Word: roman
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...even within the community of faith there is a vast gray area. Though suffering and death underlie Judeo-Christian theology, basic compassion seems to dictate that a patient in terrible pain should be allowed to die. This is a proposition that the Roman Catholic Church appears to endorse. While both suicide and mercy killing are still strictly forbidden, the Vatican in 1980 declared that refusing treatment "is not equivalent to suicide; on the contrary, it should be considered as an acceptance of the human condition . . . or a desire not to impose excessive expenses on the family or community...
...sprawling bungalow in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa last week, the contras opened discussions on the terms of their disengagement with representatives of the U.N.O. and the Roman Catholic Church. Honduras is the grudging host to some 10,000 contra troops; up to 4,000 other fighters operate in Nicaragua. The contras' concern for their safety was heightened last week when fighting between Sandinista soldiers and rebels broke out in central and northern Nicaragua; each side accuses the other of provoking the conflict...
...that demonic possession is "very rare," and that exorcisms are not conducted unless psychological or medical possibilities are first ruled out as explanations for extreme behavior. Still, the fact that they are performed at all seemed remarkable in an age when literal belief in demons is widely viewed by Roman Catholic theologians as a naive medieval holdover. (Among Protestants, exorcism is confined mostly to missionaries in areas where spirit-possession cults are common, and to Pentecostalists, many of whom make it a regular practice to cast out demons...
Nonetheless, the official Roman Ritual still includes a rite of exorcism. The code of canon law includes rules for exorcism, specifying that only a bishop may authorize one. Rome still holds fast to belief in Satan: in a 1986 sermon, Pope John Paul insisted upon the reality of a personal devil and recognized the possibility of demonic possession. The secret draft for a forthcoming Catechism for the Universal Church, now being examined by the world's bishops, continues the traditional teachings about Satan and fallen angels...
Rurik's sons and grandsons not only united the Slavs of the Dnieper Valley but also were soon trying to expand. In 907 Prince Oleg invaded the Eastern Roman Empire with 2,000 ships, "accomplished much slaughter among the Greeks" and supposedly nailed his shield to the imperial gates of Constantinople. From this foray, the Russians brought home to their capital in Kiev an advantageous trade treaty and an even more advantageous contact with the Christian religion and sophisticated culture of Constantinople. Thus emerged the first Russian state, known as Kievan Russia...