Category Archives: The Media

International, Religion, Technology, The Media

POPE FRANCIS WILL TWEET ‘THE PASSION OF CHRIST’ ON PALM SUNDAY

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GetFile.aspxThe Vatican – It’s Palm Sunday this weekend, the day Roman Catholic rituals include a procession re-enacting Jesus Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem – complete with waving of palm tree branches –  as well the reading of the longest gospel in the liturgical year.

The Palm Sunday gospel narrates ‘The Passion of Christ,’ including his last supper, agony in the garden, arrest, trial and crucifixion. It will be read in church services all over the world and during the Palm Sunday mass at St. Peter’s Square officiated by no less that Pope Francis.

In yet another of the many changes Pope Francis has initiated since he was elected leader of the Catholic Church, The Vatican just announced a different Palm Sunday service that will replace the reading of the pages-long Passion of Christ

In a prepared statement, Pope Francis said that instead of reading the long gospel on Palm Sunday, he will tweet a shortened version of the passion during Sunday’s services.  He is encouraging Catholics planning to attend the services at St. Peter’s Square to bring their smartphones, tablets or other mobile devices so that they can call up and read the Pope’s tweet at the appropriate time during the mass.

Catholic faithful in Rome were quick to praise the Pope’s announcement, saying that the tweet will cut down the lengthy Palm Sunday services they are subjected to year after year.  Members of the clergy said they are so looking forward to see how the Pope will deliver the Passion of Christ in 140 characters or less.

The Vatican encouraged Catholic churches throughout the world to follow Pope Francis’ example and also tweet the Palm Sunday gospel to their churchgoers.

(iReporter Spandan Chakrabarti, a non-Catholic, contributed to this report)

 

 

Human Interest, International, Politics, Science and Environment, Technology, The Media

WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION DISCOVERED ON MARS

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NASA photo captured by Mars Rover
NASA photo captured by Mars Rover

Washington, D.C. – It was the search for weapons of mass destruction that prompted the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.  It was to become the legacy of the administration of George W. Bush. But neither the ‘shock and awe’ that began the Iraq war nor Bush’s speech on board USS Abraham Lincoln with the sign ‘Mission Accomplished’ emblazoned behind him produced any evidence of  WMDs.

Now, it can be revealed that the regime of Saddam Hussein indeed harbored weapons of mass destruction, not hidden anywhere within Iraqi territory, but stashed away on the planet Mars.

The National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) has released photos taken by one of two rovers on the red planet. The photos showed what appears to be artificial light emanating outward from the planet’s surface, and beamed millions of miles from Mars to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

Scientists were quick to speculate that intelligent beings exist in Mars.  However, a confidential memo from the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed that the light beam was part of the cache of WMDs which it said Iraq sent to the red planet just weeks prior to the U.S. invasion.

Both NASA and DOD are currently determining whether the WMDs were rocketed to Mars in unmanned spaceships or whether there actually are Iraqis now on Mars who are managing and maintaining the weapons.

 

 

Health & Medicine, Human Interest, International, Law Enforcement, Politics, Religion, The Media

PHILIPPINES’ CATHOLIC BISHOPS GO ON STRIKE OVER SUPREME COURT DECISION ON REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH LAW

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File photo: Philippine bishops with former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
File photo: Philippine bishops with former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo

Baguio City, Philippines – This week, the Supreme Court of the Philippines ruled that the controversial Reproductive Health Bill passed by Congress and signed into law by President NoyNoy Aquino is constitutional.

Meeting in Baguio City, the Philippine summer capital, the justices unanimously agreed to let stand most of the new law which provides for the distribution of condoms and other birth control devices in government clinics as well as sex education in schools.

Immediately after the announcement of the high court’s decision, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) declared a nationwide strike. The Philippine bishops have been against the measure from the beginning, often using the pulpit to encourage the Catholic faithful to oppose the bill, now law.

The nationwide strike comes at a crucial time as Filipinos approach the conclusion of the Lenten season, leading up to Easter Sunday.

A CBCP spokesperson said that effective immediately, all priests and bishops will refrain from saying mass or administering the sacraments in all churches and parishes in the country.

The strike is expected to paralyze this predominantly Catholic country of almost 100 Million people.

CBCP declined to say whether or  not the strike had the imprimatur of Pope Francis.