Bone fragments long thought to have come from St. James the Younger, one of the 12 apostles who may have been Jesus' brother, couldn't have come from him, a new study finds. The Santi Apostoli church in Rome has housed fragments of a femur, or thigh bone, for more than 1,500 years, believing they were from St. James. But radiocarbon dating has revealed they must have come from some other, unknown person, according to a study published Jan. 29 in the journal Heritage Science . Related: Religious mysteries: 8 alleged relics of Jesus That's because St. James the Younger, thought by some scholars to be the brother of Jesus Christ , lived in the first century A.D., while the fragments were dated to between A.D. 214 and 340, according to the study. "Our dates, although disproving it was St. James, fall in a dark period, between the time when the apostles died and Christianity became the dominant religion in the Roman Empire," study lead author Kaare Lund … [Read more...] about Bones of St. James the Younger, one of the 12 apostles, belong to someone else
St james catholic church
North Korea’s ‘Catholic church’ blasts South’s president Park as ‘satanic’
North Korea’s regime-approved Catholic church has issued a fiery screed against South Korea’s president, describing her and her supporters as “satanic hordes” and “villains worse than worms.” Its invective-laden diatribe was carried by state media. SEE ALSO: North Korea Fires Projectiles as Pope Visits South Korea Perhaps unsurprisingly, North Korea's Catholic church is not recognised by the Vatican, nor under the Pope's leadership. Pyongyang's Korean Catholic Association (KCA), founded in 1988, has been described as a front to deflect foreign criticism of the North's abhorrent human rights record. The country’s only known Catholic church, Changchung Cathedral, located in the capital, doesn’t have a single priest. Instead, laymen administer its unorthodox services. This week, the KCA declared that all North Korean believers were united in condemning President Park Geun-hye and her clique for trying to hurt the country’s leadership. The state propaganda … [Read more...] about North Korea’s ‘Catholic church’ blasts South’s president Park as ‘satanic’
Riots Erupt in St. Louis After Vigil for Man Killed by Police
FERGUSON, Mo. — A day of anger over a fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man in suburban St. Louis turned to mayhem as people looted businesses, vandalized vehicles and confronted police who sought to block off access to several areas of the city. #Ferguson morning after pic.twitter.com/dD3vjfWBXG — David Carson (@PDPJ) August 11, 2014 The tensions erupted after a candlelight vigil Sunday night for 18-year-old Michael Brown, who police said was shot multiple times the previous afternoon after a scuffle involving the officer, Brown and another person in Ferguson, a predominantly black suburb of the city. See also: New Report Reveals 'Excessive' Militarization of U.S. Police Afterward, a convenience store was looted. Several other stores along a main road near the shooting scene were broken into, including a check-cashing store, a boutique and a small grocery store. People also took items from a sporting goods store and a cellphone retailer, and carted … [Read more...] about Riots Erupt in St. Louis After Vigil for Man Killed by Police
New Saints: How the Vatican Decides on Its Holy Heroes
In declaring Pope John XXIII and Pope John Paul II saints today (April 27) in St. Peter's Square, Pope Francis, with the backing of the Vatican, confirmed in public that the two men had performed miracles. But exactly how does the Vatican verify miracles and, in turn, declare someone a saint? To the Catholic Church, declaring someone a saint means that person is in heaven with God. Though others may be in heaven, saints, according to the church, are definitely up there with God; as such, earthly humans can pray to these saints to intercede on their behalf with God, according to the church. [ The Top 10 Most Controversial Miracles ] Confirming that a person is with God in heaven is no easy task for Vatican officials. Enter miracles, those divine events with no scientific, or natural, explanation, which serve as proof that the miracle-maker is in heaven and can intervene to change the course of everyday happenings. To be deemed a saint, a pope or other person has to have … [Read more...] about New Saints: How the Vatican Decides on Its Holy Heroes
Why does Christianity have so many denominations?
Followers of Jesus span the globe. But the global body of more than 2 billion Christians is separated into thousands of denominations. Pentecostal, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Baptist, Apostolic, Methodist — the list goes on. Estimations show there are more than 200 Christian denominations in the U.S. and a staggering 45,000 globally, according to the Center for the Study of Global Christianity . So why does Christianity have so many branches? A cursory look shows that differences in belief, power grabs and corruption all had a part to play. But on some level, differentiation and variety have been markers of Christianity since the very beginning, according to Diarmaid MacCulloch, professor emeritus of church history at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. "There's never been a united Christianity," he told Live Science. Related: Was Jesus a magician? Early splits The early church, which spans from the start of Jesus' ministry, in A.D. 27, to A.D. … [Read more...] about Why does Christianity have so many denominations?