Word: basilicas
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Visitors to the Basilica of the National Shrine in northeast Washington often do a double take when they see Newt Gingrich and his familiar shock of white hair slip into a pew for the noon Mass on Sundays. The former Speaker of the House is known for many things, but religious zeal is not one of them. In fact, the social conservatives who fueled his Republican revolution in 1994 often complained about Gingrich's lack of interest in issues like abortion or school prayer...
Catholicism offers Gingrich not just a strong religious tradition and community. It also gives him peace at home. His wife Callista is a lifelong Catholic who sings in the basilica's professional choir. After the two married in 2000, Gingrich found himself dragged to church whenever they traveled - "she's adamant that we go to Mass" - and started attending services at the basilica to hear Callista sing...
...surprising that a man of Gingrich's ambitions would be drawn to the grandeur of worship at the basilica. Incense hangs in the air as the choir's descant reverberates off the highly polished walls of the Greek-style interior. "Isn't it just beautiful?" Gingrich asks. "That's part of what happened to me." (Her husband, Callista says, is an enthusiastic but limited singer: "He makes a joyful noise...
Still, beyond the private talk, Obama's visit to the Vatican - in which the President's wife and daughters also got a private tour of St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel - is one of the key encounters of his first year in office. It gives him the chance not only to solidify support from U.S. Catholic voters at home but also to spread his new American gospel to the world...
...years since Benedict's charged lecture, the Vatican has established a permanent, ongoing Catholic-Muslim dialogue group, which held its first meetings in November. But last Easter, the Pope performed a high-profile baptism in St. Peter's Basilica of Egyptian-born Italian journalist Magdi Allam, who converted from Islam. Many Muslims and Catholics took this as a provocation. Samir instead praised it as a "necessary gesture." He says, "Freedom to choose your religion is more important than all the initiatives put together. Without it, dialogue is not possible...