Apr 16th, 2011 at 11:30AM: There's been a shocking archaeological discovery in Israel. Nails from the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ have been found!
Well, no, probably not.
The claim comes from Israeli Canadian documentary filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici, the Washington Post reports. Jacobovici has done several documentaries on Christian subjects and came across an archaeological report from 1990 mentioning the discovery of ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
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Crucifixion nails found in Israel? Probably not.
Apr 16th, 2011 at 11:30AM: There's been a shocking archaeological discovery in Israel. Nails from the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ have been found!
Well, no, probably not.
The claim comes from Israeli Canadian documentary filmmaker Simcha Jacobovici, the Washington Post reports. Jacobovici has done several documentaries on Christian subjects and came across an archaeological report from 1990 mentioning the discovery of ...The triumph of Death: the mummified monks of Rome's Capuchin Crypt
Sep 27th, 2010 at 10:00AM:
Vertebrae rosettes. A crown of thorns made from finger bones. An arch of skulls.
Three skeletons of children lean huddled in a group as if to comfort one another. Behind them hangs an hourglass made of pelvis bones. Above soars the skeleton of a youth bearing a scythe of clavicles and scales made of kneecaps. Dirt and gravestones cover the floor. Mummified bodies wearing the cowled robes of ...Saints' relics in Rome
Sep 23rd, 2010 at 11:30AM:
Everywhere you go in Rome, there are body parts on display.
The churches are full of them, and people travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to see them. They're the mortal remains of saints and apostles and are venerated as holy relics.
Relics were big business in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Every church wanted some because it meant pilgrims would come visit, and pilgrims meant ...The death of paganism: how the Roman Empire converted to Christianity
Sep 21st, 2010 at 10:00AM:
In the year 300 AD, Christianity was a minority religion in the Roman Empire, practiced by perhaps ten percent of the population. In good years it was discriminated against; in bad years it was persecuted. By 400 AD, a century later, it had become the official religion practiced by pretty much everyone. Evidence of this remarkable transformation can still be seen in Rome's monuments.
Teachers ...The tombs of Rome--where art meets death
Sep 15th, 2010 at 10:30AM:
If you're going to your eternal rest in the Eternal City, you should go in style.
Sure, you can't take it with you, but you can show off what you had, and with all the competition in this place you have to do something special to make an impression. Rome is filled with grandiose monuments to the dead. First there are the giant tombs and temples of the Roman emperors. They were worshiped as ...The Purgatory Museum
Sep 14th, 2010 at 10:00AM: I'm not sure what I'm looking at.
A rectangular slab of wood bears two burn marks--one in the shape of a cross, the other resembles a human hand. Nearby are other items--a shirt, a prayer book, a pillow--all with burns that look like they've been made by fiery fingers.
I'm in Rome's smallest and strangest museum, the Piccolo Museo del Purgatorio, the Little Museum of Purgatory. Housed in the ...Record turnout on Spain's Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail
Aug 31st, 2010 at 10:30AM: For more than a thousand years, the faithful have been making an arduous journey along rugged trails in Spain's northwestern province of Galicia to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Dedicated to the Apostle St. James, it's one of Europe's most popular pilgrimage destinations and the routes leading there are seeing record numbers of hikers.
Part of the boom is because this year St. James' ...Turkey wants Santa's bones back
Dec 30th, 2009 at 1:30PM: A Turkish archaeologist is campaigning to have the bones of St. Nicholas, the model for the legend of Santa Claus, returned to the saint's hometown in Turkey. Saint Nicholas was the bishop of the Roman town of Myra, modern Demre in what is now Turkey, in the 4th century. He came from a rich family and was famous for giving money to the poor. People would leave their shoes out for him to put money ...Italian answer to swine flu--automatic holy water dispensers
Nov 12th, 2009 at 10:30AM:
tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.gadling.com/2009/11/12/italian-answer-to-swine-flu-holy-water-dispensers/'; tweetmeme_source = 'Gadling';
Visitors to many Italian churches will see a new addition next to the door--automatic holy water dispensers.
digg_url = 'http://digg.com/health/Italian_Answer_to_Swine_Flu_Automatic_Holy_Water_Dispensers'; Priests have been noticing that worshipers are ...Fiestas de la Virgen de la Paloma in Madrid
Aug 11th, 2009 at 6:30PM: If you're in Spain this week, you won't want to miss the festival for the "Virgin of the Dove". This takes place every year in the old barrio of La Latina in Madrid and honors an 18th century portrait of the Virgin that was found in the trash one day and captured the barrio's heart. I went to one of these a couple of years ago and it's loads of fun. There's music, dancing, and lots of limonada, ...Drunk Brits get Crete arrest for nun prank
May 26th, 2009 at 8:00AM: How many people actually dress up as nuns when they get drunk?
In Crete, the answer was "17" recently. That's how many drunk British tourists were arrested for insulting the Catholic Church. After a bit of extra imbibing, they donned "nun attire and naughty lingerie," which didn't sit too well with the local cops.
The tourists were busted in Malia, which is a popular destination for the young, ...In Las Vegas, sin and forgiveness are side by side
Jan 1st, 2009 at 2:00PM: It might be called Sin City, but that doesn't mean that it is a complete place of moral decay (sorry). There are churches of the Catholic denomination located right on the Las Vegas Strip. The most noticeable one is Guardian Angel Cathedral, which located next to the newest of the Wynn casinos. It is actually not preaching fire and brimstone to the tourists who descend upon the city throughout the ...Holy water may be blessed, but don't carry it on the pope's plane: The pope says so
Sep 4th, 2008 at 10:00AM: A friend of mine told me this summer about how his small jar of apple butter was confiscated at the TSA security check. He was hoping to bring it from Minnesota back to Montana..
Another person recently told me that the snow globe she was bringing back as a souvenir from her vacation to California this summer was also confiscated by TSA. Unfortunately, she read the post about snow globes not ...Pope souvenirs could be a bargain soon?Just wondering
Apr 20th, 2008 at 6:30PM: The last few weeks have been a shopping bonanza in the U.S. for Pope Benedict XVI souvenirs. People have snapped up pope items that range from rosaries to T-shirts, mugs, key chains to postcards, including Pope on a rope soap and bobble-head dolls. The urge to take a piece of the papacy home with them has enticed some folks to spend hundreds of dollars, according to this article from the ...No Wrong Turns: Easter in Mexico....No Mini Eggs Here
Mar 24th, 2008 at 9:40AM: You won't find any pastel colored eggs, chocolates or fuzzy white rabbits in Mexico during Easter. In fact, there isn't a speck of the materialistic, Cadbury-bunny-laced Easter we have come to know and love at home. And, believe me, I looked for those addictive Mini Eggs everywhere. Mexicans are predominantly Catholic and Holy Week, or "Semana Santa" as it is known here, is the most important ...
