The Weekly News In
Review
Newsletter is a
compilation of the news articles that have appeared
on the Understand The Times website during the
previous week.
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October 1 - Indian priest says his cure was miracle through Mother Teresa
Article: Roman Cathlolic Church And The Last Days
The
sainthood cause of Blessed Mother Teresa of
Calcutta could cross its last
hurdle if the Vatican approves
an
allegedly miraculous cure a priest claims he
experienced on the 10th
anniversary of her death.
Salesian
Father V.M. Thomas says
Mother Teresa's intercession
was responsible for the disappearance of a
half-inch kidney stone in his
lower ureter, reported the Asian
church news agency UCA
News. The stone disappeared in an unexplainable
manner after Father Thomas
celebrated Mass and
prayed to Mother Teresa
Sept. 5, the day before he was scheduled
for surgery.
At the Mass,
he asked those present to pray for him,
especially through the intercession of
Mother
Teresa.
The priest
later affirmed his belief that
Mother
Teresa's miraculous intercession caused the
stone to disappear.
According to
standard Vatican procedure,
a
miracle that occurred following Mother Teresa's
beatification Oct. 19, 2003,
would be required for her to be canonized,
or declared a saint. In
cases of alleged medical miracles, the
Vatican has a commission of
medical specialists review the case.
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October 2 - Benedict XVI to Open Interreligious Meeting
Article: Ecumenical Movement - Misc.
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 2, 2007 (Zenit.org).-
Benedict XVI will open the 21st
International
Encounter of
Peoples and Religions, organized by the
Catholic
lay Sant'Egidio
Community and the Archdiocese of Naples.
This year's
meeting has the theme "Toward a
World Without
Violence: Religions and Cultures in
Dialogue."
The international
encounters were inspired by
the World Day of
Prayer for Peace convened by Pope John Paul II in
Assisi in October
1986.
Benedict XVI will
meet with participants, including
Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I; the
Anglican
archbishop of
Canterbury, Rowan Williams; Israel's chief rabbi, Yona
Metzger; and the
rector of the Al-Azhar University in Egypt, Ahmad
Al-Tayyeb.
A statement
from the Rome-based Sant'Egidio Community said,
"In
an age so marked
by terrorism and war, as well as efforts at
dialogue and
reconciliation, the world's religions have assumed a
relevant role in the
public arena."
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September 27 - 6 Nuns in Ark. Excommunicated for Heresy
Article: Rman Cathlolic Church And The Last Days
LITTLE ROCK,
Ark. - Six Catholic nuns have been
excommunicated for heresy
after refusing to give up membership in a
Canadian sect whose founder claims to be possessed
by the Virgin Mary, the
Diocese of Little Rock announced
Wednesday.
"We are at peace and we know
that
for us we are doing the right
thing," the 82-year-old nun said.
"We pray that the church will
open their eyes
before it is too late. This is
God's work through Mary, the blessed
mother, and we're doing what
we're asked to do."
Hebert said the sect's
members believe that its 86-year-old founder,
Marie Paule Giguere, is the reincarnation of the
Virgin Mary and that God
speaks directly through her.
"She is doing only what God
and Mary tells her to
do," Dionne
said.
"The Virgin Mary took
possession of her soul.
I would rather say it that
way," said Roy, superior general of
the Sons of Mary, an
associated group.
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October 4 - Beware Russia, energy superpower
Article: Signs Of The Last Times
In a world concerned with
terrorism, genocide and
nuclear-powered despots, Vladimir Putin's
Russia
is assembling an economic machine powerful
enough to force Europe, the
US and Asia to their knees.
It does not
involve uranium, explosives or suicide
bombers, but the natural
resources that power the global economy.
Russia
will soon exert such sway over the supply
of oil and natural gas that the
OPEC crisis of the mid-1970s could seem
trivial. Its pipelines will
flow east into Asia and west into
Europe and tankers will sail
from Siberia to California.
Russia will soon have such control
over energy supply and pricing
that it will be able to do anything it
wants politically.
While the rulers of the Middle East
have required simply that the
West turned a blind eye to their domestic
habits in return for a steady
energy supply, the Russians are likely to
demand a far steeper
price. The cost of not
developing realistic
alternatives to oil and gas within a few years will
be taking orders from
Moscow.
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October 3 - Iran Could Strike U.S. by 2015, U.S. Officials Say
Article: Wars And Rumors Of Wars
WASHINGTON - Iranian technology is on pace to
build a long-range
missile that could strike the United States
within a
decade, a high-level Pentagon official told FOX
News.
"Most of
the intelligence
experts predict that
sometime before 2015, or in that time frame,
the Iranians will
have developed the capabilities to threaten the
United States,
from a missile technology perspective,
"Lt.
Gen. Henry
Obering, chief of the U.S. missile defense program,
said
Tuesday in a
Pentagon interview with FOX News. Of concern
Obering
said is Iran's ability
to take shorter range technology and
improving it to
longer and longer ranges.
Right now, the administration is
working on a plan to build a missile
defense
system to protect
against Iranian weapons in friendly host countries
in Europe. But
those plans have been loudly criticized by Russia -
which thinks the
system could be used to attack their own
missiles.
For its part, Iran isn't officially fazed
by
U.S. plans to
defend against any missiles. In June,
Iran's top nuclear negotiator called
the plan
"the joke of
the year."
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October 5 - Fatima shrine given 80m (Euros) facelift to counter zealotry
Article: Roman Catholic Church And The Last Days
The
shrine of Fatima, one of Europe's most visited
Catholic
pilgrimage sites, has undergone an
80m (euros)
facelift, to welcome more pilgrims than the 800,000
who
come
annually to this once remote corner of
Portugal.
Fatima's refurbished Holy Trinity church will
be
inaugurated next
week in a ceremony conducted by a papal envoy,
Cardinal Tarcisio
Bertone, to mark the 90th
anniversary of the
supposed last appearance of the Virgin Mary to
three shepherd
children. Fatima's new
church, big
enough for 9,000 seated worshippers, is low and oval,
built without
internal columns so cameras can sweep
unobstructed
over services for
live television broadcasts.
The work is also intended to smarten up the
sanctuary's image
and eliminate what its rector, Luciano Guerra,
calls
"exaggerations in the devotion to Fatima".
Pilgrims from the poor north of
Portugal often
make the stony
final approach crawling on hands and knees, with
cloths to bind their
bleeding wounds. Such extremes of zeal
lend the sanctuary
an atmosphere of medieval fanaticism that church
authorities seek to
discourage.
The gathering on 12 October will also
celebrate
the life of Pope
John Paul II, who was particularly fond of the
shrine, 70 miles
north of Lisbon. The late
pope attributed his
narrow escape from death after being shot in St
Peter's Square in
1981 to the divine intervention of the Virgin of
Fatima.
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October 5 - Ahmadinejad in new tirade against Israel
Article: Israel And The Last Days
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iranian
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on
Friday launched a new tirade against
Israel amid growing tensions with the
West, vowing to
work to abolish the Jewish state and
questioning the scale of the Holocaust.
Tens of
thousands of Iranians turned out
for the march in central Tehran, carrying
anti-Zionist banners, chanting
"Death to Israel" and burning
Israeli and American flags.
"The Palestinian
people are standing firm.
The Iranian people
and other peoples will not stop
until all of Palestinian territory is
liberated," Ahmadinejad told
the faithful at Tehran University.
"They (world
powers) should not
think that the Iranian nation and other
nations in the region will take off
their hands off the throat of the Zionists
and their supporters."
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October 5 - 'Let Jews move to Europe or Alaska'
Article: Israel And The Last Days
"The creation, continued
existence and unlimited (Western) support
for this regime is an insult to
human dignity," Ahmadinejad said.
"The
occupation of Palestine is not limited
to one land. The Zionist issue is now a
global issue."
In the
capital Teheran,
hundreds
of thousands of people poured into
the streets as they chanted "Death to
America" and "Death to Israel." Some
protesters also burned American and
Israeli flags.
The
Iranian president once again said
Palestinians should not pay any price
because Europeans committed crimes
against Jews in World War II. He said
they could give a part of their own land in
Europe or Alaska so that the
Jews can establish their country.
"I ask European
governments supporting Zionists and the
American people that will you allow
occupation of part of your land under a
pretext and then talk about a
two-state solution?," Ahmadinejad said after the
rallies.
Ayatollah Mahould Hashemi Shahroudi,
Iran's judiciary chief, said Friday's
rallies was "a good start for the
destruction of the Zionist regime."
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October 5 - 'Evangelical Prophet' to Speak on Campus
Article: Emerging Church
A widely-sought-after speaker known for
his
outspoken, prophetic views on social,
religious and
political issues, will give two addresses at EMU.
Tony Campolo will speak 7:30 p.m.
Thursday,
Oct. 18, on
"Reaching a New Generation in a Rapidly
Changing
American
Culture" and will issue "A Christian Call to
Care for
Creation"
10 a.m. Friday, Oct. 19, as part of a year-long
"Sustainability" chapel series.
He is the author of
34 books, his most recent released in July 2007,
"The God of
Intimacy and Action" and "Letters to a
Young
Evangelical"
(Basic Books) in November, 2006. Other titles include
"Speaking My
Mind," "Adventures in
Missing the
Point cCo-
authored by Brian McLaren, Zondervan);
"The
Survival Guide for
Christians on Campus" (co-authored by Will
Willimon, Howard),
and "Following Jesus Without Embarrassing
God" (W
Publishing Group).
It's an honor to host Tony Campolo at
EMU
this
fall," said campus pastor Brian Martin
Burkholder. "His
writings and
teachings have long challenged and inspired
Christians
and leaders of the
church. We're confident that our current
generation of
students will also find him to be both radical, in
some ways, and
relevant in connecting the Christian faith to the
great needs of
contemporary culture."
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October 6 - I am creating artificial life, declares US gene pioneer
Article: Cloning And Genetic Engineering
Craig Venter, the controversial DNA
researcher
involved in the race
to decipher the human genetic code, has built a
synthetic
chromosome out of laboratory chemicals and
is poised to announce the creation of
the
first new artificial
life form on Earth.
Mr
Venter told the Guardian he thought this landmark
would be "a very important philosophical
step
in the history of our
species. We are going from reading our genetic
code to the ability
to write it. That gives us the hypothetical
ability to do things
never contemplated before".
The new life form will depend for its ability to
replicate itself and
metabolise on the molecular machinery of the
cell into which it
has been injected, and in that sense it will not
be a wholly
synthetic life form. However, its
DNA will be
artificial, and it is the DNA that controls the cell and
is credited with
being the building block of life.
Mr Venter said he had carried out an ethical
review before
completing the experiment.
"We
feel that this is
good science," he said. He has further
heightened the
controversy surrounding his potential breakthrough by
applying for a
patent for the synthetic bacterium.
"We are not afraid to take on things that
are
important just
because they stimulate thinking," he said.
"We are
dealing in big
ideas. We are trying to create
a new value
system for life. When dealing at this scale, you can't
expect everybody
to be happy."
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NEWS ALERT - October 7 - Bush: All religions pray to 'same God'
Article: One Wrld Religion
Comments from Understand The
Times
Based on facts provided in
the following article, the United
States of America is headed for
judgment. President Bush, who
professes to
be a Christian, does not understand
biblical Christianity. He is a
player who is dedicated
to moving the world towards a one world
religion for
the cause of peace that is
ANTICHRISTIAN.
The Bible states we are
to pray for our leaders. Bible
believing Christians need to pray
that the President of the USA reads the
Bible and apologizes for the statement he
has made that the "god of Islam"
is the God of Christianity and that "all
religions" pray to the same God.
Such a belief is also
promoted by the Roman Catholic
Church and is soon to be widely
promoted by the Emerging Church and the
Purpose Driven social gospel
program.
Those who refuse to
accept such heretical nonsense will be
labeled dangerous divisive bigots. If you
are a born-again Bible believing
Christian, that means YOU!
Fasten your seat belts: we are in the Last
Days. Jesus is coming soon!
President George
Bush has repeated his belief all
religions, "whether they be Muslim,
Christian, or any other religion, prays
to the same God" - an
assertion that caused outrage among evangelical
leaders when he said it in November
2003.
Bush made the statement Friday in an
interview with Al Arabiya reporter
Elie Nakouzi.
Al Arabiya is Al Jazeerah's top
competitor in the Mideast.
As the president and Nakouzi walked
from the Oval Office to the Map Room
in the White House residence, Nazouki
asked, "But I want to tell you - and I
hope this doesn't bother you at all - that in
the Islamic world they think
that President Bush is an enemy of Islam -
that he wants to destroy their
religion, what they believe in. Is that in any
way true, Mr. President?"
"No, it's not," said Bush.
"I've heard that, and it just shows [sic] to
show a couple of things: One, that the
radicals have done a good job of
propagandizing. In other words, they've
spread the word that this really
isn't peaceful people versus radical
people or terrorists, this is really
about the America not liking Islam.
"Well, first
of all, I believe in an Almighty God,
and I believe that all the world, whether
they be Muslim, Christian, or any
other religion, prays to the same God.
That's what I believe. I believe that
Islam is a great religion that preaches
peace. And I believe people
who murder the innocent to achieve
political objectives aren't religious
people, whether they be a Christian who
does that - we had a person blow up
our - blow up a federal building in
Oklahoma City who professed to be a
Christian, but that's not a Christian act to
kill innocent people.
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October 7 - Formal Eucharist Imparts a Sense of Purpose
Article: Ecumenical Movement - Misc.
WHAT IS happening in the
gothic setting of one church in
Richmond echoes a trend that has
pervaded the entire Episcopal Church.
Over the past
generation there has been an
unprecedented recovery of emphasis on
the Eucharist. Called by such names as
the Lord's Supper, the Holy Communion,
and the Mass among Christians, this
is the best known form of worship.
For Episcopalians, it was once
conducted entirely by clergy, at altars
removed from those in attendance. In
some ways, especially with the use of
historic vestments, the Eucharist
retains formality. But today Episcopalians
understand and
perform the
Eucharist in ways that reclaim the past to
speak to the
present.THIS SHIFT
was more
than an adoption of
ancient vestments, prayers, and
music. The basic shift involved how
worship is understood:
Following new
insights into early Christian life,
worship became an emphasis on seeking
nearness to God, on being in God's
midst, not glimpsing God from afar.
Like early Christianity, an
emphasis on worship as the basis of
local Christian community also advanced.
Not individuals seeking an austere God,
those at worship become a community
of people seeking
God's immediacy and guidance in
their lives.
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October 6 - The Little Flower showers roses and blessings
Article: Roman Catholic Church And The Last Days
One prayer
Father Simpson uses often is what he
learned as an 18-year-old
seminarian to deal with tough situations. He
repeated the mantra
by
reciting, "Little Flower, in
this hour show us your power."
Plenty of examples of the Little Flower's power
were publicly discussed as
part of the shrine's festivities. Some
thanked the saint for guidance
during dark times, and others offered
gratitude for intercessions on
behalf of grandchildren.
He described his current
relationship by stating,
"She's my boss. She's
my friend."
The 69-year-old woman
enjoys visiting the shrine because
"It's very tranquil. You can
almost feel St.
Thérèse's presence
here."
He repeated the words of
St. Thérèse: "After my
death, I will let fall a shower of
roses."
"It is her way of whispering to
those who need
a sign that she has heard, and
God is responding," said the
Carmelite brother.
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October 5 - Catalyst Powers Up Next Generation Leaders for Christ
Article: Emerging Church
Featuring some of the most sought-after
speakers,
the Catalyst
Conference drew young church and ministry leaders
from
across the country
who were looking to pick up
inspiration, new
creative ideas and a greater sense of purpose than
just running a
church.A day earlier, bestselling author
Rick Warren
of
Saddleback
Church told leaders they have to get with God's
agenda to
receive His
blessing.
And while
churches may teach beliefs,
Warren said there
is no congruence between what
the church says
and what it does.
"The body of Christ is
positioned for
a
second Reformation," he
told the
thousands of
church leaders. "The
first Reformation
was about creeds. The second one will be about
deeds."
Catalyst is an annual leadership
conference
that specifically
focuses on leaders under the age of 40. Since the
conference
launched in 2000, attendance has come to average
about
10,000 next
generation leaders every October.
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October 7 - Holy See on Religious Liberty and Peace
Article: One World Religion
There cannot be peace
without understanding and
cooperation among religions.
There cannot
be understanding and cooperation among
religions without religious
liberty.The
safeguarding and promotion
of religious liberty for all requires both
state action and religious
responsibility.
Fruitful high-level international
gatherings of
religious leaders aimed at
praying for and promoting peace should be
replicated at national and local
levels.
The promotion of interreligious programs
focused on development
cooperation can also foster dialogue and make
significant contributions to
peacemaking in societies afflicted by
conflict, working with
local groups in anti-incitement, peace and
nonviolence education, conflict
transformation and negotiation.
At a time when the so-
called clash of civilizations is gaining
currency in some quarters,
religions have a
special role to play in blazing
new paths to peace, in union with one
another and in cooperation
with states and international organizations.
To empower religions to fully
assume this role,
all of us must work together
to ensure that religious freedom is
recognized, safeguarded and
fostered by all and everywhere.
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We hope the Weekly News In Review has been a
blessing to you.
In Jesus,
Roger Oakland
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