by Greg Galvan | Dec 14, 2018 | News and Info, Vatican Corner
This year the traditional nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square is not so traditional. For the first time it was made of sand, 720 tons. In November, heavy trucks brought the sand from the Italian seaside city of Jesolo near Venice, where every year since 1998 that...
by Greg Galvan | Dec 7, 2018 | News and Info, Vatican Corner
The First Sunday of Advent occurs four Sundays before Christmas and is also the beginning of the new liturgical year. The English word Advent comes from the Latin word ad (“to” and venire (“to come”) and so it means “to come to” or “arrival.” Advent actually...
by Greg Galvan | Nov 16, 2018 | News and Info, Vatican Corner
Traditionally sea gulls have lived around water, with some living inland but near rivers or reservoirs. However increasingly they are living in towns and cities and many have given up living by water entirely. Experts say that one reason is that the birds have found...
by Greg Galvan | Nov 9, 2018 | News and Info, Vatican Corner
The Synod of Bishops is a permanent institution of the Catholic Church first established by Pope Paul VI in 1965 to continue the spirit of collegiality and communion after the close of the Second Vatican Council. It is an assembly of bishops chosen from different...
by Greg Galvan | Nov 2, 2018 | News and Info, Vatican Corner
Horses originated in North America as indicated by the fossil records, but they moved to Eurasia when the climate cooled in the Pleistocene Epoch. They returned thousands of years later to the Americas, brought by the conquistadors. Since the end of the last ice age,...
by Greg Galvan | Oct 25, 2018 | News and Info, Vatican Corner
The 2013 resignation of Pope Benedict XVI was in the news again with the leaking to the press of 2 private lefters which appeared in the German newspaper Bild on Sept. 20, 2018. The both letters written by retired pope emeritus Benedict in Nov., 2017 were to Cardinal...
