where … Continue reading →

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The Timeless Appeal of the Apocalypse (Again)

Posted on August 24, 2013 by Andrew Stuttaford

Cross-posted on the Corner: To my disappointment, I missed this event: Uncivilisation 2013 is a gathering of people searching for answers to questions about our collective future in a rapidly-changing and depleting world. For one long weekend in August, the … Continue reading →

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Francis & Bloy

Posted on August 22, 2013 by Andrew Stuttaford

In the Daily Telegraph, Tim Stanley writes: A chance click on a blog by Alejandro Bermúdez, head of the Catholic News Agency, leant me a fascinating insight into [the Pope’s] intellectual character. During his first homily, Pope Francis quoted the … Continue reading →

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Meanwhile…..

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Andrew Stuttaford

Cross-posted on the Corner: Via Bloomberg News: A Jeddah criminal court judge has sentenced Saudi Arabian journalist Raif Badawi to seven years in prison and 600 lashes for the crime of “insulting Islam.” It could have gone worse for Badawi: … Continue reading →

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Rubbish Tories

Posted on August 17, 2013 by Andrew Stuttaford

Cross-posted on the Corner: If recycling is, as the saying goes, the liberal equivalent of prayer, what does this make the rubbish bins of Britain? Over at the Daily Telegraph, Brendan O’Neill gives an update: You would think the solution … Continue reading →

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Pastoral Care

Posted on August 17, 2013 by Andrew Stuttaford

The BBC reports: Some young HIV patients are giving up their medicine after being told by Pentecostal Church pastors to rely on faith in God instead, doctors warn. Medical staff told the BBC a minority of pastors in England were … Continue reading →

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