New potentially hazardous asteroid discovered An international team of astronomers announced the discovery of a large asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Earth, creating a small chance far in the future of a catastrophic collision. The 1.5km-wide asteroid, named 2022 AP7, was discovered in an area in which it’s notoriously difficult to spot objects due…
Saints were revolutionaries living the beatitudes, says Pope The saints were not “starched”, picture-perfect conformists, Pope Francis said; they were “countercultural and revolutionary”. The multitude of men and women honoured on the feast of All Saints lived according to the Eight Beatitudes, which made them decidedly out of place in the world, Pope Francis said…
by Christopher Moriarty Nature praising God: Towards a theology of the natural world by Dermot A. Lane (Messenger Publications, €14.95/£12.99) The word ‘nature’ in the title of this remarkable book refers to the universe with one important exception. The exception is humanity and the two are generally posed as being in opposition to each other.…
Dear Editor, As Christians around the world start thinking about setting up nativity scenes for Christmas, the ox and the donkey regular fixtures around the manger are latter-day inventions nowhere to be seen in the gospels. The Vatican itself has included animals in the nativity scenes it sets up each year in St Peter’s Square.…
Staff Reporter US scholar of the ancient world, Thomas Cahill, best known for his lauded How the Irish Saved Civilization, died at the age of 82. Mr Cahill’s wife, Susan, said the cause of death was a heart attack. How the Irish Saved Civilization brought to widespread popularity the theory that Irish monks preserved western…
Details are still emerging after a violent raid by Fulani herdsmen October 19 in Benue State, Central Nigeria, reportedly left dozens of Catholic villagers killed. Police and clergy agree that the raid was in reprisal for the killing of four Fulani herdsmen earlier in the week in a clash between herdsmen and farmers defending their…
As Maryamu Joseph, a 16-year-old victim of Boko Haram violence, recovers from trauma after years of captivity, she finds it hard to forgive the men who abducted her. Maryamu recalls that one day when she was 7, armed men raided her community and went on a killing spree before she was abducted with 21 others.…
Staff Reporter Around the world, listening sessions for the Synod of Bishops gave many participants a sense of finally being listened to, but they also raised questions about how to promote greater inclusion in the Church while staying true to eternal Church teaching. Two of the issues raised most often in reports sent to the…
Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun and five other activists returned to court October 26 to face charges of failing to register a legal fund meant to help those involved in anti-government protests. Prosecutors said the now-defunct 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund should have been registered with police due to its “massive” size and “systematic” mode of operation,…
by Dennis Sadowski Universities around the world are taking steps alongside major technology companies to explore ways to bolster ethics education in the artificial intelligence field in line with an initiative supported by the Vatican. The effort seeks to help those already working or aspiring to work in the tech fields understand that the development…