Saint Valentine, when love is tinged with martyrdom
February 14 is universally known as Valentine’s Day, a celebration day for lovers. At the origin of an anniversary that is now mainly commercial lies the extraordinary story of a saint who was martyred for blessing the marriage of a Roman legionnaire who had converted to marry a young Christian.
Sara, the little “saint” who heals family wounds
A tragic and sudden death at only three and a half years old, breaks the hearts of an entire family already excruciatingly traversed by pain. Yet the story of Sara Mariucci, a little girl from Gubbio, and of Mummy Morena, Our Lady of Copacabana venerated in Bolivia, over time reveals itself to be an immense story of God's love. So much so that streams of faithful flock to Sara's tomb today to pray to her like a saint.
How Covid has masked our faces (like slaves)
Power needs to destroy social relations, to create lonely, easily manipulated individuals. It has even legitimised the fact of having to mask one's face. But how can you have a relationship with another person without seeing his or her face? The human face is the one part of the body that must always be uncovered and not hidden. It is no coincidence that in ancient Greece the slave was defined as faceless, and therefore without dignity.
Biden changes policy in the Gulf, a pro-Iran turnaround
Although it’s not yet clear whether we are facing a real turnaround, or only propaganda tactics, the Biden administration immediately makes it clear which side it is on in the Gulf: a stop to military aid to the Saudis and Emiratis in their war in Yemen, the rehabilitation of the Houthi (Shiites, pro-Iran), and new nuclear agreements with Tehran.
Time reveals the plot to "save democracy" from Trump
Judging by the solid alignment of media, big business and social movements against Trump, you'd think there had been a plot to ensure he lost the presidential election. Ironically, it turns out there really was one and its key players are bragging about it in Time magazine, believing they were acting in defence of democracy.
‘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’.
