Word: xii
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Models of 18th century European commodes on display are more elegant?and equally ingenious: some are disguised as tables, large books and even a globe. Louis XII had a toilet installed in his throne, prompting the court jester to quip that while the French King would only eat in private, he would defecate in public...
Once taboo, talk of the Pope's retirement is openly heard in some Vatican circles. Though retirement is allowed under church law, no one has renounced the papacy since Gregory XII in the 15th century. After John Paul was unable to lead the Palm Sunday procession, Vittorio Messori, a Catholic commentator who has interviewed the Pope at length, wrote a front-page article in the Milan daily Corriere della Sera that offered the first open questions from church conservatives on the matter. "Even with all the trust in the Holy Spirit, can the church live with such uncertainty?" Messori cited...
...hopes that the Vatican might open its long-secret archives to those researching Pope Pius XII's role in World War II and the Holocaust vanished last week--perhaps for years to come. A church-initiated joint Catholic-Jewish historical committee disbanded after receiving a letter from Walter Cardinal Kasper, president of the Vatican's Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews, saying that access to the archives was not possible "for technical reasons." The real reason, however, was probably anger. The committee, formed in 1999, was officially charged with reviewing 11 volumes culled from the archives between...
...everyone knows, the XIst century--and with it, the second millennium--will not really start until January I, MI. This past year, the Year M, was simply irrelevant. Yet few are celebrating this milestone; we've already had one millennium celebration in the last XII months, and no amount of persuasion will convince the populace that the calendar started in the Year I, not the Year...well, not the year before that. [This was before zeros, at least in Europe anyway. The Hindus, Arabs and Mayans had zeros, but it didn't seem to do them much good...
...quest to beatify a conservative Pope, the Roman Catholic Church keeps stubbing its toe on potential "saints" who lived under a dark cloud of racism--first Pius XII and now badly flawed Pius IX [RELIGION, Sept. 4]. Doesn't it seem ridiculous that grown men are digging up dead bodies and making new godlings? At the start of the 21st century, one might hope the church would come to grips with important issues, perhaps even re-examine its opposition to birth control, abortion and divorce. Those three matters alone would alleviate a great deal of suffering. If Pius...