‘Climate justice’, new diktats
In a landmark ruling, the Paris Administrative Court has condemned the French state for ecological and environmental damage, as it is not meeting its commitments to cut carbon dioxide emissions. A fundamental step in the process of imposing a new ecological dictatorship.
Candlemas, the triumph of sweet and savoury pancakes
On 2 February, the day of Jesus' presentation in the temple and Mary's purification, both Italy and France have a tradition of eating pancakes (or crêpes). There are many versions and variations depending on the region, but it is a shared tradition. And in France, in all regions, only crêpes are eaten for Candlemas, from morning to night.
- THE RECIPE: KNIAKIACHL
The real Chinese model is Taiwan. But nobody is interested
While China emerges as the global winner of the pandemic challenge and related economic crisis, it is often forgotten that there is another China that is a far more attractive model for the free world. It is the China of Taiwan. It has a lower mortality and higher growth rate. Yet for all international organisations, Taiwan ‘doesn’t exist’.
Letter on Consecrated Life, as ideological as Fratelli Tutti
A recent letter issued from the Congregation for Consecrated Life overturns the aim that guides virginal and religious consecration: the search for God. Instead, the document proposes the ideology of a horizontal brotherhood, where Jesus Christ is seen as an “optional” or, at best, a useful means in the wake of the encyclical "Fratelli Tutti" (Brothers All ), which is often cited and proposed as a model.
Left-wing tilt: a secularist threatened by jihadists
Nadia Geerts, a Brussels-based philosophy teacher, militant atheist and radical secularist, wrote an article for Marianne magazine, expressing intellectual solidarity with Samuel Paty, a history professor beheaded by Islamists in France for having shown cartoon drawings of Mohammed in his classroom. Now, she is the one under threat. Who will the left stand with? Will a multicultural Belgium come to her defence?
Somalia, thirty years of war: the failure of a nation
The deposition of dictator Siad Barre in January 1991 should have opened a new era of freedom and development: instead, a war between clans broke out, which still endures today and has encouraged the growth of Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab. Not to mention the billions of dollars in international aid that have ended up in the pockets of the ‘warlords’.
Delays and failures: the ‘sacred’ vaccine bluff revealed
Data on adverse reactions, critical post-marketing analyses, publications questioning the real efficacy of different vaccines: it emerges that we are facing a commercial war between manufacturers and between European and national institutions. The withdrawal of the Pasteur Institute and Merck, the doubts about the efficacy of AstraZeneca’s antidote, Sanofi’s delays, and Pfizer’s breaches: it has to be admitted that public opinion has been deceived. Only the bishops still ‘blindly’ believe in it.
The fish, symbol of Christ the Saviour
Besides being a source of nourishment, the fish is a symbol that recurs frequently in the Holy Scriptures. Early Christians used it as a sign of recognition to indicate the Saviour. It is no coincidence that Jesus makes much use of the metaphor of fishing in his discourses. And in the figure of Peter, one of the fishermen Apostles and the first Pope, we can see the link between Christ and believers.
- THE RECIPE: BAKED SAINT PETER’S FISH WITH OLIVES AND FENNEL
"I’m a smuggler, just like Moses." Stories of human traffickers
While hundreds of illegal immigrants have been arriving on Italian shores, the U.N. is pointing out the seriousness of illegal human trafficking, a business that earns transnational criminal organisations upwards of around $10 billion annually. Trafficking is not just tied to Mediterranean crossings, but to complex networks with dozens of bases set up along land routes spanning thousands of kilometres and with activities ranging from document forgery to marketing operations. What's more, human traffickers see themselves as do-gooders: “I make dreams come true,” says Kabir, a Pakistani trafficker. And a Siberian trafficker named Alexsandr says, "Moses was the first smuggler in history, I am just like him".
Ireland in 20th century: cruel and harsh but the Church wasn’t to blame
Ireland in the 20th century may have been cruel and harsh, but the Church wasn’t to blame. The report on Catholic "Mother and Baby Homes" of the twentieth century largely disproves the black legend about the mistreatment and exploitation of women and children. It makes us reflect on the Church's inability to counter social norms and to create a culture of respects for all persons.
