Happy Friday! We know you’ve been busy celebrating net neutrality by watching the Great Llama Chase of 2015 and analyzing #TheDress, so here’s what you may have missed:
The Italian government is on high alert after threats from the Islamic State called Italy “the nation signed with the blood of the cross.”
A daily Mass-goer suffering from homelessness in Vatican City recently died and will be buried in the Teutonic cemetery at the Vatican after Pope Francis gave his permission, according to Italian media reports.
An arson attack damaged a Greek Orthodox seminary near Jerusalem’s Old City on Thursday. Anti-Christian graffiti at the scene suggested the incident was a hate crime.
Tomorrow will mark two years since Benedict XVI became the first leader of the church to resign in seven centuries. We wrote about his final act as pope two years ago.
Hindus are urging Pope Francis to discipline a Catholic priest from Northern Ireland after he suggested yoga was the work of the devil.
The head of a prominent Hindu organization is under criticism for remarks he made about Mother Teresa, in which he said her service to the poor had been motivated by a desire to convert them to Christianity.
Pope Francis urged members of Italian organized crime to repent, saying the Catholic Church would welcome them if they promised to stop serving the cause of evil.
And, this: the church is considering a surfer for sainthood.
And now for the papal rapid fire roundup:
This week, Pope Francis:
- Went on a retreat.
- Got a house.
- Got a Johann Sebastian Bach CD set.
- Said “Mexicanization.”
- Apologized for saying “Mexicanization.”
