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Pope Francis visits a music shop without a cortege, arriving in a Fiat 500 with Vatican plates

Yesterday evening the Pope slipped out of the Vatican and was caught leaving the StereoSound music shop near the Pantheon. Francis likes not only mischievous escapades but also classical music, Beethoven, Mozart and Bach above all, so why not combine the two passions, he thought? All the more so as

NB! · Faith · Rome

Christmas at the Vatican: That's All

Satellite image of the Vatican with a blue circle marking a courtyard used as a car park north of St Peter's Basilica.

NB! · Architecture · Faith · Observations · Rome · Humour

Car park in the lower part of the Belvedere Courtyard in a satellite image of the Vatican

The world's most exclusive car park can be seen in a satellite image of the Vatican. The lower part of the Belvedere Courtyard, one of the most celebrated and significant palaces of the Renaissance, is used as a parking lot. Every age has its own hallmarks

Faith · Observations · People · Rome

Pope Francis's first homily of 2022 was delivered at the obligatory festal Mass of the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, which closes the Christmas octave

Not so long ago, 1 January was not a feast of the Mother of God. The Orthodox will grasp this perfectly: the Dormition of the Theotokos falls in August, her Nativity in September, the Protection of the Theotokos in October, and her Entry into the Temple in November. So what

Faith · Observations · Society · Rome

The first papal homily of 2022 took as its theme the humility of the newborn Jesus and his trust in his Blessed Mother, given the poverty and uncertainty in which he was born, and urged us to fill our hearts with love rather than fear

Thus does God come: without so much as a cradle! With what feeling must Mary, knowing that she would bear a son who would be called the Son of the Most High and who was destined for the throne of his forefather David, lay her child, the infant Saviour, in

Faith · Society

Pope Francis condemned violence against women on 1 January 2022

How much violence is directed against women. Enough! To hurt a woman is to insult God. Pope Francis, 1 January 2022

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Michelangelo's Torment of Saint Anthony looks as though the song from the cartoon "Three Bogatyrs" is playing: "Carried off, oh, carried off, carried off somewhere I've been"

Faith · Observations · Society

Pope Francis restricts use of the old Missal and the Tridentine Mass

Pope Francis has restored restrictions on the pre-reform Latin Mass, commonly known as the Tridentine. It is scarcely noticeable, but a drama of almost schismatic proportions is now unfolding in the Catholic world. What does this mean? No, the Pope has not yet forbidden priests to say Mass in

Pope Francis in white vestments stands among a group of young people and two women in a room with golden walls and a carpet.

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Pope Francis brings ten migrants from Cyprus to Italy for his 85th birthday

For his 85th birthday Pope Francis gave Italy 10 migrants, whom he brought over from Cyprus yesterday. That is to say, he has given a great many more migrants than that, thousands of them, but a round ten is reserved for this particular day

Faith · Science · Nature

Francis Galton's rabbit experiments disproved Darwin's theory of gemmules

Besides their part in the many rites of Easter and in the Christian legendarium, rabbits also played a role in the scientific establishment of the mechanisms of heredity. And in a rather unexpected fashion. Darwin supposed that certain capsules containing hereditary information were lodged in the germ cells. In his

Architecture · Faith · Art · Nature · Rome

A Rabbit on the Wall of the Franciscan College of St Isidore in Rome

A rabbit on the wall of the Franciscan College of St Isidore in Rome. What is the little fellow doing here, apart from nibbling his cabbage? In the Middle Ages the rabbit was associated with the Immaculate Conception. Notions of the physiology of these animals pointed to purity. It is

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