Worse than Germany: A memorial ceremony for Buddhist woman Marta Pezzati, 59, was held on August 20 in the Catholic Church of San Martino in Rebbio, Como, Italy. Pezzati was president of the volunteer association Como Accoglie and was well known locally for her work assisting migrants and refugees. The ceremony was hosted by the parish priest Giusto Della Valle, who had worked with Pezzati on initiatives involving migrants. Two Buddhist monks participated in the ceremony. One of the monks later told LaNuovaBq.it that the event was “not a Mass and not even a funeral, but a remembrance of Marta's generosity.” He said there had been no Catholic liturgy or Catholic prayer. Priest: “She Found God in Budddha” Video recordings show Father Della Valle and another Catholic priest present wearing an alb and stole. During the ceremony, the two Buddhist monks chanted a Buddhist mantra from the ambo. Father Della Valle also spoke about Pezzati's Buddhist faith. He described her as a “woman of …'Besdal
Deep Dives @DeepDivesUsa Russia will charge producers with Genetically modified food as TERRORISTS. Putin has BANNED genetically modified food (GMO) and anyone who sells them will face terrorism charges. Russia sees selling harmful food to the population as a terrorist act.
Silicon Valley “Neighborhood Masses” Fuse Eucharist and Community Organizing. Worse than Germany: One Saturday a month, Rev. Rick Rodoni, pastor of St. Lucy Parish in the heart of Silicon Valley, celebrates pop-up “Neighborhood Masses.” Posters declare that “everyone is welcome!” The Eucharist is celebrated in a parking area, with a makeshift altar and folding chairs. The liturgy is combined with “community listening sessions.” After the Liturgy of the Word, tables are available for neighbors to express their concerns “during the Mass.”
"Citizens Want Political Turnaround": AfD Now … ... So berichtet manin den USA über den aktuellen Erfolgskurs der AfD ... AfD liegt in ganz Ostdeutschland bei 43 Prozent "Bürger fordern politischen Wandel nach Jahren gescheiterter progressiver Experimente, die eine Masseneinwanderung aus der Dritten Welt und eine die Nation schädigende Deindustrialisierung begünstigt hätten. AfD-Co-Chefin Alice Weidel schrieb auf "X": „Laut aktueller Forsa-Umfrage liegt die AfD im gesamten Osten bei 43 Prozent, die CDU nur noch bei 13 Prozent. Die Bürger wollen die politische Wende!“ Die zentrale Aussage der Umfrage: Die AfD liegt mehr als dreimal so hoch wie die unionsgeführte CDU/CSU und höher als CDU/CSU, SPD und Grüne zusammen. (...) “Ein Grund für die besondere Frustration vieler Bürger: Europas Wirtschaftsmotor gerät ins Stocken. Betriebsräte des Volkswagen-Konzerns warnten Anfang dieser Woche, dass beim angeschlagenen Autobauer bis zu 140.000 Stellen wegfallen könnten." (...) "Citizens Want …'Besdal
Argentine newspaper La Nación reports that Pope Leo XIV’s planned visit to Argentina is shaping up as a strong continuation of Pope Francis’s pastoral priorities and style, with a particular emphasis on the poor, workers, prisoners and marginalized communities. The likely agenda includes a meeting with grassroots and social movements, a visit to Villa Devoto prison, and a large gathering with young people at San Lorenzo’s football stadium in Buenos Aires. All three have strong symbolic connections to Francis. As Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, Francis maintained close relationships with poor neighborhoods, prisoners and grassroots movements. San Lorenzo was also famously his football club. The stadium is located near the Padre Ricciardelli neighborhood, where Bergoglio frequently carried out pastoral work. According to the provisional schedule, Leo XIV would arrive in Buenos Aires from Uruguay on Sunday, November 8, spend several days in Argentina, potentially travel to Córdoba on November …'Besdal
From diocese of Wheeling-Charleston: To foster greater unity among the Catholic faithful & provide various spiritual needs, Bishop Menjívar announced Fr. Timothy J. Grassi, V.F., of St. James Parish in Charles Town, has been appointed Episcopal Delegate for Matters Concerning the Usus Antiquior.
VaticanNews.va has profiled Anna Medeossi, the first woman to serve as rector of a Catholic shrine. The Italian architect and consecrated virgin has served for nearly a year as rector of the Shrine of Notre-Dame de Santa Cruz in Oran, Algeria. She initially became involved with the shrine as an architect, working on its renovation. The shrine is visited primarily by Muslims.
[vaticannews] At the Rimini Meeting, we spoke with Anna Medeossi, who has been entrusted with the care of Notre-Dame de Santa Cruz in Oran, Algeria, about her story of encounter, faith, and listening. By Eugenio Murrali and Andrea Tornielli - Rimini Anna Medeossi has a lively and determined gaze, gentleness in her voice and gestures, and a wisdom that is both humble and profound. An architect originally from the Italian city of Gorizia, she might never have imagined what life would call her to do nearly a year ago: become the first woman in the world to serve as rector of a shrine. That distinction takes on even greater significance because of where the shrine is located: Notre-Dame de Santa Cruz in Oran, Algeria, an overwhelmingly Muslim country. Images of the shrine she oversees were seen around the world on the occasion of the beatification of the Martyrs of Algeria. From architecture to caring for the shrine Her arrival at Santa Cruz—where she now also lives as a consecrated virgin …'Besdal
Mother of Mercy Chapel in Columbus, Ohio, was already a beautiful Romanesque-style church, but later 20th-century alterations had diminished the coherence of its sanctuary. In 2025, William Heyer Architect replaced the small modern forward altar with a hand-carved wooden freestanding altar better suited to the character of the historic interior. The main intervention was the expansion of Rudolph Scheffler’s 1950s Christ the King apse mural. New saints and sacred symbols now occupy previously bare areas around the original composition.
Before and After: Mother of Mercy Chapel at St. Charles Preparatory School in Columbus, Ohio
Lord Bebo & Friends AIR DEFENSE STORAGE HIT Looks like the ammunition depot stored air defense missiles to defend Kiev’s central area and leadership. The rare assets Ukraine needs the most went up in smoke. Cooked-off ammunition destroyed dozens of civilian buildings around it. Burning rockets hit everything nearby at random. “Terrible event” Join us | @MyLordBebo
Leo XIV Accepts Secularised Mitre as Gift: Rev. Tom McCarthy, a Chicago priest and fellow Augustinian, gave Leo XIV a Chicago White Sox “Pope Hat” at the Vatican. The mitre-shaped hat was originally produced en masse by the Chicago White Sox baseball team as a giveaway for their August 11 game. Leo XIV has been a White Sox fan since childhood and attended Game 1 of the 2005 World Series.
Today, Pope Leo XIV has approved the election of Sharbel Ghattas Maroun as the new Maronite Catholic archbishop of Damascus. A Lebanese-born priest, he has spent much of his ministry in the United States. Archbishop Maroun, 64, was elected by the Synod of Bishops of the Maronite Church. He succeeds Archbishop Samir Nassar, 76, whose resignation was accepted by the synod. Since 2020, Maroun has served as protosyncellus, a senior position comparable to vicar general, of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles. Born January 6, 1962, in Kfarselwan, Lebanon, Maroun briefly worked for Crédit Libanais bank. Older Brother, a Lebanese Forces Fighter, Helped Maroun During Civil War In 1975, Lebnen, the father, and the eldest brother Nassif joined the Kataeb (Phalange) party and took up arms to defend their home. The family's house was confiscated and not recovered for 40 years. In 1981 Lebnen's local group formally joined the Lebanese Forces militia. In 1983, during the Mountain …'Besdal
Townie Patriots They admitted it themselves. A CNN Technical Director was caught on hidden camera telling the world exactly what the corporate media machine has planned for you. His words: "The next pandemic will be Climate Change" and "We have to start now injecting fear with climate change and natural disasters." This is not a theory. This is a confession. Straight from the mouth of someone who helps control what millions of Americans see and believe every single day. This is the same playbook they ran with COVID. Manufacture the fear, control the narrative, keep the people scared and compliant. Now they are openly admitting they want to do it all over again with climate change. They are not reporting the news. They are engineering your emotions and deciding what reality you are allowed to believe. Every American who loves this country needs to see this video right now. Share this everywhere before it gets buried. The media does not fear criticism. They fear being exposed. Patriots …'Besdal
Singapore Introduces New Family Support Measures: With the country’s fertility rate falling to a record low of just 0.87 children per woman, Singapore is introducing a major new support package for families. From 2027, the government will provide nearly S$70,000 (about US$55,000) in support for each Singaporean child from birth to age 17. The package includes cash payments, childcare credits, healthcare and education support.
Geopolitics Prime | Iran & Ukraine News Updates Russian strikes hit trucks in Odessa region – another blow to Ukrainian logistics A parking lot packed with freight trucks came under fire in the Izmail district of the Odessa region overnight. Substack|Chat| @geopolitics_prime
After the 2018 Sino-Vatican agreement “terrible things happen to Catholics” in the Fujian province, an anonymous Chinese bishop who is unaffiliated with the Chinese state church ‘Patriotic Association’, told Anthony Clark for CatholicWorldReport.com on August 23. The bishop speaks of a “state of emergency”. As government influence over the bishops increases, “the integrity of the Catholic faith will suffer.” To “assure the survival of China’s Church,” new bishops have been “secretly consecrated.” The bishop says the faithful question Rome’s genuine concern for their “spiritual well-being” when the Holy See approves government-selected bishops whom they regard as too reliable to the state. The number is unknown, but he suggested that “at least ten new bishops” were consecrated for the underground community in the Fujian province. #newsTzdkbhbakv
[wherepeteris] Written by Lavoisier Fernandes We live in an age increasingly suspicious of objective truth and universal moral authority. In a culture shaped by postmodern thinking, truth can become intensely personal — something determined less by what is true than by what I believe to be true. Social media has amplified this tendency, giving everyone a platform, an audience, and, sometimes, the illusion that every opinion carries equal authority. St. John Paul II anticipated this crisis of truth in Fides et Ratio(1998), warning against reducing the search for meaning to “merely human argumentation.” For Christianity, truth is not simply an idea to be constructed or a preference to be asserted. Truth has a face: Jesus Christ Yet a crisis of truth inevitably becomes a crisis of authority. If truth is reduced to personal conviction, a fundamental question follows: Who has the authority to tell me what is true? “Cafeteria Catholicism” in a Polarized Church That question has not remained …'Besdal