Word: vatican
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...state's tradition of secularity. During a recent trip to Saudi Arabia - a country whose official Wahhabism has been criticized from abroad as extreme and intolerant - Sarkozy claimed to know of no country whose "heritage, culture, and civilization wasn't rooted in religion". That followed his comments in the Vatican in late December, where the President praised faith and extolled "France's Christian roots". But given French laws strictly separating matters of church and state - and Fifth Republic tradition requiring presidents to put a muzzle on personal convictions, and maintain neutrality that allows them to represent citizens of all creeds...
...remote Ukrainian villages, his priest's collar helping to put locals at ease in places where foreigners are rarely seen. Desbois taught mathematics in West Africa before becoming a priest, and later worked in Algeria; he also studied Hebrew in Jerusalem, and he serves as an advisor to the Vatican on Jewish affairs. But none of that prepared him for his charged work in Ukraine's villages, where the bottled-up emotions of aging Ukrainians pour out as they describe the executions they saw, and share details that some of them have kept even from their spouses. "It's like...
...Pope's opponents burst out in celebration at the east Rome campus when reached with the news of the cancellation. The Vatican released a statement saying it now viewed the visit as "inopportune" in light of protests they say could damage the Pontiff's image. But by backing out under pressure from his secular foes, the 80-year-old Pope may yet have the last word in this battle over the meaning of "reason" in today's intellectual debate. For the whiff of censorship toward a figure who is welcomed in myriad settings across the world - both for his position...
...rector of the 705-year-old university adamantly defended his invitation, which he says he'd do "100 times" over, and Vatican radio warned of "censorship" on the part of the protesting profs. The letter, which was signed by several notable members of the physics faculty, cites a 1990 speech made by Benedict, then the Vatican Cardinal in charge of Church doctrine, describing the Church's 17th century heresy trial against Galileo as "reasonable and fair." The famed Tuscan-born astronomer had been prosecuted for affirming that the Earth was not the center of the universe, but in fact orbited...
...Since the Second Vatican Council, many Jesuits have favored progressive reform in the Church, seeking to adapt Catholic traditions to modern life. Kolvenbach's request to Benedict to step down as he approached the age of 80, Vatican sources say, could have implications for the "white" papacy as well if a Pope were to consider retiring because of old age or ill health...