Phone Blockers Answer Higher Call
Roman Catholic priests in Monterrey, Mexico, got so fed up with ringing cell phones during Mass that they started jamming them with counterintelligence devices.
Cell phone blockers the size of hand-held radios were hidden in four parish churches among paintings of the Madonna and clay statues of the saints. Users get a "no service" message on their mobile phones and incoming calls do not get through.
"There are still many people who don't understand that being at Mass is sharing a moment with God," the Rev. Juan Jose Martinez, spokesman for the Monterrey Archdiocese, told the Associated Press. "Sadly, we had no other choice but to use these little gadgets."
The Israeli-developed devices, illegal in the United States, went undetected for two years before reporters covering weddings wondered why their cell phones weren't working and decided to find out why. Since last year, the matter has taken on a vibrant life on the Internet and in church publications.
Fatwa on Rushdie Still in Effect
Writer Salman Rushdie received a chilling reminder of the death warrant against him when Iran's Revolutionary Guards, a hard-line branch of that nation's military, said last month it intends to fulfill the 1989 fatwa issued by the late Ayatollah Khomeini.
In a Catch-22, the Revolutionary Guards said the only person who could rescind the sentence is Khomeini. The ayatollah died four months after issuing the religious decree, which came after the 1988 publication of the novel "The Satanic Verses," which Khomeini said defamed Islam and its founder.
"Muslims have never accepted insults against their sacred values," the organization said in a statement Feb. 12, two days before the 16th anniversary of the fatwa. "The day will come when they will punish the apostate Rushdie for his scandalous acts and insults against the Koran and the Prophet" Muhammad.
The Iranian government officially has distanced itself from the decree, saying it has no intention of implementing the fatwa. But Ayatollah Khamenei, Khomeini's successor as spiritual leader, told Muslim pilgrims visiting Iran in January that the fatwa remains in effect, Agence France-Presse reported.
Walking Way of the Cross Online
If you can't get to church during Lent, you can still walk the Way of the Cross through a new online feature offered by the Episcopal Diocese of Washington.
Visitors to the site, www.edow.org, will find the outline of a cathedral with the 14 Stations of the Cross positioned along its walls. Clicking on the stations brings up prayers or verses of Scripture, accompanied by artistic renderings of Jesus's walk to Calvary.
Featured paintings or engravings come from locations around the world and will change several times during Lent. Some images come from the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Lodwar, Kenya. Previous renderings -- tooled-cooper depictions created 40 years ago by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange in California -- also can be accessed.
Most Doctors Back Assisted Suicide
A survey of U.S. physicians showed that a majority of them believe physician-assisted suicide is ethical. The study was done after last month's Supreme Court decision to hear a challenge to Oregon's Death With Dignity Act.
Of the 1,000 doctors in the study, conducted by the Louis Finkelstein Institute for Social and Religious Research and HCD Research, 57 percent said they believe it is ethical to assist a person who has made a rational choice to die because of unbearable suffering. Thirty-nine percent said the practice is unethical.
In other findings, 41 percent of participants said they support the legalization of physician-assisted suicide in a wide variety of cases; 30 percent endorse legalization in a few cases; and 29 percent oppose legalization.
