Pope Shuts Down Rome Monastery for 'Questionable Behaviour' of Monks
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Pope has shut down a 500-year-old Rome monastery and kicked out its monks after it gained notoriety for hosting a performance by a lap dancer-turned-nun and welcomed celebrities such as Madonna.


Benedict XVI ordered the closure of the monastery of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem (Santa Croce in Gerusalemmme), which holds some of the Roman Catholic Church's most prized relics, because of "financial and liturgical irregularities", a Vatican spokesman told The Daily Telegraph.

Around 20 Cistercian monks will be transferred to other monasteries around Italy, after it was found that their "lifestyles" were "not in keeping" with Church doctrine, bringing to an end a monastic presence on the site that dates back five centuries.

They reportedly demonstrated "questionable behaviour and a lack of moral discipline" – a possible allusion to homosexual relations, which the Church regards as a sin.

The historic monastery is attached to the Church of the Holy Cross, which was founded in 320AD by the mother of the Emperor Constantine, St Helena, who is said to have brought back the relics from the Holy Land.

In recent years it has established a reputation for publicity-seeking stunts and the courting of wealthy celebrities, including Gloria Estefan and Madonna. » | Nick Squires, Rome | Thursday, May 26, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Relics held at Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem: The Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem – known in Italian as Santa Croce in Gerusalemme – holds some of the Roman Catholic Church's most prized relics. » | Nick Squires, Rome | Thursday, May 26, 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: History of the Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem: The history of the Church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, one of Rome's best known basilicas, stretches back nearly 2,000 years. » | Nick Squires, Rome | Thursday, May 26, 2011

Battle Over a Christian Monastery Tests Turkey's Tolerance of Minorities
Photo courtesy of AINA
ASSYRIAN INTERNATIONAL NEWS AGENCY (AINA): KARTMIN, TURKEY -- Christians have lived in these parts since the dawn of their faith. But they have had a rough couple of millennia, preyed on by Persian, Arab, Mongol, Kurdish and Turkish armies.

Each group tramped through the rocky highlands that now comprise Turkey's southeastern border with Iraq and Syria.

The current menace is less bellicose but is deemed a threat nonetheless. A group of state land surveyors and Muslim villagers are intent on shrinking the boundaries of an ancient monastery by more than half. The monastery, called Mor Gabriel, is revered by the Syriac Orthodox Church.

Battling to hang on to the monastic lands, Bishop Timotheus Samuel Aktas is fortifying his defenses. He's hired two Turkish lawyers -- one Muslim, one Christian -- and mobilized support from foreign diplomats, clergy and politicians.

Also giving a helping hand, says the bishop, is Saint Gabriel, a predecessor as abbot who died in the seventh century: "We still have four of his fingers." Locked away for safekeeping, the sacred digits are treasured as relics from the past -- and a hex on enemies in the present.

The outcome of the land dispute is now in the hands of a Turkish court. Seated below a bust of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, modern Turkey's secular founding father, a robed judge on Wednesday told the feuding parties that he would issue a ruling after he visits the disputed territory himself next month. >>> By Andrew Higgins, WSJ | Saturday, March 7, 2009

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