Delete what is politically incorrect.

This is the principle of cancel culture, the new era of progress.

It is being experienced by the inhabitants of Cologne, in western Germany, whose symbol has been erased from the city logo after centuries.

This is the majestic cathedral, the most important monument in the city and the most visited in the entire country.

Magnificent expression of Gothic architecture and, until recently, also the symbol of the city itself.

Too bad that the new logic of the world hates identity and everything it deems “politically incorrect”, as a religious symbol.

Cologne Cathedral deleted from the city logo.

Thus the Municipality of Cologne will change the city logo considering it to be “obsolete” and no longer suitable for the world of the web and smartphones (in the photo the two logos, the previous one above).

This is obviously the pretext, in reality the only thing that has been erased are the spiers of the cathedral, the rest has remained essentially the same.

An initiative that aroused controversy and the concern of many Germans. «I wonder if it is so good to make the cathedral disappear», said Robert Kleine, dean of the cathedral.

On Welt, editor-in-chief Dagmar Rosenfeld writes: «Times change, so does the spirit of the times. Nobody knows this better than us inhabitants of Cologne». «The beautiful spiers of the cathedral will no longer come into contact with administrative things as ugly as official tickets and letters, perhaps it is even a small consolation», he comments bitterly.

Another commentator, Lucas Wiegelmann, is angrier: «In the future Cologne will want to do without the two spiers of the cathedral in the city’s logo. Official reason: a more modern aesthetic. But the message that is sent goes deeper: Church and Christianity appear as a nuisance that could offend. This is devastating».

The former mayor, Fritz Schramma, also mobilized against the cancellation, inviting the inhabitants of the city to mobilize.

The current mayor, Henriette Reker, overwhelmed by criticism, however communicated that «the change is something definitive, there will be no further changes» although it has heartened that the cathedral will remain visible on posters, brochures, notices and posts on social media such as “Recurring communication feature”.

The “respect” and the healthy concept of secularism.

Curious, however, that this cancellation takes place while the city council has recently authorized the 35 mosques of the city to use external loudspeakers to invite Muslim prayers between 12:00 and 15:00.

The mayor of Cologne said on Twitter that this would be a «sign of respect», noting that the bells of the Cologne Cathedral also ring.

Of course, but as Rabbi Joseph Weiler explained when he defended the crucifix before the European Court, the just principle of secularism does not require the same preference for all religious expressions but only for those that have historical, religious and cultural relevance within a particular country.

To give a concrete example, no one would dream of imposing the spiers of the cathedral of the city of Rabat (Morocco) in the city logo, it would be an injustice to the non-Christian history and culture of that country. For the same reason, it is an ideological injustice to remove them from the Cologne logo.

Furthermore, it should be noted that proclamations such as “Allahu akbar” (Allah is great) and «there is no god but Allah» are not heard from the bell towers of Cologne, as the muezzin announces from the German speakers.

Cancel culture, a new trend of progressivism

It is also curious to hear about “respect” from a mayor who is prey to the Woke ideology and who first of all does not respect the history and culture of his country.

It is wrong to even look for a logic in cancel culture, branded even by the Economist as a weapon of the “illiberal left”.

That eagerness to tear down statues, churches and monuments in the name of an indistinct and politically correct supreme good. «A kind of dangerous “one-track thinking” [pensée unique] is taking shape, one constrained to deny history or, worse yet, to rewrite it in terms of present-day categories», Pope Francis denounced.

We are confident, however. The cathedral will also survive the illiberal contemporary fashions and the next ten logos of the city.

The Editorial Staff

It has been centuries since Voltaire stated that Christianity would soon fade.

Not only were they wrong, but the Christian people seem to enjoy good health , albeit perhaps in the form of a smaller but more aware Church.

This increased awareness is demonstrated by thousands of adults who again this year (as in the previous years ) have asked to be welcomed into the Catholic Church .

US parishes are the most “technological” and present on the web, so much of the data we tracked comes from there.

New catechumens in the world, starting from the West.

n Kentucky , for example, Archbishop Joseph E. Kurz, presiding over the annual Rite of Election, preached to more than 300 people , between catechumens at the end of the path that will lead them to baptism and various candidates (people validly baptized outside the Catholic Church).

Similarly, in Boston more than 200 catechumens took part in the Rite of Election, expressing their desire to be baptized. A Rochester (in the state of New York) are preparing for baptism over 100 candidates and adult catechumens while future adult Catholics are 574 in the only city of Detroit (Michigan).

In New York , in a single archdiocese (that of St. Patrick), 220 catechumens (13 of whom are very young, aged 7 to 13) will become Catholics, to whom he addressed recently card. Timothy Dolan thanking them «for the inspiration you give me» and welcoming them.

Also in the United States, in Texas , during the Easter vigil on April 16, 1.652 adults from the parishes of the archdiocese of Galveston-Houston will become Catholics. About 245 of them are very young candidates or catechumens.

In Tennessee , over 100 adults from 25 diocesan churches are preparing for baptism while in the city of South Bend (Indiana) alone, 174 adults will be baptized during the Easter Mass.

In the city of Miami (Florida) alone, Archbishop Thomas Wenski has recently completed the approach to baptism for over 350 adults and, also in Florida, the diocese of Venice is ready to welcome over 400 adults. At Arlington, Virginia, there will be 149 catechumens who will be baptized at Easter.

A small record for Portland (the capital of Oregon), where 80 adult catechumens will publicly express their wish for baptism to the bishop, the highest number since 2008.

If we move to France , it will be 65 adults (35 adolescents and 30 adults) who will receive Catholic baptism in the St-Pierre cathedral of the city of Rennes. In the municipality of Auray (Morbihan), on the other hand, 42 adult catechumens will be welcomed.

In the French capital, Paris, the apostolic administrator Georges Pontier will administer baptism to 351 adults aged between 18 and 81.

Over 200 baptismal candidates are reported in Austria , a sharp increase compared to last year.

Although this is a lower figure, it is nevertheless encouraging that the baptism of another 12 adults for the next Easter Vigil is also expected in Malta .

These are just some but significant examples which can however give an idea of how many thousands of people around the world have taken the event of Christ and ask to formalize the embrace of the Church.

The young age of the baptized: from 18 to 40 years.

An interesting fact is also the age of catechumens and candidates: most of them, at least in the United States, are between 18 and 40 years , given surprising in light of the number of young people who leave the Church.

The reasons for these “bucking” accessions are summarized by the card . O ’Malley :” By inscribing your names in the Book of the Chosen, you are saying that you aspire to live a life of friendship with the Lord. “Holy” simply means friend of the Lord. What a beautiful description of the meaning of holiness. Baptism makes us friends of God ».

All men are called to this friendship (cf. Mt 28,19 and 1Tm 2,4), although giving one’s unconditional yes to Christ can be difficult.

One such catechumens, Beth Vetter , from Kentucky urges anyone who wishes to be welcomed into the Church to follow this call, however difficult it may seem: “ Do not be frightened by the path of initiation. It is a process, but still a path of personal conversion».

From all these experiences there is certainly much to learn , even for those already baptized.

As explained by card. O’Malley, the conversion “ does not end with our baptism. As Catholics, we believe that conversion is our life’s work . Our earthly pilgrimage must always be experienced as a continuous orientation towards God and therefore as a continuous distancing from sin ».

It is therefore a radical call , which challenges man today as yesterday and of which many catechumens remind us this year as well with their yes.

Marco Visalli

Last week the representatives of the Canadian indigenous peoples were received in the Vatican (today an apology from the Pope is expected).

Pope Francis listened to the leaders of the original Métis and Inuit peoples, perceiving the suffering suffered by these people living within the residential school system.

However, it is necessary to pay attention to the narrative: it is one thing to speak of inculturation, of a change of language, of teaching the Catholic religion instead of indigenous spirituality.

Another is to argue that in these government schools, but run by Christian missionaries (including Catholics), a physical genocide took place with the killing of children, who were then buried in mass graves.

These are different plans that should not be confused: the first is true, the second is not.

The same Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada that endorsed the “cultural genocide”, however, denied the physical and biological one.

In Kamloops no mass graves, no remains found.

Last month we already talked about the international fake news about the discovery of an alleged mass grave at the Kamloops Indian Residential School. It is a fake, of course.

The easiest proof? There are no photographs of the excavations, nor of the pit and much less of the exhumed human remains.

It all started on May 27, 2021 from a press release by the young anthropologist Sarah Beaulieu who, after analyzing the ground near the school with a georadar, would have detected depressions and anomalies. Hence the hypothesis of a mass grave, without having done even one excavation.

Some indigenous communities added the reference to unmarked graves and in the media it turned into news of the discovery of a mass grave and 215 human remains. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau immediately endorsed the idea of the “dark and shameful chapter” of Canadian history, sparking an uproar.

Residential schools, former students: «We also have good memories».

Former residential school students themselves, such as sisters Pearl Lerat and Linda Whiteman, told Canadian media that the idea of ​​graves belonging to children attending these schools «has a life of its own, it was enough for the media to collect these stories».

These are simple cemeteries, where members of the community were buried as well as children who died of diseases. The same grandparents and parents of the two Canadian sisters are buried there.

«The older ones among us know that there are not only children», they say. «The peasants were buried and even members of the Métis community buried people in our cemetery». So, they admit, «it was very shocking, to say the least» to see the news exploited. «It spread nationwide almost immediately, overnight. I hope something good comes out of it and people learn the truth about it».

They argue that the older generation should have been consulted before current indigenous leaders held press conferences. «Ask for their advice, ask them about the story as they remember it. We were there. We have lived it. We should know», said the former student. «I don’t claim to be 110 years old, to know everything, but I think I have experienced enough what happened in the residential school to remember not only the bad times but also the good ones».

Our interview with the Canadian historian.

One of the first to have pointed out the great misunderstanding behind this whole story was prof. Jacques Rouillard, emeritus professor of History at the University of Montreal and one of the leading experts in Quebec history.

Last February he published a long article in the Canadian magazine L’Action nationale, entitled precisely: Where are the remains of children buried at Kamloops Indian Residential School?

UCCR interviewed him, here’s what he told us (the answers are integrated with what he wrote in his independent research).

QUESTION – Prof. Rouillard, is it historically correct to speak of abuses in residential schools in Canada, considering the Catholic Church as the author of a “colonization” and a “cultural genocide”?

ANSWER – Naturally the French and the British colonized Canada as many other European countries did elsewhere and the Catholic Church wanted to convert the peoples they met to ensure their salvation.

However, the word cultural genocide seems to me to be very strong.

Instead, there was a desire to assimilate indigenous languages, to promote integration into industrial society and to transform certain values ​​that were specific to them. This is inevitable for all pre-industrial societies and continues to be done even today in schools run by indigenous people.

Children learn to speak, read and write in English, they learn mathematics and geography, as well as they are taught to fit into society and go to university. In addition, there are courses in Aboriginal history and languages. And that’s okay, that’s right.

The natives did not have the resources to adapt. Unlike what the United States did with the indigenous peoples, the Canadian elites did not want to reject or marginalize them, but to make them Canadian like the others.

Historian Henri Goulet, in his work on the history of residential schools in Quebec, explains that the desire of the Oblate Missionaries of Mary Immaculate of Quebec (such as Father Jean-Marie Raphaël Le Jeune) was to know the Aboriginal languages ​​and reports that their publications in indigenous language «testify to their desire to keep the native language»¹H. Goulet, Histoire des pensionnats indiens catholiques au Québec. Le rôle déterminant des pères oblats, Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal 2016, p. 182-183. Their action was inspired by an effort to highlight the positive aspects of Aboriginal culture and to foster a “more harmonious transition”.

The Oblates’ efforts to mitigate culture shock were not recognized in the report of the Commission de vérité et réconciliation (CVR). This helps fuel the hyper-critical view of residential schools, arguing that religious communities would have little regard for indigenous culture.

The researchers of the Commission did not consult the archives of the Oblate community, limiting themselves almost exclusively to the governmental ones. To justify themselves they claim that these are private institutions but it is a tired excuse as it took them six years to write a report that cost 71 million dollars.

Yet in their diaries, the Oblates faithfully recorded the significant events of the day, after having consulted the chronicles of 8 colleges of Alberta preserved in the archives of the province, we found rich information, in French or English, including the death of students with their names. No secrets.

«The native Canadians? No genocide»

QUESTION – Yet the media (even Catholic ones) continue to take up the news of mass graves in Canada near Catholic schools. Is it true or is it a fiction, as has been demonstrated for that of the Kamloops Indian Residential School?

ANSWER – It is false, there is no mass grave behind these colleges as some would have us believe.

Sometimes you will come across simple cemeteries, such as near the Marieville mission. School students were buried in them, but also members of the local community and the missionaries themselves once they died. The invention of physical genocide was born with the aim of obtaining monetary compensation from the Catholic Church.

On the other hand, is it ever conceivable that monks and nuns, who know children and want their conversion, could have murdered them and buried them in graves without their parents and the Conseil de banda [the representatives of the Indian committees] reacting? It is fiction. These monks and nuns, moreover, came mainly from French-speaking Quebec.

The same report of the CVR states that «for almost all colleges a Christian funeral was the norm» and that the cemetery of the adjoining church «can serve as a burial place for students who die in the college as well as for members of the local community and the missionaries themselves». This is what actually happened in Kamloops as well.

It is not credible that 200 children were secretly buried in a mass grave, in the reserve itself, without any reaction from the Conseil de banda. Furthermore, these religious congregations have worked in Quebec for years in various social works, including orphanages and, as far as I know, no such accusations have ever been made against them.

In the interviews with the “survivors” we read that the mere presence of a furnace in the basement of the schools would suggest that the bodies of the children were burned there. It is always a matter of hypotheses and speculations, the so-called “survivors” have never personally witnessed anything they claim. These rumors have been perpetuated over the years among the indigenous people of Kamloops.

Nobody points out that we are still in the hypothesis phase and that no remains have yet been found, yet the government and the media allow the thesis of the disappearance of thousands of children from boarding schools to be accredited. From an accusation of “cultural genocide” endorsed by the Commission de vérité et réconciliation (CVR), we have moved on to “physical genocide”, a conclusion that the Commission itself explicitly rejects in its report.

Everything is based on the simple discovery of soil anomalies, disturbances that could have been caused by the movements of the roots, as the anthropologist herself recalled during the press conference on July 15. Concrete evidence is needed before the accusations leveled against the Oblates and the Sisters of Saint Anne are inscribed in history. The exhumations have not yet started and no remains have been found. A crime committed requires verifiable evidence.

«The natives of Canada died of tuberculosis»

QUESTION – Recently James C. McCrae, former Attorney General of Manitoba and Tom Flanagan, Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Calgary, have also questioned the reliability of the National Student Memorial Register, the register that lists children who have never returned home from residential schools. A “fraudulent list” is defined as people who did not attend these schools have been included and the NCTR managers themselves admit that they do not verify the history of the children, inserted at the request of families to “remember their lost children among the names of their classmates”. What do you think?

ANSWER – I have little experience of this specific thing but I know for sure that we absolutely must not trust the NCTR which is subject to the guidance of some members of the indigenous community and has repeatedly demonstrated that it adheres to conspiracy theories towards the Canadian State and the Catholic Church.

According to the same data provided by the Commission de vérité et reconciliation (CVR), the mortality rate in young people attending residential schools was on average about 4 deaths per year for every 1,000 young people and the main cause was due to tuberculosis and flu.

Despite partial sources of information, however, the commission concedes surprising claims by arguing that «it was not common practice for most residential schools to return the remains to the communities of origin» and that «their parents were often not informed of the disease or of death». The source is incomplete archives and it is serious if they come from an official commission of inquiry. I understand who is invoking the need for further investigation.

The reality is far from these claims, where information is available we learn instead that the parents have been informed and that the children are buried in the cemetery of their reserve. Since 1935 the Department of Indian Affairs has imposed a specific procedure in the event of the death of a student.

«More than the Pope’s apologies, millionaire compensation»

QUESTION – At the beginning of March, two other Canadian residential school scholars wrote in turn: «There is no trace of a single student killed in the 113-year history of residential schools». Does this statement correspond to historical truth?

ANSWER – I agree with what they write. In Canada we have never prosecuted a religious community for killing a single child. On the other hand, no names of children allegedly buried in a mass grave are offered, nor the names of their parents who complained of their disappearance.

With the visit to the Pope, the Canadian media are becoming spokespersons for the indigenous communities but no criticism, even the slightest, is accepted even if sometimes absurdities are alleged. It only repeats that religious communities are guilty and the Pope should apologize.

It seems that the excavations in Kamloops have been authorized, which is good news. However, it would have been better if they had taken place last autumn, so as to know the truth and prevent Pope Francis from coming to Kamloops to apologize on the basis of unproven hypotheses. However, many doubt that the excavations will ever take place, given the importance of the stakes, they should be conducted under the supervision of an independent commission.

I would like to point out this article which illustrates the goal of Aboriginal leadership well.

QUESTION – Basically it seems that the goal is a millionaire compensation in the face, however, of evidence that is anything but ascertained.

ANSWER – The Canadian government has paid enormous sums to the “survivors” of residential schools, it is more understandable why indigenous leaders want to get the same from the Catholic Church.

Net of this, however, the Aborigines certainly have many complaints to the Canadian government and people.

In the past we have translated into Italian a post by the American biblical scholar Michael R. Licona in which the criteria used by historians to evaluate the reliability of the Gospel passages (and of any other ancient text) are explained.

One such criterion is “multiple attestation” .

If a passage is reported by several independent sources , in fact, there are more probabilities (in unison with other evaluation criteria) to consider it historically accurate.

So what about the New Testament? A common objection is that these are not independent sources, the evangelists Luke, Matthew and John would have copied from Mark. How to sustain the multiple attestation of independent sources?

Usually it is said that it is a single source , chronologically the first: that of Mark.

William Lane Craig , Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology (Biola University) and Houston Baptist University, provided a valid answer and we will take a cue from it.

Are the Gospels Independent Sources?

Certainly there is a overlap between the four Gospels, not only do they often tell the same episode but use the same words.

The point is not that they copied themselves but that each of the evangelists made use of a previous source , sometimes shared with another evangelist and other times used exclusively.

Matthew and Luke drew from a common source that historians have called “Q” , containing almost exclusively sayings of Jesus. Matthew also exclusively used the source “M” , while Luke drew from a third source, called “L” (at least for about fifty pericopes).

Many historians have pointed out that the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem is not present in the source “L” so it is assumed that its dating is prior to 70 AD

John also presents unpublished passages compared to the others, and it is ascertained that he too used his own source. It could be the so-called “ gospel of signs “, but the debate is more open than ever.

Finally, it is by no means certain, however, that every evangelist knew the work of the precedents : «It is a thesis that creates more problems than it solves», commented the eminent American biblical scholar JP Meier ¹J.P. Meier, Un ebreo marginale, vol. 2, Queriniana 2003, p. 276.

An example with the Jesus burial and the empty tomb..

Soon we will publish a dossier on the historical evidence of the resurrection, for the moment we see how the pre-evangelical sources emerge in the passages on the burial of Jesus and on the discovery of the empty tomb.

The Gospel of Mark describes the last days of Jesus through a clear chronological sequence: arrest, trial, death sentence, crucifixion, empty tomb and resurrection, concluding with the finding of the empty tomb by some women who participated in the circle of disciples.

Historians know that, on the contrary, the rest of his gospel rarely follows a chronological order and the author presents unrelated passages, joined like beads on a string. Yet, when it comes to Jesus’ last week, Mark’s approach suddenly changes.

For this reason it is believed that Mark drew on a history of the Passion previous to him , present in an extremely ancient source as his gospel is dated, at the latest, to 70 AD. (only 40 years after the facts reported).

On this we recommend the authoritative and highly cited study by Joel Marcus, teacher of New Testament and early Christianity at Duke Divinity School.

If instead we consider the Gospel of Matthew, , the story of the guard posted on the tomb of Jesus is included in the passage relating to the empty tomb, an episode not told by Mark.

Is it a creation of Matthew? Not at all. Scholars observe that the passage is imbued with a foreign vocabulary to the author’s usual way of telling, which indicates that the author is drawing on a tradition prior to him. Probably the so-called “M” Source.

If we pass to the passage of Luke , relating to the empty tomb, we read of the visit of Peter and another disciple to the tomb to verify what the women reported to them. An episode absent in both Mark and Matthew, mentioned instead by John.

As for the Gospel of John , it too is considered independent of the three synoptics and there is consensus that it used a narration of the Passion of Jesus dating back to an older tradition of all.

Among the first to support it was P. Gardner Smith in 1938, a position later elaborated in detail by C.H. Dodd and accepted by Raymond Brown, Rudolf Schnackenburg and Ernst Haenchen. «Today it is probably the dominant opinion » , commented J.P. Meier²J.P. Meier, Un ebreo marginale, vol. 1, Queriniana 2008, p. 50.

B.D. Ehrman, a leading New Testament scholar at the University of North Carolina, added:

In addition to confirming that the Gospels are four independent sources, the differences between them (sometimes true contradictions!), Albeit on secondary details and not on the general plot, also belie that it is a invented story .

«A calculated deception» , wrote the famous E.P. Sanders, famous New Testament lecturer at Duke University, «should have produced great unanimity»⁴E.P. Sanders, The Historical Figure of Jesus, Penguin Books, 1993, p. 279-280.

Paul’s letters anticipate the content of the Gospels.

Finally, the Pauline letters should be considered.

In 1 Corinthians 15: 3-5, Saint Paul quotes an ancient Christian formula that summarizes point by point the main events of the last part of Jesus’life.

This pre-Pauline formula, as we explained in 2018, has been dated by numerous and authoritative scholars to a maximum of three years later the crucifixion of Jesus.

This formula clearly refers to Jesus ‘burial and resurrection from the dead, events that no first-century Jew could have understood if Jesus’s body no longer lay in the tomb.

So Paul independently confirms and anticipates the content of the Gospels.

So here we are at the conclusion of this quick excursus .

We leave the floor to the philosopher William Lane Craig :

And they are, summarizing: the pre-Pauline font, the pre-Johannine font, the L font, the M font and the ancient pre-Marcian font.

The Editorial staff

Another Australian bioethicist, the philosopher Walter Veit , has come out in defense of the supporters of infanticide who affirm the non-moral difference between children unborn and newborn babies.

“Does birth matter?” is the title of his reflection which appeared in the Journal of Medical Ethics at the beginning of March.

According to Veit, if the ethics of treating a mouse or zebrafish differ from that of a chimpanzee due to their different abilities , then treating humans should be judged the same way.

«If abortion is legal, no ban on post-partum abortion».

The Australian bioethicist explains that there is no clear biological distinction between a fetus and a born child.

Thus, noting that abortion is the killing of an unborn human being and is morally legitimized by Western society, in the name of this lack of biological difference between the fetus and the newborn does not c ‘is no argument against the post-birth abortion of an unwanted infant.

«If the biological sciences reveal that there is no morally salient difference between a newborn and a fetus», in fact, the bioethicist writes, «that is, that both are almost at the same stage of development, we must abolish the intuitively convincing idea that birth counts for something , morally. It is not so».

These arguments have their own meaning, what Walter Veit writes is true. He unwittingly shows the inconsistency of the laws that liberalize termination of pregnancy as they do not explain why from a certain moment onwards it would be forbidden to abort, while before.

In Italy, for example, the termination of pregnancy is legitimate only within the 24th week . But why? Maybe an unborn in the 23rd week and 6 days has no right to life? Birth does not count for anything, even the bioethicist is right about this: there is no substantial difference in the fetus between when it is in the mother’s womb and when it is delivered.

The development of life is continuous and gradual , just as it is impossible to determine the beginning of the day after the night.

Instead of opposing abortion, however, the bioethicist concludes in the opposite way: liberalizing infanticide . However, this opens up to further radical scenarios, as if we can kill human beings before they become people (as he believes to be newborns, fetuses and embryos), why not interrupt the life of people who lose vital capacity due to illness, injury or age-related consequences?

In Italy the Council of Bioethics wants infanticide.

Some time ago they were the Italian researchers of the Council of Bioethics onlus of Maurizio Mori – spearhead of lay bioethics (honorary members Beppino Englaro and Carlo Flamigni) and always alongside the Associazione Luca Coscioni by Marco Cappato-, who theorized infanticide with the same arguments used today by Walter Veit.

Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva argued in fact that « killing a newborn should be allowed in all cases where abortion is , including those cases in which the infant is not disabled ». And again: “If a potential person, such as a fetus and a newborn baby, does not become a real person, like you and us, then there is no one who can be harmed, which means that there is no harm. badly “.

For this, concluded the heads of the Bioethics Council, «there are no reasons to ban abortion after childbirth . Non-people have no right to life “, that is, those who are not ” capable of achieving goals and appreciating their own life».

It is permissible to kill newborns , they explained, because «for damage to occur, someone must be in a position to experience such damage».

The same Maurizio Mori , philosopher and leader of the pro-euthanasia campaign who gave birth to the referendums recently rejected by the Constitutional Court, defended and supported his researchers, writing: « The thesis is not so absurd and foolish as to be rejected a priori only because it shakes deep feelings or touches very sensitive chords ».

For over thirty years the bioethicist Peter Singer has been proclaiming these theses.

In his Practical Ethics (1979), he writes:

In the US, pushes for abortion until birth.

Thanks to these arguments, radical pro-abortion pressures are advancing up to the moment of birth .

In the United States it was recently thwarted the Women’s Health Protection Act , which would have enshrined for the first time in a federal law the absolute right to abortion , for any reason or even for no reason, until the moment of birth.

Once human life is denigrated as morally irrelevant, what difference does birth make?

The editorial staff

The publication of our dossiers starts again.

This year will be particularly dedicated to the Inquisition or, better, to the inquisitions, the medieval (from the 12th to the 14th century), the Roman (from 1542 to 1965) and the Spanish Inquisition (from 1478 to 1834), the latter totally dependent on the Crown and often in antagonism to the Church of Rome.

The goal is to bring to light the results of decades of historical studies that openly contrast with the myth and anti-Catholic prejudice born in Enlightenment and Protestant circles with the aim of representing the inquisitorial court as a symbol of Roman religious obscurantism.

No to the black legend, but not even to the white one.

Today we publish the first dossier (link below), in which we have simply collected, and will continue to collect, the conclusive judgments of the main international specialists on the Inquisition and the black legend which even today prevents the results of modern historiography from leaving academic circles.

Attention, none of the dozens of historians cited (with relative bibliographic source, just click on the number at the end of the quotation) has the slightest intention of opposing a “white or pink legend”, indeed they all agree that it was of a left initiative, intolerant of forms of dissent and, as the historian Andrea Del Col writes, «the few killings of heretics, made in the name of God for reasons related to the defense of the Christian faith, even if carried out legally, we consider them aberrant»¹Andrea Del Col, L’Inquisizione in Italia. Dal XI al XXI secolo, Mondadori 2021, p. 13, 14.

The judgment of history on the Holy Inquisition.

These historians also conclude that «there was no organized and efficient persecutory institution»²Jennifer Kolpacoff Deane, A History of Medieval Heresy and Inquisition, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers 2011, p. 88, which is a «black legend» to think of the Holy Office as a «court of justice would have been governed by ruthless, cruel, always eager to set up trials and burn people»³Dennj Solera, La società dell’Inquisizione, Carocci 2021, p. 15-18, 27-28.

In Catholic countries «there was actually a very moderate judicial use of torture and a very low number of victims, if compared to central-northern Europe». The inquisitors «were reluctant to impose capital punishment, generally preferring milder sentences»⁴Marina Montesano, Superstizioni dell’età moderna, Il Manifesto, 31/12/2011.

If, in the light of modern studies, one tries to compare the work of the Catholic Inquisition to that of the secular courts of the time, to what happened in the Protestant countries , all epoch of Terror in which the French Revolution imploded, the crimes of scientist eugenics , the bloody dictatorships (largely atheist) of the twentieth century and as is happening still in various parts of the world, the image of those inquisitors concerned about the salvation of souls runs the risk of being illuminated with their own light.

In fact, there were not only the 1,250 people ⁵Andrea Del Col, L’Inquisizione in Italia. Dal XII al XXI secolo, Mondadori 2006, p. 772-784 ⁶Christopher Black, Storia dell’Inquisizione in Italia, Carrocci Editore 2013, p. 345 condemned to the stake by the Roman Inquisition throughout its history (four centuries), but also protections for the accused , defense lawyers, protection from third party vendettas through anonymity, rescue hundreds of “witches” unjustly accused, attempts up to the last to save the lives of heretics with confession, maintenance at the expense of the inquisitors of the poorest families of the prisoners and an infinity of procedural reviews from a moderating point of view on the part of the popes.

Our new dossier on the Catholic Inquisition.

We will see all this in detail with the next dossiers, while it is possible to consult those already published on historical issues in general by going to at this link.

What most people know or have heard of the Inquisition is false .

We are victims of what Franco Cardini , full professor of History at the University of Florence, defined «an ocean of filthy, unmentionable junk in paper form , information technology-telematics, cinema »⁷Franco Cardini, preface by R. Camilleri, La vera storia dell’Inquisizione, Piemme 2001, p. 8.

Science enthusiasts should listen to Giovanni Minoli’s entire interview with Fabiola Gianotti (in Italian language).

Let’s talk about the director of Cern in Geneva, the largest particle physics laboratory in the world and probably the most important and well-known scientist in the world.

It was she who announced in 2012 the first observation of a particle compatible with the Higgs boson, also commonly called the “God particle”. In 2013 she was awarded the prestigious Enrico Fermi Prize by the Italian Physics Society.

The particle of God is a “commercial” name, invented by a publishing house in 1993. It is certainly singular that Fabiola Gianotti is linked to a particle with this name, given that the scholar can be indicated as the most relevant Italian example of the reconciliation between science and religion.

In the new interview: «A Mind Behind Physical Laws».

On 8 March 2021 she was interviewed on the radio program Il mix delle cinque, hosted by Giovanni Minoli and Fabiola Gianotti, spoke about the relationship between science and faith.

When asked if scientific research has brought her closer or away from the idea of the existence of God, the scientist replied: «I think that science and religion are two domains separated, do not contradict each other. Science will never be able to prove the existence or not of God. It is a situation of parallelism, of different approaches».

But from your personal point of view? Here is Fabiola Gianotti’s answer:

Below the video with his words:

Since 2020 on the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

The “lady of science” has never made a secret of her faith. He had already talked about it on 2015 during the Italian television broadcast 8 e mezzo, the video is available on our Youtube channel.

On 29 September 2020 Fabiola Gianotti joined as an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

We added his name and words to our list of quotes about God from the most important believing scientists in history.

The editorial staff

Since last Thursday, the first day of the attack by Russia against Ukraine, we told the other face of war: charity.

Already in the early hours, Caritas Europa coordinated a vast relief network for the Ukrainian people.

Outside the Ukrainian borders, in the meantime, parishes and faithful in Romania, Poland and Moldova have equipped structures to welcome refugees from Ukrainian territory.

However, many people remained in Kiev, especially those who could not escape. Many of them were welcomed in the anti-aircraft shelter under the Cathedral of the Resurrection in Kiev.

The images have been spread by the Secretariat of the Major Archbishop located in Rome.

The Ukrainian archbishop is also in the basement of the church

In the basement of the cathedral there is also fr. Sviatoslav Shevchuk, archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, said in a note that «at the moment he is not reachable and cannot make statements».

«The archbishop is on the side of his population», the note continues, «and asks you to join him and his people in prayers so that Ukraine will be preserved from unjust aggression. The priority for the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church is, and always will be, proximity to the wounded population».

Pope Francis, the statement continues, is in constant contact with fr. Shevchuk, praising «the choice to remain among the people and at the service of the most needy, also making the basement of the Greek-Catholic Cathedral of the Resurrection in Kiev available to give refuge to the people».

Fr Andriy Soletskyy, representative of the major archbishopric of Kiev in Rome, says that all parishes and pastoral structures in Ukraine have become shelters from the bombing. «A similar thing had happened in 2014 during the ‘revolution of dignity’ when for example the Cathedral became a field hospital».

The editorial staff