The Quotation of the Week (October 7 - 13, 2012)

A quotation of Robert Green Ingersoll on 'blasphemy,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa

Coptic Papyrus Fragment on Jesus' Wife: The Vatican and Other Experts Call It a Fake

A Coptic papyrus fragment that mentions Jesus' wife

Photo courtesy: CNN

The Vatican and some other experts in Europe cast a doubt on the authenticity of the fourth-century Coptic papyrus fragment that mentioned Jesus’ wife.

The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, on its September 20 issue called the papyrus fragment a fake, reports the CNN Belief Blog.

The L’Osservatore Romano’s editor-in-chief Gian Maria Vian wrote: “Substantial reasons would lead us to conclude that the papyrus is actually a clumsy counterfeit.” “In other words, in any case it is a fake,” he added.

Karen King, professor of early Christianity at the Harvard University’s Divinity School, USA, announced the papyrus finding on September 25 at an international congress on Coptic studies in Rome, Italy, reports the Associated Press.

The Coptic language text is thought to be a translation from a second-century Greek text that gives a dialogue where Jesus Christ refers to “my wife” and means it to be Mary Magdalene.

The Associated Press also reports, Coptology professor Stephen Emmel of the University of Muenster, Germany, said the text accurately quotes Jesus saying “my wife,” but he questioned the authenticity of the document. 

The same report mentions of Germany’s University of Hamburg papyrologist Alin Suciu saying: “I would say it’s forgery. The script doesn’t look authentic” compared with other samples of Coptic papyrus script of that time.”

Most of the Christian Churches, including the Roman Catholic Church, teach that Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, was unmarried.

The Photo Meditation of the Month (September, 2012): WOMEN

A woman weeding her own garden at Piprashoir Village of Kaliganj District, Bangladesh

Photo (January 11, 2012) © Jerome D'Costa

Women consist of about 50% of the population. They are created by God to be with men and share the resources of the earth. They are placed to be together in joys and hardships of life on earth. They are there to contribute toward the progress and prosperity of mankind.

Yet, in the present world we see, in spite of all the advancement of education, science, theology, social science and others, women are being exploited, mostly by men, for their own ends. In many societies, women are second-class members in their own families, they are second-class citizens in their own countries. They don’t have any or enough rights to be themselves, to fulfill their dreams and aspirations.

Human trafficking is taking a toll of many a woman, they are being bought and sold like consumer goods. They are sexually abused, labourly abused and also abused educationally and financially. These societies, in particular, remain backward, tribal, brute and short. In materially and intellectually advanced countries, too, women still need to gain their proper place.

Equitable opportunities, nurture, and respect for women’s rights can take the world to a higher plane. The world can then be a much more humane, peaceful and fruitful place.

The Quotation of the Week (September 30 - October 6, 2012)

A quotation on "Being Better" by Ken Venturi, compiled by Jerome D'Costa

The Quotation of the Week (September 23-29, 2012)

A quotation of Benjamin Franklin on "writing,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa

Photo (An outdoor light in Toronto: Oct. 15, 2011) © Jerome D'Costa

Australian Catholic Church Confirms Hundreds of New Cases of Clergy Sex Abuse of Children

Map courtesy: www.lonelyplanet.com/

The Catholic Church in the state of Victoria in Australia confirmed hundreds of clergy sex abuse cases in its four dioceses. It confirmed that several dozen priests, Religious and church workers sexually abused more than 600 children in the period of 1930s to early 1990s, reports the Sky Valley Chronicle.  

Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne described the number of cases as “shocking and shameful” and extended the Church’s full cooperation to the State parliamentary committee that has started an inquiry. This inquiry began after 40 sex abuse victims had committed suicide.

The clergy sexual abuse scandal in Australia is not new. Like other countries, especially in the West, there have been such cases in most of the dioceses in Australia.

The Quotation of the Week (September 16-22, 2012)

A quotation of Martin Luther King Jr. on 'hatred and love,' compiled by Jerome D'Costa

Photo (A rain-drenched car window in Dhaka: Feb. 12, 2012) © Jerome D'Costa