US scientists temporarily attached a pig’s kidney to a human body and watched it begin to work, a small step in the decades-long quest to one day use animal organs for life-saving transplants. Pigs have been the most recent research focus to address the organ shortage, but among the hurdles: A sugar in pig cells, Read more
The reverend Ethan Stark, ordained by the international heathen organization The Troth, and the reverend Andy Behrendt by the mainline Evangelical Lutheran Church in America hosted “A Pagan and a Pastor: A Necessary Conversation” in Waupaca, Wisconsin. The duo answered some frequently asked questions about their faiths and addressed misperceptions each tradition has about the Read more
In the last Bond film, Spectre, 007 tell his love-interest, Madeleine Swann, that if he had not joined the intelligence service he would have become a priest. Many critics have felt he’d become too far removed from Fleming’s initial character. But maybe this was a reflection on the actor who has incarnated Bond for the Read more
A US politician has called Pope Francis a communist a day after he met with Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi at the Vatican. Pelosi has also drawn criticism from conservative Catholics in the United States over her support for abortion rights. Read more
When Edith Piaf was only six years old she was suffering from a form of blindness. She was staying with an aunt who ran a brothel in a town near Lisieux.” The aunt had the idea of taking her niece and her boarders to pray at Thérèse’s tomb, and the arrival of the little troupe Read more
In a light-hearted quip Pope Francis has suggested his successor may be called Pope John XXIV. St John XXIII’s feast day is not the day of his death, but October 11, the day he opened Vatican II. Read more
In honour of the feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the NCR hosted a guest columnist, Michael Sean Winters’ beloved St. Bernard, Damiana. Damiana, says humans would have calmer, more spiritual lives if they were less serious and paid closer attention to the seasons and beauty of nature. Read more
Working quietly in his Chicago-area home during the lull of the pandemic in 2020, Rocco Buttliere cobbled together 67,000 tiny, plastic Lego pieces to create an improbably realistic 3D replica of Vatican City State. He said the most challenging aspect of the Vatican piece was figuring out how to create the dome of St. Peter’s Read more
A 350 metre long cavern has been discovered deep under the Monteverde neighbourhood in Rome. It is one of the hundreds that have been blamed for a growing number of sinkholes that have swallowed cars and threatened to topple buildings. Five years ago builders digging a garage realised that there was empty space beneath their Read more
Why has the Catholic Church not condemned boxing? It is the only sport in the world whose purpose is to hurt your opponent, even to knock them out. It is a barbaric sport where the participants try to pummel their opponent into oblivion. It certainly doesn’t belong in a civilized society whose rules are based Read more