Word: clericalism
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...unruliness is being fueled by militant religious political groups, many of which oppose secular education and what they perceive as Western cultural influences. In March, extremist Shi'ite followers of the radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr beat up several hundred engineering students in the southern city of Basra. Their offense: attending a picnic at which both sexes were present. Female students have been harassed for "inappropriate" clothing; a majority now wear the hijab, or head scarf, to school-a sharp contrast to the prewar period when Islamic dress was rarely seen on campus. "We see it as our duty...
...mirror the divisions already apparent outside the university walls. Sectarian groups were barred from running for student-union elections earlier this year, but many simply set up parallel "committees" that carry greater clout than the elected unions. At Mustansiriya University, there are two "committees" representing Shi'ites-radical cleric al-Sadr is particularly popular-and a third is backed by Sunni students. All three routinely celebrate religious events on campus, plaster walls with posters depicting their respective religious leaders and conduct campaigns urging students to adopt "Islamic" clothing and behavior. "It's a grave problem," says Sami Mudaffar, Iraq...
...With the Conclave just four days away, the identity of a senior cleric's dining company takes on serious weight. And few are more ready or able to throw weight around now than Ruini. Since 1991, he has been Vicar of Rome, responsible for the day-to-day operations of the Roman diocese. The 74-year-old also heads the Italian Bishops Conference. His constant presence on the airwaves in Italy speaking out strongly for Catholic values make him unpopular with many in secular circles who worry about Church-State separation. But he's hardly a glamorous TV star...
...looks like a Pope," quipped a Vatican official who observed him in the basilica last week. But on Friday the usually accessible Schönborn wasn't talking, not even when asked about his feelings on bidding the Pope goodbye. Taking my right hand in his large, soft hands, the cleric leaned closer. "Now is the time," he said in perfect English, "for silence and prayer...
...prevent them from shedding tears in 2000, when during a trip to the Holy Land, John Paul prayed at Jerusalem's Western Wall without making reference to Jesus and was reunited at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial with a Jewish concentration-camp survivor who remembered him as the young cleric who had saved her life as the war ended. Recalling "friends and neighbors" who perished, he said, "Men, women and children cry out to us from the depths of the horror that they knew. How can we fail to heed their cry?" "He understood Jews, not just with his head...