Just couldn't help himself....
"Pope to visit revered Brazilian shrine" by Jenny Barchfield | Associated Press, July 24, 2013
APARECIDA, Brazil — The image of Brazil’s patroness, the dark-skinned Virgin of Aparecida, emblazons bumper stickers, presides over shops, and dangles from gold chains around women’s necks all over this continent-sized country. Replicas of the thin clay statue hang in places of pride on the walls of both the most sumptuous of mansions and the humblest of shacks.
On Wednesday, Pope Francis, the first pontiff from the Americas, will fly over farmland and sugar cane fields to visit the mammoth basilica that holds the statue of this particular Brazilian Mary.
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Pope at the Copa
They do another bomb sweep?
The Vatican says the Argentine pontiff insisted the trip be added to his agenda.
Revered across Brazil, Aparecida has an appeal that transcends the church’s legions of faithful in the world’s biggest Catholic country. She has been syncretized with the goddess of love and maternity in a Brazilian religion with roots in west Africa, and her dark complexion has endeared her to blacks and those with a mixed heritage, both of whom make up about half of Brazil’s population.
No one is against that.
‘‘Her face is the face of the Brazilian people,’’ said Father Jose Arnaldo Juliano dos Santos, a chaplain and researcher in Sao Paulo. ‘‘She’s the great unifier of Brazil.’’
According to church lore, the Virgin of Aparecida surfaced on Oct. 16, 1717, in the hamlet of Guaratingueta. A fleet of fishermen plied a nearby river but after 12 fruitless hours in the normally well-stocked river, all but three of the fishermen gave up.
As night fell, they cast their nets one last time, dredging up only the terracotta statue of a headless female figure, her hands pressed together in prayer. Surprised, they cast the net once more, bringing up a head.
They wrapped the pieces in their shirts and cast the nets once more, this time bringing up hundreds of fish.
A series of miracles was soon attributed to the Virgin. As news spread throughout Brazil, the number of pilgrims grew exponentially and a series of ever-larger churches were built to house her.
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Also see: Better Worship This Brazilian Post
"Pope canonizes Mexican, Colombian, 813 who refused conversion" Associated Press, May 13, 2013
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis on Sunday gave the Catholic Church new saints, including hundreds of 15th-century martyrs who were beheaded for refusing to convert to Islam, as he led his first canonization ceremony Sunday in a packed St. Peter’s Square.
??? Why now?
The ‘‘Martyrs of Otranto’’ were 813 Italians who were slain in the southern Italian city in 1480 for defying demands to renounce Christianity by Turkish invaders who overran the citadel.
Their approval for sainthood was decided upon by Francis’ predecessor, Benedict XVI, in a decree read at the ceremony in February where the former pontiff announced his retirement.
Shortly after his election in March, Francis called for more dialogue with Muslims, and it was unclear how the granting of sainthood to the martyrs would be received. Islam is a sensitive subject for the church, and Benedict stumbled significantly in his relations with the Muslim community.
It is strange how the Catholic Church has to watch where it steps and apologize for its WWII conduct regarding Jews on the one hand, and on the other being so indifferent to Muslim sensibilities. Tells you a bit about world power blocs via religious organization.
The first pontiff from South America also gave Colombia its first saint: a nun who toiled as a spiritual guide to indigenous people in the 20th century.
The Argentine pope held out Laura of St. Catherine of Siena Montoya y Upegui as a potential source of inspiration to the country. Colombia has begun a peace process after decades-long conflict between rebels and government forces....
He also canonized another Latin American woman. Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala, a Mexican who dedicated herself to nursing the sick, helped Catholics avoid persecution during a government crackdown on the faith in the 1920s....
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I think some priests need to be beheaded -- with a little tiny guillotine.
Also see:
Pope Gives in to Gays
Pope Host's Hell's Angels
Sunday Globe Special: The History of Banking
Which leads us here:
"Argentina wants bribery details" by Almudena Calatrava | Associated Press, April 24, 2013
BUENOS AIRES — Argentina wants the US Securities and Exchange Commission to name names and provide proof that Ralph Lauren Corp. bribed customs officials for years to allow its products into the South American country.
Tax chief Ricardo Echegaray came out swinging Tuesday after the US government announced that the designer label had cooperated with authorities and paid a fine of nearly $1.6 million after admitting that its now-closed Argentine subsidiary violated the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Related: Ralph Lauren settles foreign bribery case
Echegaray blamed private customs brokers and former Ralph Lauren executives for any violations and suspended their tax ID numbers, which are necessary to do business legally in Argentina.
But he also demanded that the SEC identify which Argentine officials allegedly took the bribes, which the SEC said totaled nearly $600,000 over four years until they were discovered in 2010. And his agency put out a statement that called it a lie designed to cover up how Ralph Lauren emptied the subsidiary before abandoning Argentina.
Hey, it was for the greater good.
Echegaray’s AFIP tax agency also launched a criminal investigation on Monday after the SEC announced the settlement in New York, and he asked US Ambassador Vilma Martinez to intervene so that any evidence can be shared with investigator Jorge Brugo, who was assigned the Argentine case.
The Embassy on Tuesday referred all questions to the SEC and the Justice Department, which had no immediate comment on Echegaray’s requests and allegations.
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A flood, not of records, but of another kind:
"Rain, flooding kill 41 in Argentina" by Cristian Kovadloff | Associated Press, April 04, 2013
LA PLATA, Argentina — At least 35 people were killed by flooding overnight Tuesday in Argentina’s Buenos Aires Province, the governor said Wednesday, bringing the overall death toll from days of torrential rains to at least 41 and leaving large stretches of the provincial capital under water.
Governor Daniel Scioli said many people drowned trying to take shelter in their cars in Tolosa, an area of the provincial capital of La Plata....
A horrible way to die.
Cars were flooded and rainwater flowed over the windowsills into many houses in La Plata. People waded out of their neighborhoods through chest-high water, and police and neighbors teamed up to evacuate families.
The rains caused widespread flooding and power outages. The six killed in the nation's capital city of Buenos Aires included an elderly woman who drowned inside her home.
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That means bus service stopped:
"Commuter train crash kills 3, injures more than 200 near Buenos Aires" by Michael Warren | Associated Press, June 14, 2013
BUENOS AIRES — One commuter train slammed into another that had stopped between stations during the morning commute Thursday in suburban Buenos Aires, killing three passengers and injuring more than 200 on a line that has been under government control since a crash last year killed 51 people.
The state-run train agency dismissed possible brake failure as a cause and suggested the conductor was at fault.
Related: Canada toughens train rules after deadly disaster
Also see: Slow Saturday Special: Canadian Pile Up
All governments are pretty slick.
Satellite images show the train had braked normally at the previous station, and then rolled past four functioning warning signals without stopping before crash, the agency said....
Satellite images, and thus the entire planet is under surveillance in one form or fashion, thus it begs the questions.
The rail line links the Argentine capital’s densely populated western suburbs to the downtown Once station....
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Sometimes I think you guys south of the equator barely exist to the Globe. They seem much more concerned with the USraeli war agenda and Europe. I suppose they are just serving their dwindling readership.
NEXT DAY UPDATE: Pope urges Catholics to reject idols of ‘money, success, power’
