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Bejeweled crown stolen from Virgin Mary statue at Philadelphia church

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A man broke into a Philadelphia church and stole a 125-year-old bejeweled crown from atop a marble statue of the Virgin Mary, city police said Monday. The burglary at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church occurred around 1:10 a.m. Saturday when the thief smashed through a stained-glass window, police said. The break-in was captured on surveillance video that police released Monday. The man then climbed into the upper nave of the church and went straight to the statue and crown, the church’s archivist, Anne Kirkwood, told The Philadelphia ...

Aiming for your goals and becoming the best version of yourself

Matt Emmons was leading the 3-position shooting competition in the 2014 Summer Olympic Games when he accidentally cross-fired, hitting the wrong target on his final shot. Although Emmons had nailed the bullseye, he scored a zero and finished 8th in the competition because he hit another shooter’s target. You should aim for your own goals. In the late 1960s, college football wasn’t very integrated. When Ernest Cook was offered a football scholarship to Florida State University, threats were made about what would happen if the Black man came to Tallahassee to play. Frightened, Cook ...

Pope Francis has named the first woman to head a major Vatican office, choosing an Italian nun

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis on Monday named the first woman to head a major Vatican office, appointing an Italian nun, Sister Simona Brambilla, to become prefect of the department responsible for all the Catholic Church’s religious orders. The appointment marks a major step in Francis’ aim to give women more leadership roles in governing the church. While women have been named to No. 2 spots in some Vatican offices, never before has a woman been named prefect of a dicastery or congregation of the Holy See Curia, the central governing organ of the Catholic Church. The historic ...

Scarves over headscarves, Muslim women’s outdoors group tackles snow tubing in Minnesota

MAPLE GROVE, Minn. (AP) — Ice crystals clung to the eyelashes, parka hood, beanie hat and headscarf of Ruqayah Nasser as she took a break after her first-ever snow tubing runs in a Minnesota park on a subzero (-18 Celsius) January morning. She had joined two dozen other members of a group founded by a Somali-American mother in Minneapolis to promote all-seasons activities among Muslim women, who might otherwise feel singled out in the great outdoors, especially when wearing hijabs. “They understand my lifestyle. I don’t have to explain myself,” said Nasser, who recently moved ...

The meaning of integrity

Our word “integrity” comes to us from Latin. Originally a military term, the word was used during the daily inspection of troops in the Roman Empire. As each soldier was examined, he soundly thumped his left breast with his right fist, demonstrating that his armor was intact and that he was ready for service. As the soldier struck his breast, he shouted “integritas,” meaning “whole, complete or entire.” For 400 years, the system worked and Rome dominated the world. Over time, however, the army faced fewer threats and soldiers grew lazy. Drills were abandoned, and soldiers ...