Italy’s Padre Pio goes on display

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7364228.stm

The body of the popular Italian saint, Padre Pio, has gone on display in a glass coffin in southern Italy.

Padre Pio was said to have had stigmata, or bleeding wounds of Jesus, on his hands and feet.

His body was exhumed in March on the 40th anniversary of his death. He was canonised by Pope John Paul II in 2002.

More than a million people are expected this year to see his body, which is said to be well-preserved. But there is reportedly no sign of the stigmata.

The head of the Vatican office dealing with sainthood, Cardinal Jose Saraiva Martins, led a special open-air Mass in San Giovanni Rotondo, in Puglia.

“This body is here, but Padre Pio is not only a corpse. Looking at his remains we remember all the good that he has done,” the cardinal said.

Afterwards, Cardinal Saraiva Martins led a group of Church officials into the crypt of Church of St Mary of Grace for a private viewing of the body.

Placed in a glass coffin, Padre Pio was dressed in a brown robe and his was covered in a life-like silicone mask.

Huge following

Already, more than 700,000 people have registered to view his body, and more are expected to make the pilgrimage to the Capuchin friary in San Giovanni Rotondo where it is displayed.

Among the pilgrims attending the mass on Thursday was 80-year-old Assunta Antico, who is confined to a wheelchair.

“I had a stroke two years ago. I’m paralysed and I want to walk again,” she told the Reuters news agency.

How Padre Pio became an icon In pictures: Viewing the saint

Padre Pio had a large following both before and after his death.

Some of his devotees say he could foretell the future, as well as know people’s sins before they had confessed.

Some viewed him as a fraud, however, and for many years the Vatican itself was sceptical and banned him from celebrating Mass in public.

One Italian historian wrote last year that he may have used carbolic acid to produce his wounds.

Before his death, the Roman Catholic Church said it was convinced the monk’s claims were not false.

The monks who exhumed his body in March said it was in “surprisingly good condition”, despite no special measures having been taken to preserve it when he was buried in 1968.

“We could clearly make out the beard. The top part of the skull is partly skeletal but the chin is perfect and the rest of the body is well preserved. The knees, hands and nails all clearly visible,” said Archbishop Domenico D’Ambrosio, who led the service to exhume the body.

Иванов В.Ф.
Русская интеллигенция и масонство
Издательство ФондИВ, Москва, 2008
536 стр., 60х100 1/16
ISBN 978-5-91399-006-8
231 руб.

Книга крупнейшего русского исследователя масонства Василия Федоровича Иванова — это днига «борьбы и гнева». Она охватывает весь исторический период деятельности масонской организации в России. Исследуя идейное и политическое влияние масонства на русское общество, В.Ф. Иванов на огромном историческом материале показывает разрушительную деятельность в России этого тайного ордена.Для всех интересующихся историей, политологией и русской публицистикой.

Российское духовенство и свержение монархии в 1917 году. (Материалы и архивные документы по истории Русской православной церкви)

Издательство Индрик, Москва, 2008
632 стр., 70х100 1/16, с илл.
ISBN 978-5-85759-444-5
338 руб.

Сборник посвящен истории Русской православной церкви в период с февраля по октябрь 1917 г. В нем представлены различные документы церкви - определения и послания Святейшего синода, проповеди и обращения к пастве высшего духовенства, резолюции епархиальных, викариатских, городских, благочиннИческих съездов и собраний российского духовенства и мирян, проходивших в марте-июле 1917 г. по всей стране. Приводятся приветственные телеграммы духовенства как отдельным представителям новой власти, так и ее органам: Временному правительству, Петроградскому Совету рабочих и солдатских депутатов и Государственной думе. Также помещены тексты гражданской и церковных ставленнических присяг, «Донесение» Св. синоду о явлении иконы Божией Матери «Державная» и прочее. В этих материалах выражается официальное мнение духовенства по поводу свержения монархии, установления власти Временного правительства и деятельности последнего. Публикуемые комплексно, документы позволяют объективно представить настроения российского духовенства в период смены общественно-политического строя и перехода страны от монархии к буржуазной демократии.Во втором издании исправлены неточности первого и опечатки, увеличено количество публикуемых документов, дополнены приложения, расширены научно-справочный аппарат и иллюстративный материал.Для студентов, аспирантов, научных сотрудников и всех, интересующихся историей Отечества и Православной церкви.

Сараскина Л.И.
Александр Солженицын

Издательство Молодая гвардия, Москва, 2008
935 стр., 84х108 1/32
ISBN 978-5-235-03102-9
591 руб.

Александр Исаевич Солженицын — редкий в современной словесности пример писателя-трибуна, писателя-моралиста. Его биография вместила в себя войну и лагеря, Нобелевскую премию и преследования, завершившиеся изгнанием из СССР. 20 лет, проведённые в эмиграции, не разорвали связь Солженицына с родиной — сразу после триумфального возвращения в Москву он включился в общественную жизнь, напряжённо размышляя о том, «как нам обустроить Россию». Не смягчая выражений, не стараясь угодить власть имущим, он много раз вызывал на себя огонь критики справа и слева, но сохранил высокий моральный авторитет и звание живого классика современной русской литературы. К 90-летию А. И. Солженицына приурочен выход его первой полной биографии, созданной известной писательницей и историком литературы Л. И. Сараскиной на основе уникальных архивных документов, бесед с самим Солженицыным и членами его семьи.

God, Evil, and Design

AN INTRODUCTION TO THE PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES

By: David O’Connor (Seton Hall University)

Oxford, Blackwell, May 2008, 240 pp.

Reviews

“O’Connor’s book ranks with the very best of the many introductions to the philosophy of religion that have been published over the past several decades. His selection and …

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Description

Although vast and complex, the universe is orderly in many ways, and conditions at its beginning were right for the eventual evolution of life on this planet. But with life there is death, and with sentient life there is great pain and suffering, often with no apparent justification or purpose. Taking these things together, is it reasonable to conclude that the universe was brought about by God? Moreover, does the magnitude of seemingly pointless suffering square with the idea that God exists, or is it good reason to think there is no God? These questions come up for many people, not just religious believers, and are examined in this engaging and thought-provoking book.

Starting out with no pre-disposition to theism, atheism, or agnosticism, God, Evil, and Design takes up these questions in order to see where an impartial investigation leads. To achieve impartiality, the reader is invited to simulate ignorance insofar as his or her own religious preference is concerned. With this approach, God, Evil, and Design provides both a fresh look at important and controversial issues in philosophy and an excellent introduction to the contemporary debates surrounding them. Lively and non-technical, this book will be accessible to anyone with an interest in these topics.

TopTable of Contents

Preface

I. Introduction

1. What we are going to investigate and how.

1. Terminology

II. The Logic of God and Evil

1. Is the Existence of God Impossible?

1. A Free-Will Defense of the Possibility that God exists.

III. Design and Evil

1. Natural Order, Natural Selection, and Supernatural Design (1)

1. Natural Order, Natural Selection, and Supernatural Design (2)

IV. Evil and Design (1)

1. Is the Existence of God Improbable?

1. Skeptical Defenses

1. Evaluating Skeptical Defenses

V. Evil and Design (2)

1. Greater-Good Defenses

1. Evaluating Greater-Good Defenses

VI. Taking Stock

1. Taking Stock

Index