Italians Attack Muammar Gaddafi Over Islam Comments
THE TELEGRAPH: Italians have reacted with indignation after Muammar Gaddafi lectured 200 young actresses and models on the superiority of Islam, a day after saying that Europeans should all become Muslim.

Young women for a meeting with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in Rome. Photograph: The Telegraph
Silvio Berlusconi’s increasingly close relationship with Col Gaddafi is becoming a source of embarrassment for the Italian prime minister, according to opposition MPs and even members of the government.

On Monday, the Libyan leader recruited the women through a modelling agency to join him and Mr Berlusconi, in viewing a photography exhibition at a Rome cultural institute which traced historical links between the two countries.

Telling them that Islam was the “ultimate religion”, Gaddafi insisted that “if you want to believe in a single faith then it must be that of Mohammed,” according to one of the women who sat through the lecture. >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Monday, August 30, 2010

LE FIGARO: Colère en Italie après un nouveau show de Kadhafi: En visite officielle à Rome, le dirigeant libyen a plaidé pour que l'Islam devienne «la religion de toute l'Europe». >>> Par Olfa Khamira | Lundi 30 Août 2010

About Gaddafi’s conversion party >>>

“Italy has become the Disneyland of Gaddafi and his senile vanities.” – Gianfranco Fini [Source: Mail Online]

I guess that the Italians have finally woken up, as the rest of the West needs to do, and have told Gaddafi to stick his benighted religion – Islam – where the sun don’t shine. We sane Westerners are getting sick to death of listening to the crap espoused about that bloody awful faith by its adherents. It’s a faith for mentally challenged people. Witness the possible stoning to death of that poor woman in Iran, Sakineh. Who, in his right mind, could worship a god who calls for such an innocent woman to be stoned to death? Even if she had committed adultery, which is very questionable, so bloody what? She wouldn’t be the only woman in the world to have done so. Let her Maker be her judge! Who gave these bloody idiots the right to judge others?

And by the way, if Obama really is a Muslim, as I suspect he is, then he is mentally challenged too. – © Mark

Kadhafi: «L’Islam doit devenir la religion de l’Europe»
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: VISITE À ROME | Le dirigeant libyen Mouammar Kadhafi a plaidé pour que l’Islam devienne «la religion de toute l’Europe». Il s’exprimait devant un parterre de 500 jeunes femmes rassemblées à Rome où il effectue une visite officielle.

Le dirigeant libyen Mouammar Kadhafi à son arrivée à Rome. Photo: Tribune de Genève
A l’issue d’une conférence du dirigeant libyen pour laquelle elles avaient été rémunérées autour de 80 euros, les jeunes femmes ont reçu chacune un exemplaire du Coran.

Mouammar Kadhafi leur a expliqué que «l’Islam devrait devenir la religion de toute l’Europe et que Mohammed était le dernier prophète», a indiqué l’une des participantes, citée par la Stampa. «Ennuyeux[.]»

«Pour nous c’était vraiment ennuyeux. Kadhafi ne savait pas que nous étions payées, sinon il n’aurait pas accepté de nous rencontrer», a ajouté, sous couvert de l’anonymat, une participante de 25 ans à la Repubblica.

L’agence qui a recruté ces hôtesses et leur avait demandé de s’habiller de façon sobre a indiqué que les jeunes femmes qui parleraient à la presse ne seraient pas rémunérées. Traité d’amitié[.] >>> ATS / AFP | Lundi 30 Août 2010

Gaddafi in Rome: Glamorous Gals for Allah!
MAIL ONLINE: And he's the only man allowed in the room with them

Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi hosted another Islam conversion party attended by 500 glamorous women during the first day of an official visit to Italy.

Gaddafi was the only man at the event - apart from security officers who were kept outside - while the women who were invited to take part were all asked to 'dress demurely'.

Three women were said to have undergone 'spontaneous conversions', while others walked out in disgust saying they could 'not stand to hear such rubbish'.

The event, at the Libyan Academy in Rome, comes nine months after Gaddafi hosted two similar evenings at the official residence of the Libyan ambassador in Rome Abdulhafad Gaddur.

At those events the women were paid 50 euros, but for last night's party and another planned for later this evening the women were given 70 euros - on condition that they did not speak to the media.

A fleet of coaches with the curtains drawn had pulled up outside the Academy just hours after Gaddafi had flown in from Tripoli.

Student Sara Perugini, 19, who was at the event, said: 'Colonel Gaddafi was very pleasant and charming. He spoke to us about Islam and the Koran and he gave all of us a copy.

'He told us that we should convert to Islam and that Mohammad was the last of the prophets. Three women did go through what he described as a spontaneous conversion.

'They left wearing the traditional chador. We were paid 70 euros although I haven't actually seen the money yet, but we were told not to talk to the media so I probably won't see anything.

'I know some women did walk out saying they were not prepared to hear such rubbish but as far as I know there were only a couple.

'They said they didn't agree with Gaddafi coming to Italy and telling them to convert and marry Muslims. Colonel Gaddafi scores a three in 500 success rate after holding another Islam conversion party in Rome for glamorous models >>> Nick Pisa | Monday, August 30, 2010

Related:

TIMES ONLINE: Colonel Muammar Gaddafi Invites 500 Italian Women to Villa and Lectures Them on Islam >>> Richard Owen in Rome | Monday, November 16, 2009

Kadhafi débarque à Rome avec ses cavaliers
Le colonel Kadhafi. Photo : Le Temps
LE TEMPS: Le leader libyen entame lundi une visite officielle dans la Péninsule pour célébrer le deuxième anniversaire du Traité d’amitié entre les deux pays

Cette fois, le colonel Kadhafi ne viendra pas seulement avec ses «amazones», ses séduisantes gardes militaires chargées de sa protection. Pour sa quatrième visite à Rome, dans la capitale de l’ancienne puissance coloniale, le leader libyen a prévu de débarquer lundi avec pas moins de trente cavaliers qui défileront mardi soir sur des montures berbères aux côtés d’un régiment à cheval de carabiniers.

Deux ans après l’accord historique entre Silvio Berlusconi et le «guide de la révolution» à travers lequel l’Italie a officiellement demandé pardon pour le passé et promis un chèque de 5 milliards de dollars de dédommagements payables en vingt ans, les deux hommes ont ainsi voulu célébrer l’anniversaire en grande pompe. Car, pour l’heure et en dépit de certaines critiques, le «traité d’amitié» entre les deux pays tient et produit les effets escomptés par les deux signataires.

Fin août 2008, à Benghazi, en Libye, Silvio Berlusconi avait ainsi déclaré: «L’Italie s’excuse pour les massacres, les destructions et la répression contre le peuple libyen durant l’occupation coloniale.» A la suite de cette déclaration, Mouammar Kadhafi s’était senti en droit, l’année suivante, de descendre de son avion à Rome en exhibant sur son uniforme le portrait du héros de la résistance anticoloniale libyenne, Omar al-Mokhtar. Une partie de l’opinion publique italienne avait modérément goûté la provocation. Cette année, le dirigeant africain devrait plus discrètement participer à un colloque sur les rapports entre les deux pays à l’ambassade de Libye en présence d’historiens et d’intellectuels des deux bords. >>> Eric Jozsef | Samedi 28 Août 2010

Catholic Priests 'Filmed at Gay Clubs and Having Casual Sex'
THE TELEGRAPH: The Catholic Church in Italy was embroiled in a fresh scandal on Friday when photographs apparently showing homosexual priests attending gay nightclubs and engaging in casual sex were published in a magazine.

Panorama magazine published photographs apparently showing homosexual priests attending gay nightclubs and engaging in casual sex. Photo: The Telegraph
A journalist from Panorama, a conservative weekly news magazine owned by Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, used a hidden camera to film interviews with three gay priests, who introduced the journalist to the gay clubs they apparently frequent, and allowed the journalist to film their sexual encounters with strangers, including one in a church building.

One of the priests, a Frenchman identified only as Paul, celebrated Mass in the morning before driving the two escorts he had hired to attend a party the night before to the airport, Panorama said.

The Catholic Church in Italy, still reeling from the paedophile priest scandal, responded on Friday by ordering homosexual priests who are leading a double life to come out of the closet and leave the priesthood. >>> Nick Pisa in Rome | Friday, July 23, 2010

PANORAMA.it: Le notti brave dei preti gay: una grande inchiesta in edicola con Panorama >>> Redazione | Giovedì 22 Luglio 2010

NZZ am SONNTAG: Schwule Priester feiern in Rom erotische Feste >>> Patricia Arnold, Mailand | Sonntag, 25. Juli 2010

Earliest Known Images of Apostles Discovered under Rome Streets
THE TELEGRAPH: The earliest known icons of four of Christ's apostles have been found adorning an elaborately decorated chamber in a catacomb beneath the streets of Rome.

An archaeologist gestures towards a watercolour of St. Paul at the 'Cubicle of Apostles'. Photo: The Telegraph
Scientists used advanced laser technology to remove a hardened crust of dirt and calcium deposits in order to bring to light the brightly coloured 4th century paintings of Saints John, Paul, Andrew and Peter.

The images adorn the ceiling of a vault, carved out of volcanic rock, which provided the last resting place of a rich Roman noblewoman who converted to Christianity after it was declared legal by the Emperor Constantine.

Archeologists also found an early image of Christ, a painting of a naked Daniel with lions at his feet and a sketch of Jesus raising Lazarus, wrapped in mummy-like white bandages, from the dead.

The paintings are rendered in bright yellow and red ochre, black charcoal, and a rare mineral-based paint known as Egyptian Blue.

A balding St Paul is depicted with dark piercing eyes, a pointed black beard and a furrowed forehead, while St Peter has the white, bushy beard and sturdy look of a fisherman.

The archeologists believe the images may have set the standard for all later depictions of the saints in Christian iconography. >>> Nick Squires in the catacombs of Santa Tecla | Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Geert Wilders: Change Jordan's Name to Palestine
YNET NEWS: Rightist Dutch leader wants to end Mideast conflict by finding Palestinians 'alternate homeland'

Geert Wilders, who leads the right-wing Party for Freedom (PVV) in Holland, said last week he believes Jordan should be renamed Palestine. The Jordanian government responded by saying Wilders' speech was reminiscent of the Israeli right wing.

"Jordan is Palestine," said Wilders, who heads the third-largest party in Holland. "Changing its name to Palestine will end the conflict in the Middle East and provide the Palestinians with an alternate homeland."

Wilders added that Israel deserved a special status in the Dutch government because it was fighting for Jerusalem in its name.

"If Jerusalem falls into the hands of the Muslims, Athens and Rome will be next. Thus, Jerusalem is the main front protecting the West. It is not a conflict over territory but rather an ideological battle, between the mentality of the liberated West and the ideology of Islamic barbarism," he said.

"There has been an independent Palestinian state since 1946, and it is the kingdom of Jordan." Wilders also called on the Dutch government to refer to Jordan as Palestine and move its embassy to Jerusalem.

The Saudi Al-Watan carried Jordan's response to Wilders' speech. The kingdom's embassy in Hague was outraged, and said the Dutch ambassador would soon be summoned to explain. >>> Roee Nahmias | Sunday, June 20, 2010

The Euro Mutiny Begins
The Colosseum in Rome, Italy, where economists have openly questioned the euro's future. Photo: Google Images
THE TELEGRAPH: The rebellion against the 1930s fiscal and monetary policies of the Euro-complex is gathering pace.

Il Sole has published a letter by 100 Italian economists warning that the austerity strategy imposed by Brussels/Frankfurt risks tipping Europe into a self-feeding downward spiral. Far from holding the eurozone together, it will cause weaker countries to be catapulted out of EMU. Others will leave in order to restore sovereign control over their central banks and unemployment policies.

At worst it will blow the EU apart, leading to the very acrimony that the European Project was supposed to prevent.

For readers of Italian, it’s here.

While I don’t share the big-state Left-Keynesian perspective of these professors — nor their implicit hostility to the free market — I do agree with much of their overall analysis. >>> Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | Wednesday, June 14, 2010

Lettera di 100 economisti contro la manovra e la linea (europea) dell'austerità >>> mercoledi 16 giugno 2010

Homosexualité et pédophilie: le Vatican s'empêtre
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: ROME | La controverse provoquée par le cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, qui a lié homosexualité et pédophilie, a contraint le Vatican à s’expliquer sur les propos de son numéro deux.

Le cardinal Bertone se "référait évidemment au problème des abus commis au sein du clergé et non à ceux commis dans l’ensemble de la population", a argumenté le père Federico Lombardi, porte-parole du Vatican.

Le père Lombardi a précisé qu’il s’agissait d’une "clarification et pas d’une prise de distance" du Vatican par rapport aux déclarations du secrétaire d’Etat.

Le cardinal Bertone avait déclaré lundi au Chili: "Nombre de psychologues, de psychiatres, ont démontré qu’il n’y avait pas de relation entre célibat et pédophilie, mais beaucoup d’autres ont démontré, et m’ont dit récemment, qu’il y a une relation entre homosexualité et pédophilie". "Inacceptable", dit la France >>> AFP | Mercredi 14 Avril 2010

Pope Will 'Not Be Intimidated by Petty Gossip' Over Sex Abuse Scandals
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Pope Benedict XVI began Holy Week on Sunday by suggesting in his Palm Sunday address that the Catholic Church would "not be intimidated" by the sex abuse scandals sweeping it.

Pope Benedict XVI Leads Palm Sunday At St. Peter's Square. Photobucket: The Telegraph
In a clear indication that the Vatican continues to insist the continual abuse revelations are part of a conspiracy the Pope said: "From God comes the courage not to be intimidated by petty gossip."

Although he did not directly mention the crisis that has seen claims of abuse from Ireland, Germany, Austria, Holland and Brazil the 82 year old Pontiff's message was evidently clear.

As he spoke, thousands of pilgrims who had gathered in a sunlit St Peter's Square clapped and shouted "Viva il Papa" (Long Live The Pope). The scandals seemingly not to have had an impact on their faith.

Last week the Vatican's official newspaper L'Osservatore Romano said the abuse allegations were part of an "ignoble attempt to strike at Pope Benedict XVI and his closest collaborators at any cost".

The Pope's Palm Sunday address, marked the beginning of Holy Week, the Roman Catholic's Church's most solemn seven days and which culminates with Easter Sunday. >>> Nick Pisa in Rome | Sunday, March 28, 2010

Yunis Al Astal - L'islam va conquérir Rome

Church of England Bishop Converts to Rome
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOG: The former assistant Bishop of Newcastle, Paul Richardson, has been received into full communion with the Holy See, I am pleased to reveal. Richardson – also a former Anglican bishop in Papua New Guinea and diocesan bishop of Wangaratta in Australia – was received into the Church at the chaplaincy at Durham University last month.

He tells me that his conversion is not the product of recent controversies. “I would have become a Catholic even if the Church of England wasn’t ordaining women bishops,” he says. “In a sense I feel it’s what I’ve always been, so this is like coming home.” Read on and comment >>> Damian Thompson | Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Sheikh Al-Qaradawi Speaks about the Muslim Conquest of Europe

Le pape Benoît XVI en visite à la synagogue de Rome
LE MONDE: Vingt-quatre ans après la visite historique qu'y avait effectuée son prédécesseur Jean Paul II, le pape Benoît XVI doit se rendre, dimanche 17 janvier, à la synagogue de Rome. La visite, prévue de longue date, intervient un mois après que Benoît XVI eut, une nouvelle fois, soulevé la colère d'une partie de la communauté juive mondiale en proclamant, le 19 décembre, les "vertus héroïques" du pape Pie XII. Cette étape a ouvert la voie à la possible béatification de ce pape controversé pour son attitude envers les juifs durant la seconde guerre mondiale.

La relance du processus de béatification, qui avait pris de court le monde catholique, avait été suspendue afin de ne pas envenimer les relations entre le Vatican et le monde juif mises à mal en janvier 2009 par la levée de l'excommunication d'un évêque négationniste, Richard Williamson. L'annonce de décembre a durant quelques jours laissé planer le doute sur la venue du pape à la synagogue. Le président des rabbins italiens a décidé de boycotter l'événement.

"Nous devons dire à la communauté juive ce que Pie XII a fait en faveur des juifs pendant la seconde guerre mondiale et qui n'est pas assez connu", a de son côté défendu le cardinal Walter Kasper, chargé au Vatican des relations avec les juifs. "Pie XII a suivi la volonté de Dieu telle qu'il la comprenait à cette époque, nous ne pouvons le juger avec la mentalité d'aujourd'hui." >>> Stéphanie Le Bars | Samedi 16 Janvier 2010

Jewish Leaders Confront Pope Over Vatican's Holocaust 'Silence'
THE TELEGRAPH: A Jewish leader told the Pope on Sunday that his controversial wartime predecessor, Pius XII, should have protested more forcefully against Jews being sent to the "ovens of Auschwitz".

Pius's "silence" at a time when hundreds of thousands of Jews were being rounded up across Europe and despatched to death camps was still hurtful, Riccardo Pacifici, the president of Rome's Jewish community, said as Pope Benedict XVI visited the city's synagogue for the first time.

The criticism was one of the bluntest comments made in public by a Jewish leader to a pope.

"The silence of Pius XII before the Shoah (Holocaust) still hurts because something should have been done," Mr Pacifici told the pontiff during an address to the synagogue, which lies in an area of central Rome still known as the Ghetto, where Jews were confined for centuries on the orders of the Vatican.

"Maybe it would not have stopped the death trains, but it would have sent a signal, a word of extreme comfort, of human solidarity, towards those brothers of ours transported to the ovens of Auschwitz," he said.

The Vatican had hoped that the synagogue visit would rebuild bridges with the Jewish world, after the German-born Benedict dismayed Jews by rehabilitating a Holocaust-denying British renegade bishop a year ago, and by advancing Pius further along the path to sainthood by recognising his "heroic virtues" last month.

The fact that Benedict is German and served during the war in the Hitler Youth – albeit against his will – makes Jewish sensitivities all the more acute.

The Vatican claims that Pius, who was Pope from 1939 to 1958, worked behind the scenes to save Jews and allowed thousands of refugees to hide in church institutions.

The Roman Catholic Church insists that he feared that criticising Hitler more strongly would have provoked even more severe persecution of the Jews. >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Sunday, January 17, 2010

Colonel Gaddafi Hosts Second Gathering of Glamorous Italian Women
THE TELEGRAPH: The Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has hosted a second evening event in Rome to which he invited 200 beautiful Italian women.

Two Italian girls show a copy of the Koran they received after attending a 'party' given by Libyan Leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi. Photo: The Telegraph
They were under orders not to show too much leg or cleavage. But a strict dress code for 200 glamorous young Italian women appeared to have slipped somewhat when they were entertained for a second time by Libya's eccentric leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

Many of the women were photographed turning up for the unusual soiree on Monday night wearing tight black leather mini-skirts, high heels and tops with plunging necklines.

The dress code had relaxed considerably since Sunday, when another group of 200 Italian girls were invited to a reception by the Libyan leader, who is in Rome for the UN World Food Summit.

For that occasion, they were told by the modelling agency that recruited them not to wear jeans, see-through or suggestive clothing or skirts above the knee.

Col Gaddafi again used the agency, Hostessweb, to hand-pick a fresh batch of 200 women - each paid 60 euros (£53) - and have them brought by bus to the Libyan ambassador's residence.

Each was given a copy of the Koran. But unlike on Monday night, when the first group of girls sat through a meandering discourse on Islam, sexism in the West and Col Gaddafi's belief that the crucifixion of Jesus was fraudulent, this time he permitted the women to ask him questions. >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi Invites 500 Italian Women to Villa and Lectures Them on Islam
Women were given religious advice by Colonel Gadaffi, accompanied by women guards, at the summit. Photo: Times Online
TIMES ONLINE: Colonel Muammar Gaddafi invited hundreds of attractive Italian "hostesses" to a villa in Rome last night for an evening at which he urged them to convert to Islam and told them Christianity was based on a fraud, Italian reports said today.

The Libyan leader is in Italy to attend a United Nations summit on world food security. Reports said that Colonel Gaddafi's aides phoned an agency which provides elegantly dressed young women to act as hospitality staff at events.

The agency was asked to send 500 women to the residence of Hafed Gaddur, the Libyan ambassador in Rome, where Colonel Gaddafi is staying, over a series of evenings during the three day summit.

The agency advertised for "500 pleasing girls between 18 and 35 years of age, at least one metre 70 high." The women were asked to dress elegantly but soberly, with both miniskirts and cleavage-revealing decolletage firmly banned.

Those who replied were offered €60 (£53) to attend an evening at the villa for an "exchange of opinions" and to "receive a Libyan gift", which turned out to be a copy of the Koran. They were given nothing to eat or drink, however.

Paola Lo Mele, a journalist with the Italian news agency ANSA who posed as a hostess to enter the villa, said the 200 women who attended yesterday had to pass through metal detectors, before being ushered by white turbanned Libyan staff into a "sumptuous drawing room" with white and red divans arranged in a semi-circle in front of Colonel Gaddafi. He arrived an hour late. He sat next to an interpreter and two of his renowned female guards.

The Libyan leader said it was "untrue that Islam is against women" according to Corriere della Sera. He urged the women to convert to Islam, pointing out that whereas there were four different Gospels, there was only one Koran.

He then observed — to "general incredulity" — that Christ had not died on the Cross and been resurrected, as Christians believe, because the person crucified had been "a look-alike" who was substituted for the real Jesus.

"Convert to Islam. Jesus was sent to the Jews, not for you. Mohammed, on the other hand, was sent for all human beings," he reportedly said. "Whoever goes in a different direction than Mohammed is wrong. God's religion is Islam, and whoever follows a different one, in the end, will lose," Colonel Gaddafi added, according to La Stampa.

He said women must do only "what their physical condition allows them", and spoke about the role that women played during the Second World War. He claimed that in the West women "have often been used as pieces of furniture, changed whenever it pleases men. And this is an injustice." He then invited the women to travel to the Islamic holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

As the soiree broke up at midnight he handed out copies of the Koran, his own Green Book on the Libyan revolution, and a pamphlet entitled How to be a Muslim. >>> Richard Owen in Rome | Monday, November 16, 2009

THE TELEGRAPH: Colonel Gaddafi preaches Islam to 200 glamour girls: Colonel Gaddafi has lived up to his reputation for eccentric behaviour by lecturing 200 attractive young glamour models on the benefits of Islam. >>> Nick Squires in Rome | Monday, November 16, 2009

MAIL ONLINE: 'Give me 500 beautiful Italian girls': Colonel Gaddafi hires escort agency women during Rome summit and then tries to convert them to Islam >>> Nick Pisa | Monday, November 16, 2009

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Kadhafi: «L’islam n'est pas contre les femmes!» : ROME | Comme à son habitude, le colonel libyen s’est fait organiser à Rome des rencontres avec de jeunes Italiennes recrutées par agence. Il leur a lancé: "Convertissez-vous à l’islam!". >>> AFP | Lundi 16 Novembre 2009

Vatican's Lack of Warning on Anglican Priests 'Inexcusable' Say [sic] Carey
THE INDEPENDENT: The former Archbishop of Canterbury today branded as "inexcusable" the Catholic Church's failure to warn his successor of their plans to admit disaffected Anglican priests.

Lord Carey of Clifton told The Times that he was "appalled" that Dr Rowan Williams only learned of Rome's intention to publish a new Apostolic Constitution to allow the move two weeks ago.

"I think in this day and age, this was inexcusable that Rome decided to do this without consultation.

"He should express his unhappiness with the process."

He said that he was taken by surprise by the development although he admitted that he had been aware of "a number of bishops going to Rome and having conversations".

But he told the newspaper that the move was "worth considering."

"There are a number of deeply worried, anxious Anglo-Catholics who do not believe they have a constructive future with the Church of England with the ordination of women as bishops.

He added: "This could go a long way to helping."

Hundreds of Church of England priests who oppose the ordination of women have been meeting yesterday and today and are expected to discuss the issue.

Forward in Faith will hear from a number of Bishops as part of their annual conference including a keynote address from Rt Rev John Hind, the Bishop of Chichester who has staunchly resisted the move.

The Vatican said earlier this week it would allow groups of Anglican clergy and faithful who wished to enter into full communion to do so while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical life.

Traditionalists within the Church of England have previously warned they might leave over issues such as the consecration of women bishops and gay priests. >>> Laura May, Press Association | Saturday, October 24, 2009

New Era Begins as Benedict Throws Open Gates of Rome to Disaffected Anglicans
Pope Benedict XVI. Photo: The Telegraph
THE TELEGRAPH – BLOG: This is astonishing news. Pope Benedict XVI has created an entirely new Church structure for disaffected Anglicans that will allow them to worship together – using elements of Anglican liturgy – under the pastoral supervision of their own specially appointed bishop or senior priest.

The Pope is now offering Anglicans worldwide “corporate reunion” on terms that will delight Anglo-Catholics. In theory, they can have their own married priests, parishes and bishops – and they will be free of liturgical interference by liberal Catholic bishops who are unsympathetic to their conservative stance.

There is even the possibility that married Anglican laymen could be accepted for ordination on a case-by-case basis – a remarkable concession.

Both Archbishop Vincent Nichols and Archbishop Rowan Williams are surprised by this dramatic move. Cardinal Levada, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was in Lambeth Palace only yesterday to spell out to Dr Williams what it means. This decision has, in effect, been taken over their heads – though there is no suggestion that Archbishop Nichols does not fully support this historic move. >>> Damian Thompson | Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Vatican Opens Door to Anglicans
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: ROME -- Pope Benedict XVI introduced a fast track for Anglicans seeking to join Roman Catholicism, a move paving the way for conservative Anglicans frustrated by their church's blessing of homosexuality in the priesthood and same-sex unions to enter the Catholic fold.

The Vatican on Tuesday announced plans to create a special set of canon laws, known as an "Apostolic Constitution," to allow Anglican faithful, priests and bishops to enter into full communion with the Vatican without having to give up a large part of their liturgical and spiritual traditions.

With the measures, Pope Benedict is attempting to reclaim ground lost by the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th century when King Henry VIII defied papal authority to found the Church of England. The move clears the way for entire congregations of Anglicans to join the Catholic Church and makes it easier for married Anglican priests to convert without embracing Catholicism's traditional code of priestly celibacy. >>> Stacy Meichtry and Amy Merrick | Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Italy: La dolce vita Dampened by Excess Alcohol
ADN KRONOS INTERNATIONAL (AKI): Italy's passion for La Dolce vita seems to have been dampened by excess. There are now an estimated 60,000 alcoholics across the country and 1.5 million Italians between the age of 11 and 24 are at risk of alcohol abuse.

Now Italy's two biggest cities, Rome and Milan, have introduced new regulations to restrict alcohol consumption, particularly among young people, to tackle the problem.

The northern city of Milan took the initiative in July and banned the consumption and sale of alcohol to young teenagers in an effort to stop binge drinking.

Parents of children under the age of 16 caught drinking wine or spirits will be liable to heavy fines of up to 500 euros.

Now the city of Rome and local merchants have agreed to a new protocol designed to limit the sale of alcohol to teenagers and monitor consumption.

Under the new regulations it will be illegal to sell alcohol to anyone under the age of 16 and anyone serving alcohol must be at least 18 years of age.

If the city's nightclubs want to stay open until 5 a.m. they must also follow this new protocol or their late licence will be revoked.

Emanuela Lancianese, a spokeswoman for Rome city council, told Adnkronos International (AKI) that excessive alcohol consumption had become a serious problem in the Italian capital. >>> Christina Fox | Friday, August 07, 2009

Escort Patrizia D'Addario Says Berlusconi Party Was ‘Like Harem’
Photo: TimesOnline
TIMES ONLINE: Silvio Berlusconi faced mounting pressure to come clean about his private life yesterday after revelations that he entertained about 20 women, including two lesbian escort girls, until dawn during a private party at his house in Rome.

Patrizia D’Addario, the Bari prostitute who claims to have recorded footage that proves her encounters with the Prime Minister, gave more details of her first meeting with Mr Berlusconi, saying: “It felt like a harem. And there was only one sheikh. Him.”

She also spoke of the “strange burglary” in which her underwear, computer and the dress she wore to the party were allegedly stolen from her home days after she told a friend of the secret recordings.

It is understood that the video recordings, taken on her mobile phone, show Ms D’Addario in the Prime Minister’s bedroom. She claims that the four-poster bed with white drapes and duvets were given to him as a present by his friend Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister. A Kremlin spokesman denied that Mr Putin had ever given the Italian leader a bed. >>> Lucy Bannerman in Bari | Friday, June 26, 2009

TIMES ONLINE: Senior Roman Catholic Bishop Calls for Silvio Berlusconi to Resign

A Roman Catholic bishop called for the resignation of Silvio Berlusconi, the first time that such a senior figure of the Church has done so, adding to a growing sense that the crisis over the beleaguered Italian Prime Minister’s private life is out of control.

Monsignor Domenico Mogavero, Bishop of Mazara del Vallo in Sicily and a former senior official in the Italian Bishops' Conference, said that Mr Berlusconi should “consider whether it is opportune to resign in the interests of the country”.

The Prime Minister was further criticised by the Church when Archbishop Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa, head of the Conference, warned against “men drunk on a delirium of their own greatness, who touch the illusion of omnipotence and distort moral values”. >>> Richard Owen in Rome | Friday, June 26, 2009

Les femmes dans le monde arabe sont comme des "meubles" dénonce Kadhafi
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: VISITE OFFICIELLE | Le leader libyen a estimé que le monde avait besoin d'une révolution féminine basée sur une révolution culturelle.

Mouammar Kadhafi a rencontré des femmes italiennens au troisième jour de sa visite en Italie. Crédits photo: Tribune de Genève
Les femmes dans le monde arabe et musulman sont comme "des meubles" que l’on peut déplacer à volonté sans devoir répondre à qui que ce soit, a estimé vendredi le leader libyen Mouammar Kadhafi, au troisième jour de sa visite officielle en Italie. "La femme est comme un meuble qu’il est possible de changer quand on veut et personne ne demandera jamais pourquoi on l’a fait", a dit M. Kadhafi, cité par l’agence Ansa, au cours d’un discours devant des femmes italiennes provenant du monde de la culture, de la politique et de l’économie. >>> AFP | Vendredi 12 Juin 2009