Pamela Anderson to Play Mary in Christmas Show

Yes, the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus:

Former Baywatch star Pamela Anderson, famed for nude photo shoots and a homemade porn video with Tommy Lee, is to play mother Mary holding baby Jesus in her arms on Canadian TV this Christmas.

Anderson, a native of Canada, will headline A Russell Peters Christmas Special for CTV and The Comedy Network, where she will appear in a sketch comedy scene set in a Christmas manger with Canadian funnyman Russell Peters, who is hosting the one-hour special to bow here on December 1.

A Russell Peters Christmas Special will also star Michael Bublé, Ted Lange (The Love Boat), Saturday Night Live alumnus Jon Lovitz and Scott Thompson (The Kids in the Hall)…

HT

Israeli Experts Decode Only Arabic Crusader Inscription ever Found

Name of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and date ’1229′ found on 800-year-old Jaffa wall long thought by archaeologists to be artifact of relatively recent Ottoman period.

Haaretz reports:

Archaeologists have deciphered a grey marble slab whose 800-year-old Arabic inscription makes it the only Crusader artifact in that language ever found in the Middle East, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said Monday.

The inscription bears the name of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, and the date “1229 of the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus the Messiah,” leading the IAA to proclaim it “a rare archaeological find.”

The inscription was found years ago on a wall in Jaffa, near Tel Aviv, but thought to have been from the Ottoman Period, and so not given priority by archaeologists.

Only when they began deciphering it, did they realize the inscription dated from the Crusader period of the Middle Ages, Professor Moshe Sharon, of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said.

Frederick II, who led the Sixth Crusade (1228-29) fortified the castle of Jaffa and left in its walls two inscriptions, one in Latin and the other in Arabic.

“The Arabic inscription was drafted by Frederick’s officials, or possibly even the emperor himself, and it is the one which has been now deciphered,” said Sharon, one of the two archaeologists who deciphered the inscription.

The inscription is almost completely intact…

More here.

 

Thieves Steal Copper, Priceless Gospel from Church

Is nothing sacred anymore?

(WKBW)  -  Leaders and parishioners of Saints Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Lovejoy were stunned to find out their parish was hit by thieves over the weekend.

Stolen were copper inlays along the rear roof of the church, along with a number of items from inside, including a copy of The Gospel that dates back to the building of the church in the 1930′s.

“I can’t fathom how somebody would do that.  Especially when it comes to the items that we use in the celebration.  This Gospel book was probably used by our founders back in 1933 that built this church.  They heard messages from the Gospel from that book,” said Father Volodymyr Zablotskyy, who heads the church.

The damage to the building is estimated at about $8,000, however the Gospel, which has an intricate cover over bronze and silver, has a historical and sentimental value to parishioners that can’t be valued.

Janet Hetzel, a 15-year parishioner of the church sums up her feelings quite bluntly.

“[It's] Really a stinking shame,” she said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Buffalo Police.

I really do hope and pray that the police catch these wicked thieves, recover the Gospel, and punish the hooligans accordingly.

 

Priests’ Employment Rights: Your service or His?

The Economist:

Employer’s name? “God.” His address? “Heaven.”

In more self-confident days, that is how Anglicans used to answer pesky bureaucrats demanding particulars of a clergyman’s employment. But for better or worse, the old idea that “religious workers”—to use more modern language—belong in a legal and metaphysical category all of their own is being chipped away.

London’s High Court ruled this week that the Roman Catholic church—in this case, the diocese of Portsmouth—could be held responsible for the actions of a priest, now dead, who is alleged to have abused a young girl at a children’s home. This was because the church had put the priest in a position where he could perpetrate abuse, creating a relationship similar to employment. The decision will make it easier for victims of clerical crimes to demand compensation, and it could eventually oblige the church authorities to compensate abuse victims on the large scale seen in other countries…

Read all here.

… jurisprudence about clerical rights is evolving fast and unpredictably…