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Papal Apology
According to Pope Francis, the conduct of the Church in regard to the Waldenses has been not only non-Christian, but also non-human; in other words inhumane. For this reason he feels it necessary and urgent to apologize from the bottom of his heart. In so doing, however, he is creating a huge rift (with his Church past) and a double antagonistic effect (with his Church past and present), because while trying to befriend the Waldenses, he antagonizes and infuriates his predecessors-starting with Innocent III (one of those responsible for the Waldenses' excommunication) to Pius IX excommunicating the entire modern world, not to mention his own founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola, whose principal aim in founding the Jesuit Order was to combat the Protestant Reformation.
The Ultimate Encounter
The general title "Ultimate Encounter" refers to man's inevitable and unique experience of meeting with God, first after his death (end of his time on earth) and second at the Universal Judgment after the Great Tribulation and the End of Times. Finally the human creature will face his Maker. As man was born alone, and died alone, so he will interact for the first time alone with the most awesome Personality ever. No one could ever capture the feelings and atmosphere of similar encounter, because nobody was ever allowed to come back from the grave and tell the story. This private and personal encounter (particular judgment), according to Christian doctrine, will determine his eternal destiny, which consists of either eternal salvation or eternal damnation. In conclusion, this is the meager knowledge we possess of the most defining moment in the existence of a human being.
The Winner
Trump, the winner of the presidential election (2016), boosting his success as the greatest achievement in politics, is in reality a looser not only in regards to the real numbers (three millions votes less than Hilary Clinton), but mainly in regards to the values he is flaunting around and the image of America he is imposing at home and abroad. In this quagmire, where uncertainty, instability and untrustworthiness reign supreme, one thing is sure, when it comes to Trump it can always get worse. The closest definition of this man cannot be other than "Fake President" and certified psychopath. Which parent would tolerate a Trump like behavior (erratic, unreliable, untrustworthy, mendacious, dishonest, narcissistic and self-centered...) in his son or daughter? However, a whole nation is putting up daily with such damaging and destructive behavior. How can this be possible? How can this be tolerable? Have we all gone insane?
Abelard and Heloise. Between the lines
The tormenting love story of Abelard and Heloise that took place in France during the High Middle Ages still arouses and provokes strong feelings and contrasting reactions, causing an array of emotions, from deep compassion to manifest outrage and from human understanding to outright condemnation. Nobody will ever remain indifferent and untouched by reading those poignant letters full of vibrant humanity, crisscrossed with indomitable and ever-reemerging passion. The strong spirits of Abelard and Heloise proclaim loud and clear to the four corners of the earth an imperishable love that does not accept human constraints and can barely tolerate Divine dictates. It is a strange love that in order to survive takes up religious vows and hides beneath the habits of a monk and of a nun, and behind the walls of a monastery and a convent.
American Doctrine
I must confess that the word doctrine in conjunction with a name of an American president has always intrigued me. The mere sound of it has never failed to arouse my curiosity, raising in the process many disparate questions. How many doctrines are there? Do they have the same origin and definition? Alternatively, do they differ radically from one another? Who has the authority to proclaim a doctrine? Once declared, is it binding? These and many other questions propelled me on a frantic search for the meaning and definition of that awesome word.
The Inscrutable God
This is the story of the Inscrutable God that becomes scrutable, of the Omnipresent that is Absent, of the All-powerful and Almighty that ends up being Powerless and a Loser. The history of salvation that goes from Abraham to Jesus, passing through Moses and King David and will last until the Judgment Day is a testament to numerous changes and transformations. In the name of the supreme value "love in freedom" God does not disdain to assume all human weaknesses, except sin, to gain back the total trust and affection of his rebellious creature. In the history of humankind there is no love story so tender and moving that can be compared to this. The Inscrutable God by sacrificing his Son in order to save his servant becomes the ultimate paradigm of any human love and the only example to follow.
Faith and Science - Christian Insanity
Jesus came to this earth to offer an alternative lifestyle, in total contrast and opposition with the mundane lifestyle predominant in our societies. He did this through his living example and his inspired teaching. While Jesus invites people to choose the narrow path, he warns of terrible danger confronting those who follow the wide and easy road that leads to perdition. His restricted path, embraced by few, is strewed with sufferings, persecutions, lack of material possessions, and all the miseries known to mankind. On the contrary, the highway to perdition, taken by many, offers considerable amount of pleasures, riches, and satisfactions. By opposing the basic human tendencies, Jesus offers the bitter medicine of service, poverty, and abstinence instead of power, riches, and sex. This radical opposition to the corrupt human nature is topped with a brand of faith unknown to the world and revolutionary to many that subverts all the fundamental categories of human knowledge.
Castor and Pollux
When Castor Ishida, a Japanese student in Pittsburgh and one-half of a mixed-race set of twins, is found brutally murdered, Detective Ken Fresco must put together the puzzle pieces that led to his premature death. Could his twin brother, Pollux, be the murderer? Since he has a cast-iron alibi, it seems Ken is unable to pin the crime on him. When Castor's parents hire a private investigator, Jinpachi Nemoto, to investigate their son's untimely death, he inadvertently reveals a forbidden love bubbling just beneath the surface of high-class Japanese society, involving two prominent members of the clergy, one Japanese, the other Caucasian. Will Jinpachi be able to uncover the burning secret his client is hiding and solve the mystery, or will it be too late for all the protagonists in Castor and Pollux, Dario Lisiero's expertly spun web of lies and deception? Jessica Keet
Civilization, Salvation or Domination
It is this author's contention that the root of all man-made disasters and sufferings is the seemingly unstoppable urge of domination in man. The virus of domination infects the whole society and this global village seems unable to find a cure or an antidote. According to St. Augustine this wasn't God's original plan. God had given man dominion over all creation, animals included, but not over man. Subjection of man to man had been brought about by human sin. Augustine acknowledges the existence of the domination factor as something not only unavoidable (after the original sin) but also as something necessary. This admission of human domination and of his necessity "ratione peccati" is a real eye-opener. However controversial this assertion, the overall presence of domination will be the basic interpretational key of the present study. Only through these lenses it will be possible to make some sense of historical people that otherwise would be incomprehensible.
America's Many Faces
America is an awesome reality that deserves to be studied in depth in order to discover its most relevant aspects whether they might be thrilling or chilling, energizing or depressing, inspiring or horrifying. Like any other reality under the sky, America is a very complex, intriguing and contradictory entity that cannot be easily encapsulate in a simple definition or seen through common stereotypes. More often than not, the core essence of a nation does not coincide exactly with the perception of its citizens and much less with the image foreigners have formed in their minds. One thing is what a nation proclaims to be and stand for, and another how it operates at home and abroad. One thing is how a nation is depicted and perceived by observers, foreign or domestic, and another how it is in its laws, government and justice system.
