| At Fallujah Shooting Site, the Dead Have Become Martyrs In his tour of Iraq with a former U.S. soldier, TIME's former Baghdad bureau chief finds Fallujah still proud of having made Americans pay with blood feedproxy.google.com |
Pentagon warns on US gay ruling US Defence Secretary Robert Gates warns a court-ordered halt of a ban on openly gay military personnel could have "enormous consequences". bbc.co.uk |
Pope canonises first Australian saint Pontiff makes saint of Mary MacKillop, a 19th century nun, as thousands gather at Sydney chapel where she is buriedThe Pope today gave Australia its first saint when he canonised a nun who was briefly excommunicated.Benedict XVI also declared five other saints in a mass attended by tens of thousands of people.Speaking in Latin on the steps of St Peter's Basilica, the pontiff read out the names of the six new saints, declaring each one worthy of veneration in all the Catholic church.Cheers broke out in the crowd when Mary MacKillop's name was announced – evidence of flag-waving Australians celebrating the 19th century nun who was briefly excommunicated, in part because her order exposed a paedophile priest.An estimated 10,000 people gathered at the Sydney chapel where MacKillop is buried and at the city's Catholic cathedral, where a wooden cross made from floorboards taken from the first school MacKillop established was placed on the steps.Born in 1842, MacKillop grew up in poverty as the first of eight children of Scottish immigrants. She moved to the farming town of Penola, in South Australia, to become a teacher, inviting the poor and Aborigines in the area to attend free classes in a six-room stable.She co-founded her order, the Congregation of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart, with the aim of serving the poor, the sick and the disadvantaged, particularly through education."She supported Aboriginal people because she believed in supporting people who were disadvantaged," Melissa Brickell, a pilgrim from Melbourne who was in Rome for today's service, said."She is a friend of Aboriginal people from the early days."MacKillop was eligible for sainthood after the Vatican approved a second miracle attributed to her intercession – that of Kathleen Evans, who was cured of lung and brain cancer in 1993.In a statement, Evans said she was humbled by MacKillop's example, grateful for her healing and overjoyed that her example would now be known to others."I think she would be delighted to see so many people looking at their own lives and considering how they can live better and care more," she said.Veronica Hopson, 72, was MacKillop's first miracle when she was cured of leukemia in 1961.Hopson broke half a century of silence about her case, telling the Sunday Night programme on Australia's Channel Seven: "How does a miracle feel? I feel very fortunate that I was given the opportunity to live my life, have a family, have grandchildren – so that's a miracle."The flag of Quebec was also on view in St Peter's Square in support of Brother Andre Bessette, a Canadian who, legend says, healed thousands of sick people who prayed with him at his Montreal oratory.Born in 1845, Brother Andre was orphaned at the age of 12. After taking his religious vows, he devoted his life to helping others and gained a reputation as a healer.When he died in 1937, at the age of 91, an estimated 1 million people came to pay homage."I think all the people from Quebec are happy now," Alain Pilote, a 49-year-old pilgrim from Rougemont, near Montreal, said.The Australian foreign minister, Kevin Rudd, was in Rome for the canonisation, as was Canada's foreign minister, Lawrence Cannon.The Polish president, Bronislaw Komorowski, joined thousands of Polish pilgrims to honour that country's newest saint, Stanislaw Kazimiercyzk.The Italian nuns Giulia Salzano and Battista Camilla da Varano, and Candida Maria de Jesus Cipitria y Barriola of Spain, were also canonised.CatholicismReligionPope Benedict XVIAustraliaCanadaItalySpainguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Tax inspectors dance - it's Odd Box Dancing tax officers, a robot horse and the world's longest cat. It's the week's weird and wonderful video stories in Newsbeat's Odd Box with Dominic Byrne. bbc.co.uk |
Argentina's Néstor Kirchner Dies The death of Néstor Kirchner, a former president who is considered the power behind the throne in the government of his wife, current President Cristina Kirchner, raises big question marks over Argentina's political future. online.wsj.com |