Chittister on Lent, Ireland and Gender

This commentary by Sr Joan Chittister is a keeper! She describes the annual Lenten social issue of the the Catholic Church in Ireland. In previous years, concerns have been issues like apartheid in South Africa, child soldiers, slave laborers and so on. Information on the Lenten campaign was widely disseminated on Irish television. This year's concern has caused more controversy than all others combined--the topic: gender inequality. I can't begin to summarize her column, so I encourage you all to read it.
http://ncrcafe.org/node/977

Ancient Biblical Manuscripts

This is from a Birmingham, Alabama newspaper because of the local angle.

It wasn’t exactly “The DaVinci Code,” but a Birmingham priest recently jetted around the world and helped deliver one of the most important documents in Christian history to the pope.

“It contains the oldest copy of the Lord’s Prayer in the world,” said St. Paul’s Cathedral Pastor Richard Donohoe.

Donohoe assisted in the Vatican Library’s acquisition of two rare pieces of papyrus, including the oldest surviving copy of the Gospel of Luke and one of the two oldest copies of the Gospel of John. They were handwritten by a scribe about 200 A.D. and found in Egypt in the 1950s.

The full story is at

http://www.al.com/living/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1172827684145900.xml&coll=2&thispage=1