In 2013, Diwali, the festival of lights, was celebrated on Nov. 3 by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs. The word Diwali comes from the Sanskrit deepavali, which means a row of lights. The festival of Diwali symbolizes the victory of light over dark, good over evil and knowledge over darkness. Diwali is one of the biggest Read more
In her article in The New York Times, “Sex on Campus: She Can Play That Game, Too,” Kate Taylor describes a world of ambitious Penn undergraduates who put their personal interests and their resumes first. Many have chosen to avoid romantic relationships during college entirely in favour of “hooking up,” no strings attached. As they Read more
We’ve all heard the allegations: Halloween is a pagan rite dating back to some pre-Christian festival among the Celtic Druids that escaped church suppression. Even today modern pagans and witches continue to celebrate this ancient festival. If you let your kids go trick-or-treating, they will be worshiping the devil and pagan gods. Nothing could be Read more
If you travel to some of the remotest islands of Polynesia, churches are probably not uppermost in your mind — sensuous wahines perhaps, slowly gyrating grass-skirted hips, lilting music, Edenic beaches, but churches? Yet they are among the more striking sights you’ll find on the furthest-flung islands in the South Pacific. It’s hard to get Read more
The Sept. 30 decision by Archbishop Jose Luis Escobar of San Salvador, El Salvador, to close its human rights office, Tutela Legal, has produced an outpouring of protest from organisations and individuals in many countries concerned with the protection of rights. They recognize Tutela Legal as a particularly valiant part of their movement that played a Read more
Pastoral Letter Most Rev Gerard J Holohan Bishop of Bunbury 29th September 2013 The Rural Financial Counselling Service reported recently that the number of rural people within Western Australia succumbing to internet pornography addiction, drug use and depression, is growing. Research shows internet pornography addiction to be a rapidly growing problem across Australia and overseas. Read more
Rachel and Stuart Maloney’s small townhouse at Pottsville on the northern NSW coast is a happy home. Wedding pictures hang on the walls and colourful toys are scattered through the living room where toddler Nate plays chasey with his dad. This joyful scene of family life has not come easy. In 2007, Stuart and Rachel Read more
Holly Grigg-Spall is a young woman who calls herself a feminist but who is deeply unpopular with some of the sisterhood right now. English, 30-ish, married to an American and living in California, she has written a book criticising the contraceptive pill. Actually, Sweetening the Pill: Or How We Got Hooked On Hormonal Birth Control is more than Read more
They left at night, thousands of Jewish families, setting out by car, bicycle, streetcar or train. They left the Danish cities they had long called home and fled to the countryside, which was unfamiliar to many of them. Along the way, they found shelter in the homes of friends or business partners, squatted in abandoned Read more
Cardinal Francis Arinze grew up in Nigeria, and in 1965 became the youngest bishop in the world at the age of 32. He was the first African cardinal to head a Vatican office and served as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from 2002 to 2008. He is the Read more