The Doomsday Clock, the imaginary clock that indicates how close we are to Judgment Day, has just been moved at the beginning of 2020 to “100 seconds from midnight.” Are we really living in the most dangerous moment of history? The continuous top-tier news coverage of the Chinese coronavirus is keeping us in a continual state of fear, a fear that is unjustified but which “serves a purpose.”

At the University of Pisa it is now permitted for a student to change his or her name even if it has not been changed on his or her birth certificate, all in an effort to end discrimination. But behind the mantras of gender freedom, globalization, multiculturalism, “ecu-mania” and environmentalism is an assault on the identity of the person and of nations, cultures, and the Catholic faith – it is an assault against reality itself in order to replace it with a constructed ideal. But if you try to take away the sides of a square, the result is that its reality disappears and becomes nothing.

In the latest film by the American director, The Irishman, there is a notable repetition of the same autobiographical thread also found in Silence and The Last Temptation of Christ: The remorse of having turned his back on Christ to follow lust. It is no coincidence that his adviser was the Jesuit James Martin, for whom one can live in sin and be saved anyway.

Sir Roger Scruton, the British philosopher who died last week, was known for being a tenacious defender of the absolute importance of beauty. From his point of view, in the last century, all western forms of art have gradually renounced the pursuit of beauty, mainly because of atheism.

After the publication of the book by Vanessa Springora, France is shaken. But the sexual experiences of the writer Gabriel Matzneff, with children between 10 and 15 years old, were known, described in his books and even told 'playfully' on TV. Yet he has received multiple literary awards, political support (right and especially left) and collaborations with leading newspapers. It was he who wrote the Petition of 1977, which in fact asked for the decriminalization of pedophilia. And that was signed by many famous French intellectuals, already protagonists of the 1968. A case that once again confirms the lucidity of Benedict XVI's analysis on the spread of pedophilia.

The Daily Compass watched the Netflix movie, “The Two Popes.” Read this and you won’t need to watch it: it is ideological, ridiculous and a cheap shot at painting Benedict XVI as a decrepit man and Pope Francis as the Church‘s Robin Hood. Just to give you an idea, there is a scene where Bella Ciao is sung - a Communist melody which has become associated with the Italian resistance against the Nazis.

Last December 12, CNN dedicated a long and abundantly illustrated article to the Holy Shroud, where my declarations have been manipulated to give the idea of the emotional passion of those who approach the Shroud believing in its authenticity, in contrast to the scientific rigour of those who consider it false. It is really a bad example of journalism, a poor and unprofessional article.

The biennial contemporary sacred art exhibition titled ‘Ode to Life,’ is currently being held at the Grand Hôtel des Ambassadeurs in Menton, on the French Riviera. It is the first of its kind and well worth a detour. Curated by Liana Marabini, it runs to the end of October.