Tuesday, February 11, 2003

Pentagon Denies Vatican Official's Claim...sort of



From NEWS.com.au | 77,000 body bags: (February 11, 2003)



The Pentagon yesterday denied a claim by a senior Vatican official that the US was secretly shipping 100,000 body bags and 6000 coffins to a military base in Sicily.



But it admitted that it has 34,000 of the bags stored at military bases around the world and available to be sent to the Gulf at short notice.

It has ordered another 8890 for delivery this week and is about to sign a contract for another 30,000 to be delivered next month.
Americans Ready for 15,000 Troop Deaths



From Total Catholic:



Some 100,000 body bags and 6,000 coffins have been airlifted to a US military base in Sicily as part of American preparations for war on Iraq.



That was the claim of the Pope's chief advisor on justice and peace Archbishop Renato Martino this week.

In an interview with a US Catholic weekly newspaper, Archbishop Martino said he had information that President George W Bush's administration 'foresees' the deaths of 15,000 American troops should the predicted conflict become reality.





With the sons of numerous people that I work with over in the area of Iraq already I cannot tell you how much I am against this military action. I think that we have fallen right into a trap that Osama Bin Laden hoped would be our response to 9/11. Brutal action in Iraq is turning the world against us and as one conservative political commentator has said it looks like we are "empire building" not reacting to any real threat against us.

Monday, February 10, 2003

Dell Dude Busted



From The Smoking Gun:



Benjamin Curtis, the 22-year old actor who portrays the Dell Guy in those bothersome computer commercials, was arrested late last night (2/9) on a marijuana possession charge.
Pope Again Encourages Faithful to Pray the Rosary for Peace



From Reuters:



Pope John Paul made a dramatic appeal on Sunday for world prayers to avert war in Iraq, saying it sometimes appeared that only God can stop a conflict now.



"At this hour of international worry, we all feel the need to look to God and beg him to grant us the great gift of peace," the 82-year-old pope said. "I encourage everybody to pray the rosary for an intercession."




Gun Toting Christ?



Bizarre...From the Cybercast News Service:



Members of Beija Flor, a samba dance group, have already practiced the scene, which includes an actor representing Jesus Christ lowering himself from the cross and confronting Satan with a revolver in his hand. During the battle, a small child is killed. Photos from the play, featuring Jesus carrying the revolver, were shown recently in local newspapers.



The director of Beija Flor denounced any attempts to control the content of Carnival activities. "The authorities, instead of censoring cultural shows like ours, should prohibit hunger, the homeless and unemployment," said Luiz Fernando Ribeiro de Castro.



"We want to create a doubt: Who shot the child - Christ or the demon?" said Hilton de Castro, who is also involved in directing the scene.
World Catholic Population Goes Over a Billion



Thanks to Africa!



From Catholic News.com:

The number of baptized Catholics "has increased worldwide from 757 million in 1978 to 1.06 billion in 2001", according to the new Annuario Pontificio (Pontifical Yearbook).



The Yearbook points out that there is wide geographical variation in the change, contrasting a 148% increase in Africa the 25 year period with stagnation in Europe.



The Yearbook, which was launched on Friday by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano, also indicates the increase in Catholics is accompanied by a decrease in the number of priests. In, 2001, the number of priests declined by 111 compared to the previous year. However the number of seminarians increased 1.5% in the same period, which Africa and Asia making a disproportionately large contribution.



Figures also reveal a sharp rise in the number of permanent deacons (4.9%), members of secular institutes (2.7%), laic missionaries (10.1%), and catechists (6.5%).

Sunday, February 9, 2003

Catholic healer doesn't mind skeptics



From My San Antonio:



When Setien prayed over her, she said she felt a strange, warm sensation in the affected part of her body and the pain was gone. Maxwell rose from her wheelchair, walked about seven steps without help, then walked back.



Soon after her daughter's healing, Tarin attended Setien's prayer meeting after learning from a doctor that she had a small tumor on her left breast, she said.



"Mr. Setien said, 'There's a lady who's just learned she has a tumor on her breast. Raise your hand.'"



Setien said he told her, "You don't have it anymore. Don't worry about it."



When she returned to the doctor, she said, the lump was gone.




Domingo Setien is 73 years old and has the support of his Archbishop.