The Murder of Sisters Fadhila and Margaret Naoum

Last week, many media outlets and bloggers claimed the murder of two Iraqi nuns in the city of Kirkuk. The media got it wrong in regard to this story. The two murdered Iraqi Christians were laywomen and NOT nuns. Zenit News Agency reports:

BAGHDAD, Iraq, MARCH 30, 2007 (Zenit.org).- The murder of two elderly women of the Catholic Chaldean community in Kirkuk has heightened fears of the spread of anti-Christian violence in Iraq, says Archbishop Louis Sako.

The archbishop of the northern Iraqi diocese told the group Aid to the Church in Need that a Dominican nun telephoned him late Monday to report the death of Fadhila Naoum, 85, and her sister Margaret, 79.

The archbishop said the attackers broke into the home of the two women located near Kirkuk's city hall and a Dominican convent. The nuns had close links with the Naoum sisters.

Read more...

This doesn't make the crime less heinous. But, the media has a responsibility to check its sources before it publishes a report for the whole world to read and cause some to panic. I'm not asking too much from the media.

R.I.P Fadhila and Margaret.

Giving Up Something For Lent

I switched to decaf drinks last year. Once a week, I need caffeine in my system to keep me going. Knowing this need, I decided to give up Starbucks coffee for Lent. Well, that went well for a week or two. I'd say I did miserably this year. I hope you did better than me.

In the age of technology, there could be more than food to give up:

(CNN) -- For some, it's chocolate. For others, it's coffee or cigarettes. But as this Easter approaches, some young and devout Christians are anxious to return to what they gave up for Lent: Internet sites Facebook and MySpace.
[...]
"It's been hard, especially in the beginning," said Kerry Graham, who says she gave up Facebook for Lent. Her boyfriend challenged her to do so, describing her as a "Facebook fiend."

During the first days of Lent, the 23-year-old graduate student admits she had to stop herself from typing the site's Web address nearly every time she checked her e-mail.

Read more...

As a blogger, I understand how hard that could be. I won't try it because I'll definitely fail. Not that I did better with coffee.

Prayer For New Growth

Holy and loving God,

Just as the gardener cares for what he has planted, so we nourish our growth with your tender care.

When our sins and offenses keep us from flourishing and bearing good fruit, you offer us your gift of forgiveness and the chance to begin again.

May our Lenten fast prune us of those habits of word and deed that prevent your grace from flowing in our lives.

May our Lenten prayer fertilize the roots of new growth in holiness.

May our Lenten almsgiving bring forth blossoms of generosity and good will toward all your creation.

Amen.

Source: My church's bulletin.

Taxing The Iraqi Christians

I have heard from different media sources that some Iraqi Christians have started paying protection tax (jizya) to Muslim groups in Iraq. Australian CathNews reports:

As the number of Christians in Iraq continues to dwindle, reports are emerging that those who remain are being forced to pay Ottoman Empire-style poll taxes in order to be guaranteed protection and religious freedom.

AsiaNews reports that Islamic militias in Baghdad and Mosul are now ordering Christians to pay the jizya, a poll tax which dates back to the period of the Ottoman Empire, with money collected being given in alms to mosques.

Read more...

If the news are true, then there won't be many Iraqi Christians left in Iraq very soon.

UPDATE 03/22/2007
I e-mailed Queen Amidala in Basra for more details regarding this rumor. She sent me back this e-mail:

The Christians aren't the only people who are paying jizya to militias or gangs. The rich people and others who hold high positions in government offices pay it too.

I know a person who holds a very high and delicate position in a government office. He was threatened few times by the militias. So, he had to pay jizya to a tribe for his own protection. Otherwise, he or his family members would be either kidnapped or killed. Now, most of his security guards are from the tribe he pays the jizya for.

The rich people are doing the same for their own safety.

Devil In The Church

One Sunday morning, everyone in one bright, beautiful, tiny town got up early and went to the local church.

Before the services started, the townspeople were sitting in their pews and talking about their lives, their families, etc. Suddenly, Satan appeared at the front of the church. Everyone started screaming and running for the front entrance, trampling each other in a frantic effort to get away from evil incarnate.

Soon everyone was evacuated from the church, except for one elderly gentleman who sat calmly in his pew, not moving... seemingly oblivious to the fact that God's ultimate enemy was in his presence. Now this confused Satan a bit, so he walked up to the man and said, "Don't you know who I am?"

The man replied, "Yep, sure do."

Satan asked, "Aren't you afraid of me?"

"Nope, sure ain't," said the man.

Satan was a little perturbed at this and queried, "Why aren't you afraid of me?"

The man calmly replied, "Been married to your sister for over 48 years."

Source: Comedy Central

Honoring Al-Fikr Al-Masihi Magazine

With delight, I received the following happy news from Fr. Yousif Thomas:

The Iraqi monthly Al-Fikr Al-Masihi was awarded the 2007 gold medal by the International Catholic Union of the Press.

"Al-Fikr Al-Masihi, published in Arabic, survived the worst of crises in the history of Iraq and it did so by becoming a reference point for all peoples: Muslims, Christians and other religions; and all types of ethnic and language groups," explained the press union.

The title of the monthly translates as Christian Thought.

Read more...

This is a well-deserved honor for a dedicated team of writers and editors who have produced the magazine over the years. I was very young when I started reading the magazine, and I still subscribe to it.

Thank you to the magazine's team in Iraq. God bless you all.

The George Washington Dollar Coin

Last week, I received a chain e-mail claiming the skies are falling and so and so conspiracy theories just because....:

PHILADELPHIA - An unknown number of new George Washington dollar coins were mistakenly struck without their edge inscriptions, including “In God We Trust,” and are fetching around $50 apiece online.

The properly struck dollar coins, bearing the likeness of the nation’s first president, are inscribed along the edge with “In God We Trust,” “E Pluribus Unum” and the year and mint mark. The flawed coins made it past inspectors and went into circulation Feb. 15.
[...]
Bailey said it was unknown how many coins lacked the inscriptions. Ron Guth, president of Professional Coin Grading Service, one of the world’s largest coin authentication companies, said he believes that at least 50,000 error coins were put in circulation.

Read more...



Source: Urban Legends

As with most conspiracy theorists, the original e-mail writer didn't wait for a logical explanation before (s)he wrote the letter, then sent it to everyone on his/her address book, who sent it everyone on their address book -- I simply deleted the letter.

In my opinion, God doesn't need his name printed on any money unless I understood Jesus' words incorrectly. Case closed.

The Repentant Thieves

Here's a story that may become an urban myth:

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. --Burglars have struck twice at the Guyandotte United Methodist Church but the second time they may have remembered that commandment, the one that goes, "Thou shalt not steal."

Thieves first jimmied the church's door locks Monday night and stole about $5,000 worth of sound and office equipment, church treasurer Rocky Frazier said. Then, they broke back the next night and returned everything. "They taketh and the Lord giveth back," Frazier said Friday. "It's like there's a higher power at work."

Whatever the reason, they had a change of heart, said the Rev. Julia Bolling.

"It was either that, or our prayer for grace for them," she said.

Read more...

I have a feeling the thieves were young. They probably returned the stolen items after their parents found out about the church's burglary.

The Pope and The New KFC Fish Sandwich

Lent started this year with a joke/surprise from the KFC:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For years, anything produced by KFC had to meet the standards of Colonel Harlan Sanders.

For its new product, the fried chicken chain is seeking a higher endorsement. KFC has asked Pope Benedict XVI to bless the Fish Snacker Sandwich, a Lenten addition to the chain’s Snacker sandwich line.

KFC sent the Pope a letter earlier this month, asking him to bestow a blessing on the sandwich. While the sandwich is being marketed generally, John O’Reilly, chief marketing officer for KFC, said the sandwich should prove especially popular on Friday’s, when Catholics traditionally don’t eat meat in the 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday.

Read more...

I rarely eat at KFC and this new commercial appeal to American Catholics won't make me eat at their restaurants.

The Death of a Romanian Nun

UPDATE Feb. 20, 2007
Justice has been served to the priest and nuns responsible for the death of the Romanian nun Maricica Irina Cornici. The Australian reports:

A ROMANIAN priest was sentenced to 14 years in prison yesterday for causing the death of a nun during an exorcism ritual.

Four nuns were also sentenced in connection with her death...
[...]
One of the nuns - Nicoleta Arcalianu - was sentenced to eight years in prison, and the other three - Adina Cepraga, Elena Otel and Simona Bardanas - each received five-year sentences.

R.I.P Sr. Cornici.

---

UPDATE Dec. 27, 2005
South African Independent Online has new details of Romanian nun Maricica Irina Cornici's cause of death:

Bucharest - A Romanian nun crucified by a priest and other nuns in an exorcism rite was still alive when she was rescued, but died of an overdose of adrenalin mistakenly administered by a medic, press reports said Saturday.
[...]
The latest development dominated Saturday's press, with the mass circulation Libertatea headlining the story "killed by the doctors."

Cornici was chained to a cross, gagged and deprived of food and water for several days at the remote monastery in June. Authorities had maintained the treatment proved fatal and she was already dead when other nuns called for an ambulance.

But the new autopsy, carried out after the nun's body was exhumed in September, showed that she died after a medic in the ambulance injected her with six doses of adrenalin which over-stimulated her heart, causing it to fail.

Read more...

This new revelation doesn't make the priest and four nuns less responsible for her death. What happened to her was inhumane.

---

ORIGINAL POST Jun. 18, 2005
I read the following report with disbelief:

A Romanian nun has died after being bound to a cross, gagged and left alone for three days in a cold room in a convent, Romanian police have said.

Members of the convent in north-west Romania claim Maricica Irina Cornici was possessed and that the crucifixion had been part of an exorcism ritual.

Cornici was found dead on the cross on Wednesday after fellow nuns called an ambulance, according to police.

On Saturday a priest and four nuns were charged in connection with her death.
[...]
Mediafax news agency said Cornici suffered from schizophrenia and the symptoms of her condition caused the priest at the convent and other nuns to believe she was possessed by the devil.

Read more...

Hmmmmm, I didn't know we were living in the Middle Ages.

Love Your Enemies

Luke 6:27-38

Jesus said to his disciples:
“To you who hear I say,
love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

To the person who strikes you on one cheek,
offer the other one as well,
and from the person who takes your cloak,
do not withhold even your tunic.

Give to everyone who asks of you,
and from the one who takes what is yours do not demand it back.

Do to others as you would have them do to you.

For if you love those who love you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners love those who love them.

And if you do good to those who do good to you,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners do the same.

If you lend money to those from whom you expect repayment,
what credit is that to you?
Even sinners lend to sinners,
and get back the same amount.

But rather, love your enemies and do good to them,
and lend expecting nothing back;
then your reward will be great
and you will be children of the Most High,
for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

“Stop judging and you will not be judged.

Stop condemning and you will not be condemned.

Forgive and you will be forgiven.

Give, and gifts will be given to you;
a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing,
will be poured into your lap.

For the measure with which you measure
will in return be measured out to you.”

The Morrocan Muslim-Jewish Ties

It's rare to read pleasant news about the Arab-Jewish relations. But, there's always an exception. Serge Berdugo wrote in the Christian Science Monitor:

CASABLANCA, MOROCCO – As the flames of anti-Semitism continue to be fanned across much of the Islamic world, there is a risk that today's youth will grow up believing that Arabs and Jews were simply not meant to coexist, let alone thrive together.

That idea conflicts with history - and is a falsehood today. My country, Morocco, illustrates the viability and vitality of a Jewish community - my community - in an Arab country. It's a model of harmony other Muslim nations should follow.

And here's the good part of his article:

Morocco's leaders have always made the well-being of the Jewish people a top priority. During World War II, when the Vichy government of occupied France announced that it had prepared 200,000 yellow stars for the Jews of Morocco, King Mohammed V replied that he would need 50 more for him and his family. He refused to make any distinction between his citizens.

If rest of the world follow the tolerant spirit of the Moroccan society, the world would become a better places for all of us.

11 Iraqi Christians Caught In Mexico

In the late 1990s, my best friend and her husband tried to enter the United States via Mexico. Their attempt failed when they were caught in Mexico carrying fake Mexican passports. They were shipped back to their country of departure after experiencing detention in Mexico. I lived in Australia at the time. Back then, I didn't know how popular these illegal immigration attempts among Iraqis were.

Two weeks ago, 11 Iraqi Christians were caught in Mexico with fake Mexican passports. I expected the Mexican authorities to deport them. Luckily, the Mexican authorities were more understanding this time:

MEXICO CITY — The head of Mexico's Immigration Institute said Wednesday the government won't deport or repatriate 11 Iraqi Christians detained Jan. 20 in the northern city of Monterrey.

Cecilia Romero said the detainees may be granted asylum or simply be freed and allowed to go where they want. The group of nine men, one woman and a two-year-old girl had said they were trying to reach California, where there is a sizable community of Iraqi Chaldean Christians.

"The situation in Iraq, as we all know, is a conflict situation," Romero told reporters. "The most recent group that arrived in Nuevo Leon were fleeing the war in their country, so we couldn't simply say to them 'go,' without raising the question, where?"

I don't approve of illegal immigration attempts. But, the current situation in Iraq is very dangerous and hopeless. There's no doubt those people went through too much. It explains their illegal attempt to enter Mexico and then the United States.

Catholic Schools: The Good News in Education

This week is the Catholic Schools Week in America. This year, the American Catholic schools got an appreciation from our politicians:

WASHINGTON (CNS) – The House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution Jan. 23 praising Catholic schools "for their ongoing contributions to education and for the key role they play in promoting and ensuring a brighter, stronger future for this nation."
[...]
Noting that more than a quarter of the students in Catholic schools are from minority backgrounds and 14 percent are non-Catholics, the resolution said the schools "produce students strongly dedicated to their faith, values, families and communities by providing an intellectually stimulating environment rich in spiritual, character and moral development."

The theme of Catholic Schools Week in 2007 is "Catholic Schools: The Good News in Education."

Read more...

That was nice of the House of Representatives. My older siblings went to Catholic schools. I went to a public school. We were a big Catholic family and my parents couldn't afford to put me in a Catholic school. I'm happy with my public education though. It made me the person I am today.

Faith, Hope and Love According to St. Paul

From the first letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians:

Brothers and sisters:
Love is patient, love is kind.
It is not jealous, it is not pompous,
it is not inflated, it is not rude,
it does not seek its own interests,
it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,
it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.
It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never fails.
If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing;
if tongues, they will cease;
if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.
For we know partially and we prophesy partially,
but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.
When I was a child, I used to talk as a child,
think as a child, reason as a child;
when I became a man, I put aside childish things.
At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror,
but then face to face.
At present I know partially;

then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.
So faith, hope, love remain, these three;
but the greatest of these is love.

The Liar Sermon

A priest wound up the services one morning by saying, ''Next Sunday I am going to preach on the subject of liars. And in this connection, as a preparation for my discourse, I would like you all to read the seventeenth chapter of Mark''.

On the following Sunday, the priest rose to begin and said, ''Now, then, all of you who have done as I requested and read the seventeenth chapter of Mark, please raise your hands.''

Nearly every hand in the congregation went up.

Then said the priest, ''You are the people I want to talk to. There is no seventeenth chapter of Mark.''

Late Pope John Paul II Audio Cards

I never hide my deep love to the late Pope John Paul II. And now, I'm jealous that people in Italy can get this cool audio card and I can't:


Source: ANSA News

Here's the story of the audio card as reported by ANSA:

ROME (ANSA) - The enduring popularity of the late Pope John Paul II has been underlined yet again by the runaway success of a new gadget offering a blessing from the Polish pontiff at the press of a button.

Offered as a free gift with a new Catholic monthly, the palm-size device is comprised of a small picture of John Paul mounted on an electronic card which has his voice recorded on it digitally.

When pressure is applied, the user hears the pope's voice saying a blessing in Latin.

Read more...

So far, more than 35,000 people got a free copy of the audio card. But NOT ME. Still, I'm happy to know that people's love to the late Pope is still alive. That's all it counts.

The Nun and The Consturction Workers

An old nun who was living in a convent next to a Brooklyn construction site noticed the coarse language of the workers and decided to spend some time with them to correct their ways.

She decided she would take her lunch, sit with the workers and talk with them. She put her sandwich in a brown bag and walked over to the spot where the men were eating.

She walked up to the group and with a big smile said: "Do you men know Jesus Christ?"

They shook their heads and looked at each other. One of the workers looked up into the steelwork and yelled "Anybody up there know Jesus Christ?"

One of the steelworkers yelled down a "Yea. Why"?

The worker yelled back "His wife's here with his lunch."

The Priestly Chic, Gorgeous Georg

Any time the media mentions The Vatican, I expect some bad news. This time it's different. The buzz is about The Pope's handsome secretary Father Georg Gänswein:

Priestly chic has hit the catwalk in Milan, with Pope Benedict's pin-up personal secretary inspiring the latest collection by Donatella Versace.

Father Georg Gänswein, or Gorgeous Georg to his admirers, represents a triumph of "more brain and less muscle", according to Miss Versace, who sent blond male models down the catwalk with clerical black jackets and priestly white shirts.

"I was certainly inspired by him," she said. "I find his austerity very elegant. It is the right moment to show an ethical and spiritual man, free from all those pointless details. I also like Gregorian garb." She said her ideal man has biceps but "looks for his inside quality and trains it up, the muscles of the soul."

Read more...

He's definitely handsome. I'm sure many girls have crush on him. Even better, he knows it:

The austere and conservative priest, whose hair is now raffishly flecked with grey, fanned the flames of his female fans, who call themselves the Georgiste, by admitting that he had crushes on girls when he was younger. "My senses are healthy, and those that have healthy senses use them," he said.

Welcome to the German manhood :-)

Back To Church Campaign On YouTube

The YouTube site is popular for its weird and wild video clips. The Rt Rev. Jonathan Gledhill, the Bishop of Lichfield in the U.K. has decided to use the site to broadcast his annual Evangelism Sunday message. The Scotsman reports:

A CHURCH leader has turned to a video-sharing website to encourage more people to attend Sunday services.

The Rt Rev Jonathan Gledhill, the Bishop of Lichfield, posted his first Sunday message of 2007 on YouTube, along with recordings of similar sermons from 2005 and 2006.
[...]
His spokesman, Gavin Drake, said: "The diocese designates the Sunday after Epiphany as Evangelism Sunday and the Bishop distributes a tape to encourage congregation members to consider the part they have to play in taking the good news of Jesus Christ to their communities, friends and neighbours.

"This year, for the first time, the bishop's message will be placed on the community video-sharing website YouTube."

Read more...

According to the article, the bishop is trying to reach out to the young people who don't attend church. I doubt it will work with young people. Still, I believe it's a good idea to broadcast his messages on YouTube as it has become THE MEDIUM these days.