Word: lenten
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...excesses of the annual Carnival he banned it. No wonder. In the dying days of the Venetian Republic, the festival's decadence knew few bounds, with masked merrymakers streaming into casinos to gamble, partygoers indulging in illicit liaisons, and crowds calling for blood at bullfights. Today the pre-Lenten event is more family-friendly. But there's still a touch of hedonism as fancy-dress parties, concerts, fashion parades and firework displays transform the city into a vast alfresco theater. (See pictures of Italy...
...player” and he gave up sex to prove them wrong?) Well, FM wouldn’t recommend abstinence to anyone at Harvard (let’s face it: that wouldn’t really be giving anything up), but here is some Lenten advice that our favorite celebs can follow...
...abusive priests, concedes that those are "significant issues." But he also believes that Catholics are tired enough of America's no-accountability culture to make the rite of owning up appealing again--as long as it involves, he adds, a "spirit of gentleness." A campaign Wuerl ran this past Lenten season--dubbed "The Light Is On for You"--made confessions available on Wednesday evenings as well as the traditional Saturday afternoons. Priests were instructed to create warm and well-lit atmospheres at their churches...
Dioceses in Philadelphia, Phoenix and Toledo, Ohio, say they're planning similar Lenten campaigns for 2008--and some priests are even hearing confessions in venues likes shopping malls. Church watchers like Martin applaud all this as a sign that "the church, like Jesus, is capable of being creative about getting these things across to people." Others, like Gregory Baum, emeritus professor of theology at McGill University in Montreal, call it a belated Hail Mary pass. "Traditional confession," he says, "just isn't part of Catholic spirituality anymore." Maybe, but for now the church is keeping the light on, just...
...movie audience has been on a post-Lenten fast lately. Last weekend's total take at the domestic box office was only $77.7 million - a most unlucky number for the studios dumping their clearance-sale titles on an apathetic market. For filmgoers, this was the purge before the binge. A heady month is ahead, with Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End ready to pick the public's pockets. And this weekend: Spider-Man 3, which on its own is guaranteed to top last weekend's cume. Anything under a $100 million launch would...