| U.S. spy agency denies that it eavesdropped on Vatican Posted: 30 Oct 2013 03:34 PM PDT  WASHINGTON/VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The National Security Agency, responsible for U.S. electronic eavesdropping, said on Wednesday that it does not target the Vatican and called an Italian media report that it had done so "not true." Panorama magazine said on Wednesday that the NSA had eavesdropped on Vatican phone calls, possibly including when former Pope Benedict's successor was under discussion. "The National Security Agency does not target the Vatican. Assertions that NSA has targeted the Vatican, published in Italy's Panorama magazine, are not true," NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines said in a statement.
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| U.S. security agency denies reports it targeted Vatican Posted: 30 Oct 2013 01:47 PM PDT  The National Security Agency, responsible for U.S. electronic eavesdropping, said on Wednesday that it does not target the Vatican, and called an Italian media report that it had done so "not true." "The National Security Agency does not target the Vatican. Assertions that NSA has targeted the Vatican, published in Italy's Panorama magazine, are not true," agency spokeswoman Vanee Vines said in a statement. Panorama magazine said on Wednesday that the NSA had eavesdropped on Vatican phone calls, possibly including when former Pope Benedict's successor was under discussion.
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| Little boy climbs on papal chair, steals the show as Pope Francis leads pep rally for families Posted: 30 Oct 2013 01:43 PM PDT VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis was delivering a homily but a little boy stole the show. |
| Little boy sits in pope's chair, steals the show Posted: 30 Oct 2013 01:21 PM PDT  VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis was delivering a homily but a little boy stole the show.
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| Italian magazine says U.S. spies listened to pope, Vatican says unaware Posted: 30 Oct 2013 10:13 AM PDT  An Italian magazine said on Wednesday that a United States spy agency had eavesdropped on Vatican phone calls, possibly including when former Pope Benedict's successor was under discussion, but the Holy See said it had no knowledge of any such activity. Panorama magazine said that among 46 million phone calls followed by the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) in Italy from December 10, 2012, to January 8, 2013, were conversations in and out of the Vatican. In a press release before full publication on Thursday, Panorama said the "NSA had tapped the pope". Asked to comment on the report, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said: "We are not aware of anything on this issue and in any case we have no concerns about it." Media reports based on revelations from Edward Snowden, the fugitive former U.S. intelligence operative granted asylum in Russia, have said the NSA had spied on French citizens over the same period in December in January.
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| Italian artist dismantles church to rebuild it in New York Posted: 30 Oct 2013 08:28 AM PDT  Montegiordano (Italy) (AFP) - An Italian artist has dismantled a church in southern Italy to rebuild it at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in New York, ruffling feathers among heritage authorities. The pretty church in the small village of Montegiordano in Calabria, built at the end of the 19th century and later desecrated, has been carefully taken apart and wrapped up stone by stone on the orders of Italian artist Francesco Vezzoli. It now has to be shipped to the United States where it is expected to figure in the heart of one of the world's top contemporary art museums, the MoMA PS1 in the Long Island City neighbourhood of New York. Vezzoli, 42, a popular and controversial artist and filmmaker from northern Italy, aims to rebuild the church as part of his "Trinity" project on art, religion and glamour -- a series of exhibitions being shown at the MOMA, the MOCA in Los Angeles and the MAXXI in Rome.
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| US 'eavesdropped on Vatican in run-up to conclave' Posted: 30 Oct 2013 08:10 AM PDT  US secret services allegedly eavesdropped on cardinals before the conclave in March to elect a new pope, Italian weekly magazine Panorama claimed Wednesday. "The National Security Agency wiretapped the pope," the magazine said, accusing the United States of listening in to telephone calls to and from the Vatican, including the accommodation housing cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio before he was elected Pope Francis. The allegations follow a report on surveillance website Cryptome which said the United States intercepted 46 million telephone calls in Italy in December 2012 and early January 2013. Among those, "there are apparently also calls from and to the Vatican," Panorama said.
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| Stop Writing Epitaphs for the 'Religious Right' Posted: 28 Oct 2013 03:05 PM PDT  "Today, after more than three decades of activism, many in the religious right are stepping back from the front lines," proclaimed a Wall Street Journal piece published last week, documenting an apparent "trend" of evangelical Christians stepping away from politics. The piece, framed as a profile of a "new" approach to activism by the Southern Baptist Convention's lead mouthpiece, Russell D. Moore, is just one of many pieces attempting to answer in the affirmative to a popular question: Is the religious right dying? Last Thursday, for instance, Buzzfeed framed an otherwise good piece about evangelical uneasiness towards Pope Francis around the hyperbolic idea of "How The Pope Could Tear Apart The Religious Right." Aside from that, it's really an interesting piece, and you should read it for a quick history lesson on the tenuous relationship between conservative American Catholics and the politically-engaged power players of the evangelical right. Andrew Sullivan also took up the eulogy for the right in "The Decline And Fall Of Christianism," which takes some encouragement from the Journal profile and the Pope's recent comments against a political focus on issues like abortion and homosexuality.
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| Can Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey Finally Satisfy 'Fifty Shades' Fans? Posted: 24 Oct 2013 06:47 AM PDT  When Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam left the 50 Shades of Grey movie, the noisy fans complaining about his casting rejoiced. Last night they got a new Christian Grey in Jamie Dornan, are they finally happy? When he did in fact leave the project one fan wrote on a Change.org petition backing Matt Bomer for the role: "I'M SO FREAKING OUT LIKE YOU GUYS I CANT BELIEVE THIS I'M SO HAPPY AND I DONT KNOW WHAT TO SAY IT'S LIKE A MIRACLE." But now, in a scramble to get the project off the ground, Justin Kroll of Variety reported last night that Universal chose Northern Irish heartthrob Jamie Dornan for the part.
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