the agent
of chaos
Till. CiS11101,1C Writers' Guild, aka the Keys, had a lively night last week thanks to fiery Lynette Burrows. After a talk called The Church vs The Media? hy The Daily Telegraph's Daniel Johnson, Mrs Burrows suggested the media had "too many poufs in high places" (thinking of the BBC, obviously) who had helped to substitute the political spectrum of left and right with a progressive agenda, by which people were polarised, pampered or vilified according to their views on gay rights in particular. Her comments infuriated homosexuals in the audience, who wasted no time in damning her as a poor ambassador for the Church, with deficiencies in her knowledge of Catholic teaching and even in her pronunciation of the word "homo".
What was it that Keys patron St Francis de Sales said about a spoonful of honey being better than a barrel of vinegar?
IN FRANCE, the Church has decided to turn people's mauls to God by setting John Paul II against John Paul Gaultier. Cardinal JeanMarie Lustiger of Paris has asked a major French fashion designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, to make 50,000 scarves for Catholics to wear this Lent. The scarves bear the words of Si Mark "take heart, He is calling you", and are purple, symbolising holiness. "The
idea came from the young people of the diocese who wanted a discreet outward sign of their observance of Lent," said a spokesman. The scarves will be sold in churches and youth groups for about 30 francs each.
Castelbajac has also designed rainbow-coloured vestments for the clergy . . symbolising what, I wonder?
CARDINAL Francis George of Chicago has blessed the windy city's only Porsche showroom as a favour to the owner — though the archdiocese gets free use of a £16,000 Buick LeSabre every year. The showroom owner is believed to be Rick Lynch, who sits on the board of Catholic Charities, the social services arm of the archdiocese.
A .C10.9st Christian theme park, The Holy Land Experience. opens in Florida this month complete with a stage show of Noah's Ark, a replica of Jesus' tomb and a recreated Via Dolorosa. A woman in biblical garb will welcome visitors with "Shalom" and Roman soldiers will guard the entrance. But Orlando's Jewish community is less than happy "If the purpose . . . is to celebrate their tradition, then it's something I applaud," says Rabbi Dan Wolpe. "If the purpose is to proselytise . . . then it's something I condemn."
A STUDY by America's Washington Times has revealed one in five US web surfers have looked for religious information online, outnumbering those who use the net for banking or auctions. Now, a majority of churches and religious groups are using the web. Some 80 per cent of 1,300 congregations in the study had operated web sites for at least a year and 75 per cent of churches and synagogues offered sermons, mission statements or links to other sites on their home pages. At least 25 Catholic dioceses hope to use the web to recruit new clergy. Commerce in religious items is also growing with a $14m investment last year in sites like Christianity.com,