What’s your sign? Does it matter? A team from the University of Manchester did a study in 2007 called “Ten million marriages: A test of astrological ‘love signs’”. They analyzed 10 million marriages, using census data from the U.K. and inferring astrological signs from couples’ birth dates. This research shows that astrological sign has no impact Read more
A photograph from WYD shows Pope Francis clearly wearing a chotki around his wrist. A chotki is a “prayer rope,” similar to the rosary, used by the Orthodox and Eastern rite Catholics. When praying, the user normally holds the prayer rope in the left hand, leaving the right hand free to make the Sign of the Read more
It looks like an airport hangar and it sounds like a rock concert. Thousands have packed into a megachurch on the periphery of Sao Paulo for one of Father Marcelo Rossi’s Thursday night masses. Singing priest, Father Marcelo, 46, was a personal trainer before he joined the clergy. Now he is at the forefront of Read more
Italian priest Father Bruno Maggioni has begun to garner quite the following for his wedding theatrics, singing and dancing his way through ceremonies in the Italian town of Limbiate, north of Milan. During a wedding this week, the he belted out 1980s pop song “Mamma Maria” from Italian group Ricchi e Poveri. The debate over whether Maggioni’s behaviour Read more
Glynn Cardy, who is soon to finish as the Vicar of Auckland’s St Matthew’s in the City, answers 12 questions posed by New Zealand Herald columnist Sarah Stewart. Of all his answers, the one he give to question 5, “Do you regret any of the offence some felt when confronted by St Matthew’s billboards?“, is the shortest – a Read more
Got a spare $3.5 million? Then you need to be quick to bag yourself a house, garden, chapel, wooden ark and panoramic views of Christchurch’s coastline. A nearly 3-hectare section on Clifton Hill had proved to be a “tough sale” for the past couple of years, Harcourts agent Joy Butel said, but the property’s luck Read more
A Bible with an inscription from Albert Einstein has sold for US$68,500 (NZ$88,012) at an auction in New York City. The German-born physicist and his wife signed it in 1932 and gifted it to an American friend named Harriett Hamilton. The Bible’s final price far exceeds its pre-sale estimate of between US$1,500 and US$2,500. Continue Read more
A Romanian lawyer is suing his local Orthodox bishop and four priests claiming they failed to properly exorcise flatulent demons that were forcing him out of his home. Madalin Ciculescu, 34, accused the five of fraud after they turned up several times to exercise the demons which were responsible for the bad smells that were Read more
A group of young Catholics have posted a cartoon called “Meet Pope Francis”. They say that their idea is to help Catholics and non-Catholics alike get to know the life and story of Pope Francis. They say that while it is true that the Holy Father represents all Catholics, “he is still only one man Read more
Sir Tony Baldry, who represents the Church of England in the Commons, said dozens of parish churches were facing potential closure because of the crippling cost of dealing with bat infestations. He told MPs that bat droppings were causing serious damage to medieval wall paintings, sculptures and wooden effigies – as well as posing a Read more