On the same day a cardinal at the Vatican made a statement that "the faithful should listen to what secular modern science has to offer", a team of Polish archeologists say they have found the grave of Nicolaus Copernicus.
The Vatican project was inspired by Pope John Paul II's 1992 declaration that the church's 17th-century denunciation of Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension." Galileo was condemned for supporting Nicolaus Copernicus' discovery that the Earth revolved around the sun; church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.Spy sheriff product keyIronic isn't it, that while Cardinal Poupard was trying to bury the ghost of all the trouble Copernicus caused the Church, today's scientists were digging him up.--
(Jerzy) Gassowski (head of an archaeology and anthropology institute in Pultusk, Poland) said police forensic experts used the skull to reconstruct a face that closely resembled the features - including a broken nose and scar above the left eye - on a Copernicus self-portrait. The experts also determined the skull belonged to a man who died at about age 70.
The grave was in bad condition and not all remains were found, Gassowski said, adding that his team will try to find relatives of Copernicus to do more accurate DNA identification.
Chris Burgwald at Veritas reprints a post with an apparently well-established - if not widely-disseminated - debunking.
If you asked anyone who knows anything about Church History in the West to pinpoint a specific moment or event which can be considered the beginning of the Reformation, the answer would probably be Martin Luther's posting of his 95 theses on indulgences on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517. By this act, Luther is seen as rejecting the whole medieval system of indulgences and their associated doctrines and practices; in so doing, he makes his break from Rome, or at least begins to do so in a definitive way. In fact, many Protestant churches celebrate October 31st as "Reformation Day", indicating the importance of that date and Luther's actions on it in 1517 vis. the Reformation churches and communities. This date, then, has been widely regarded as the beginning of the Reformation. However...Interesting read - and the comments are quite amusing.In all likelihood, it never happened.
Stanley Kurtz at NRO's The Corner tips us off to the current condition of marriage in Canada. "When marriage is redefined," he writes, "other social institutions are likewise transformed."
(W)hen male-female marriage and same-sex marriage become equal in the eyes of the law, treating them differently becomes discrimination. In Canada, "privileging" male-female marriage in any way is now a violation of human rights. According to (Bishop Frederick Henry of the Catholic Diocese of Calgary, Alberta), "Canadians who believe in the historic definition of marriage, who believe that children need a mother and father, are now the legal equivalent of racists."This is what the people of Massachusetts - and the rest of America, if liberals have their way - can expect their Commonwealth doesn't repudiate the insanity of humanity's oldest tradition and God's sacred institution.Today, Canada is combing through its laws and institutions to remove evidence of heterosexist discrimination. Terms such as husband and wife are now forbidden across the spectrum of Canadian law and government programs. The legal meaning of parenthood is being transformed, with consequences no one can predict.
Henry says Canadian schools are becoming battlegrounds. "Children will have to be taught about homosexual acts in health class, as they now are about heterosexual acts. Books that promote same-sex marriage are being introduced in some elementary schools. In one action, complainants have demanded 'positive queer role models' across the whole curriculum. If parents complain, they'll be branded as homophobes." Sound farfetched? People who disagree with same-sex marriage risk charges of hate speech. In British Columbia, teacher Chris Kempling has been found guilty -- and disciplined -- for defending male-female marriage in newspaper opinion pieces. Henry himself has been hauled before the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal for promoting traditional marriage in his pastoral letters. "The human rights tribunals have become like thought police," he says. "In Canada, you can now use the coercive powers of the state to silence opposition."
The Death Merchants are now ready to start short-selling humanity.
Down Syndrome Now Detectable In 1st TrimesterNext stop, Dachau.
Earlier Diagnosis Allows More Time for Decisions