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A Quebec man has posted messages on the Internet encouraging Al-Qa'ida to attack Canada, the latest in a series of similar sentiments that are worrying counterterrorism officials. The author of the messages, who uses the pseudonym Altar, praised terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and asked why Al-Qa'ida was focusing its efforts only on Europe instead of Canada. "Allah is great and may Allah bless Sheikh bin Laden. May the sword held by the hand of Al-Qa'ida hit not only Europe, but hit all our enemies. Wherever they are," he wrote in a Sept. 25 posting. "Me, I live in Canada...

RNC stage: More on GOP Convention Podium DNC stage: More on DNC Denver Podium

Last night on the David Letterman show, his redundant spot about Bush's poor speaking abilities featured a statement about the immigration debate. The president was leaning over the podium whining that some farmer (Is that what they call transnational corporate agriculture now?) met him at Air Force One, suffering mightily, because ' he can't find no body to pull them onions fer him....' Well isn't that special? The president must have been in Georgia. Vidalia Onions are a big crop with even BIGGER owners with political ties, who have pulled off destroying employer sanctions of illegal aliens hires before. This...

A. M. D. G. Father Joseph Carola, S.J.Sermon on Diaconal Ministry at the AltarFor the Third-Year Students of the Pontifical North American CollegeVatican City24 April 2007 John 19: 38-42 Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were members of the Sanhedrin which had ruthlessly sought Jesus’ death. But Joseph “was a virtuous and righteous man…who, though he was a member of the council, had not consented to their plan of action” ( Luke 23:50-51). Indeed, he “was himself a disciple of Jesus” (Matthew 27:57)—although “secretly…for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38). It was he, “a distinguished member of the council who…courageously went...

For all it's been going on for years now, not everyone agrees with me that using girls (and young women) as altar servers might be worth keeping in the future.

IS THE NEW CATHEDRAL TO PADRE PIO IN SAN GIOVANNI ROTONDO ACTUALLY A "MASONIC TEMPLE"? I have just received and am in the process of studying a special issue, #381 (March 2006), of the Italian religious magazine “CHIESA VIVA”. It is my understanding that in March 2006 this special issue was sent by the publisher/editor of “Chiesa Viva”, Dr. Monsignor Luigi Villa, to Catholic & 'catholic' priests, Bishops, Cardinals, as well as a selected group of Italian lay persons including members of the judiciary. This entire special issue deals with only one subject, that being the inauguration in July 2004...

The altar was old. It was ornate. And it was on the gambling floor of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.James Lang was startled when he saw it there. Lang, vicar of parishes for the Roman Catholic diocese in Syracuse, had a chat with the manager about desecration. The altar eventually was removed."They thought it looked cool," Lang remembers.It also looked like part of a growing phenomenon: Religious artifacts are migrating as America's shifting population leaves empty churches across the Midwest and Northeast. This March, New York City's archdiocese recommended shutting 31 metro parishes, and Boston has...

No longer the wood of the Cross but the crossed bricks. Strange monsters were once only to be found in drug induced hazes and outer space. But now at a Catholic Mass.

ROME, MAY 2, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Answered by Father Edward McNamara, professor of liturgy at the Regina Apostolorum university. Q: When an altar crucifix is used during the celebration of Mass, ought the corpus to be facing toward the priest or toward the congregation? -- D.V., Washington, D.C. A: The indications in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal are sparse regarding the direction of the figure of Christ on the cross: "No 308. There is also to be a cross, with the figure of Christ crucified upon it, either on the altar or near it, where it is clearly visible...

Hats off to the UC Riverside College Republicans. They recently hosted a program that contrasted the sort of vile anti-Semitic slander that saturates the Muslim media, with the cartoons of Mohammed that sparked riots throughout with Muslim world. Of course this exercise in Constitutionally protected free speech was noisily protested by the campus Muslim group, the same people who when they’re not squealing about “hate speech” are hosting speakers like Amir Abdel Malik Ali, who recycles the standard catalogue of anti-Semitic lunacy repackaged as “pro-Palestinianism” and “anti-Zionism.” You know how that slight-of-hand works: instead of decrying the sinister Jewish control...

DAILY Photo by John GodbeyThe Rev. Joe Culotta of Annunciation of the Lord Catholic Church discusses Sunday’s attack. “Children were scared and people were crying,” he said.What would seem to be among the safest places in America came under attack Sunday morning at Annunciation of the Lord Catholic Church on Spring Avenue Southwest.After communion at the 11 a.m. Mass, a man and woman came forward, screaming.Then, to the shock and horror of the Rev. Joe Culotta and his congregation, the man turned over the cherished century-old marble altar. It tumbled down the steps and smashed onto the floor, ripping...

Bishop Matthew Clark took over my home diocese of Rochester, New York, in 1978 when I was about ten years old. So fixed is his name in my memory that regardless of where I attend Mass, during the liturgy of the Eucharist I half expect the priest to say "Matthew our bishop" despite the fact that I haven't lived in Rochester for almost twenty years. A Visit Home The controversy surrounding the renovation of Sacred Heart Cathedral is something I've followed off and on since the bishop announced his intentions in 2000. Clark’s plan was to "update" the small 1928...

Tunnels under Cusco Early chroniclers reported that by far the greatest amount of treasure in Cusco was in the Sun Temple (Koricancha). However, it disappeared before the conquistadors could get hold of it and melt it down. Despite the use of various forms of persuasion, the Spanish never found this horde. A team of investigators from Spain, using modern technology of radar and software producing 3D images, have suggested that there are tunnels connecting the former Incan temples (over which colonial churches were built) to Sacsahuaman. They have discovered the existence of huge tunnels over 5 metres deep under the...

Keith Olberman Kneels at the alter of Cronkite/Rather

Life Teen Liturgy Experiences Changes By Claudia I. Provencio The Catholic Sun MESA — In “joyful obedience” to the Church, Life Teen officials say they will cease the ministry’s longtime trademark of gathering teens arm-in-arm around the altar during the Eucharistic Prayer. The practice that has been a staple at Life Teen Masses nationwide for nearly two decades will cease Oct. 1 in compliance with the revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal. The youth ministry will also refrain from using the phrase, “The Mass never ends, it must be lived” at the conclusion of the liturgy. In a recent...

<p>Growing up a member of the Adams family, The Rev. Dave Adams got kidded about the old TV show featuring creepy family members who snapped their fingers in unison and were particularly popular during Halloween.</p> <p>The holiday was always "a big deal" in this home with spooky sounds from a tape recorder, and a lurking cast of Halloween characters - Dracula, Frankenstein, mummies and werewolves.</p>

Is the altar call, sinner's prayer, Jesus as Personal Saviour, etc. Biblical? Or are we peddling a false gospel, a modern gos-pill that is easy to swallow but doesn't cure man's disease: a sin sick soul? Check out this important thread to find the answer to what's wrong with our modern gospel: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/933847/posts This link will take you to Part Two of What's Wrong With The Gospel, but it is highly recommended that you scroll down to the bottom of the article and click the link to Part One. In order to appreciate how badly these "added parts" are to...