Italian Prime Minister emulates G. W. Bush

[Image from BBC News]

On April 6, just before the break of dawn, about 60 miles east of Rome, the Italian city of L'Aquila was rocked by an earthquake.

At least 260 people died, and 28,000 or more were left homeless. Some 10,000 buildings were destroyed or rendered uninhabitable.

It was very, very cold. Many of the homeless had to try to survive in hastily constructed tent camps.

A tragedy of enormous proportions.


The Prime Minister of Italy, Silvio Berlusconi, said of the people huddled and freezing in their tents:

"They should see it like a weekend of camping."


George W. Bush didn't use those words after Hurricane Katrina hit, but he might as well have. Hurricane Katrina showed clearly that the Bush administration simply didn't give a damn about the people of the United States - unless, of course, they were very rich.

Maybe Berlusconi, who is said to be the richest man in Italy, took a lesson from Bush as to how to respond to his constituents in the aftermath of a natural disaster.

Nun beauty contest not a habit

August 24, 2008: Father Antonio Rungi, a Roman Catholic priest who lives in the vicinity of Naples, Italy, announced he plans to conduct a beauty context for nuns.

It will be called the Sister Italia beauty contest and he expects about 1,000 sisters of the Church to participate. He wants to show the world that not all nuns are dour and dowdy and that many have a beautiful inner spirit.

So, no bikinis. No bathing suits at all! Darn. The sisters have the option of wearing their full habits, or less; putting their hair up or down. And, says, Rungi, there are lots of really pretty nuns!

He's looking for sisters who look like Sophia Loren.


August 27, 2008: Father Antonio Rungi has cancelled the nun beauty contest after protests from "religious leaders."

What? Why? Maybe these "religious leaders" were afraid the women would show them up. The sisters certainly look better in skirts than the old men.

Oh well, we'll just have to go look at old Sophia Loren movies and dream.

Italy, the Vatican and the Devil

[Photo of Fr. Gabriele Amorth]

I almost laughed out loud. The question was: "Is the Devil Gaining a Foothold in Rome?" That's the title of a CBN article. One wonders if the author has a clue as to the history of the Catholic Church over the past 2,000 plus years.

But it's a serious article, and yes, the Devil is gaining a foothold in the Holy City. We've written about the Vatican's chief magician (exorcist) previously, but Father Gabriele Amorth, pontificates that "There is a greater openness towards the devil."

Would you believe that Rome is "the most satanized city in Italy"? Hell, what a disappointment. I had always been told and believed it was the most "sanitized" city in Italy, although when I visited there a number of years ago, it seemed kinda old and dirty.

Father Pedro Barrajon, a Roman priest, claims "Satanism and the occult are in fashion."

How could this happen in the seat of Catholicism? Doth not the Vatican and the Pope and the Papal Poohbahs have any power whatsoever?


Then there's an "evangelical" clergyman, Silvano Lilli, also an inhabitant of Rome, who says there are "an estimated 800 satanic cults operating in the country, with more than 600,000 followers."

And, says Lilli, the situation is getting worse by the day. "The devil's diabolical influence is growing is so many areas of our society. He needs to be driven out."


I don't have a clue where Lilli gets his statistics, and he doesn't say, but they sound good (or bad). And I'm not sure what he thinks about Father Amorth (Amorth being of the Roman priestly caste) who has his little exorcist room not far from the Vatican to shoo the devil out of the demon-possessed. The violent ones are the worst, says Amorth. They have to be tied down.

But the good Father doesn't want any tape-recordings of his exorcisms. I wonder why? Especially since he insists that "exorcism is God's true miracle" (as opposed to what - God's false miracle?), and "Medicine and science have cases they can't solve but which are instead solved by exorcism."

Hmmm. Maybe we could try that on Bush and Cheney?


Seriously, there are all kinds of satan-related crimes in Italy. "Many Italians are forsaking priests for magicians, fortunetellers and faith healers."

Hmmm, again. Sounds like priests to me!

It's so bad, though, that law enforcement has enlisted the assistance of Catholic priests to help solve violent crimes.


That should do the job.

Obama in the manger

Over in Italy, craftsmen are busy replicating statues of President-elect Barack Obama which are sold as part of nativity scenes.

Bess, at Times Online, says "Yes, they're definitely tacky. But in Naples they're selling like hot cakes."

They are "handmade little figures of Barack Obama and his wife Michelle, being sold ... as part of the traditional Italian Nativity scene sets - you can set them on the kitchen table alongside the usual figures of the wise Men, donkeys and angels, Jesus, Joseph and Mary."

Adult Christianity reflects that "Obama [is] More Popular Than Jesus." And even more exciting, "...Obama was not born in Hawaii, but in a manger."

You can view a Reuter's video describing these statues here.