(AP) — Flames were already attacking the campus of Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center when the cantor, Ruth Berman Harris, and three companions rushed in to rescue its sacred Torah scrolls. Physically, that’s now all that is left of the 80-year-old synagogue, destroyed by wildfires that ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis ushered in the New Year with a renewed appeal for the faithful to reject abortion, calling for a “firm commitment” to protect and respect life from conception to natural death. Francis, 88, celebrated a New Year’s Day Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on ...
My idea of a good start to the new year is a good night’s sleep. I sympathize, however, with the woman who posted that she wasn’t going to stay up to welcome in the new year, but she was going to stay up to make sure the old year left! 2024, with its strange Presidential election, excessive food and fuel costs, storms, floods, and shootings won’t be missed by many people. But what will 2025 bring? No one really has a clue; It could make 2024 look like a cakewalk. That’s the thing about change: There’s always an element of uncertainty, and uncertainty creates fear. Joshua 1 ...
