A few recent news highlights...
* Vandals have defaced a statue of Jesus at a La Marque (TX) parish. Police are seeking suspects
* Thousands of Catholics in Germany have left the Catholic Church this past year. A German bishop surmised that the exodus may be attributed to abuse scandals and noted that "every single departure is one too many". According to one report, there was a 20% increase in the number of Catholics joining (heretical) Protestant sects. [Refreshers: Necessity of being Catholic for salvation | Those Outside the Catholic Church (Reflections)]
* Pope Benedict recently gave support for the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin in his message for the upcoming World Day of the Sick. The Holy Father stated (emphasis added)...
"I still have in my heart the moment when, during the course of the pastoral visit to Turin, I was able to pause in reflection and prayer before the sacred Shroud, before that suffering countenance, that invites us to meditate on him who took upon himself man's suffering of every age and place, even our sufferings, our difficulties, our sins. How many faithful over the course of history have passed before that sepulchral winding sheet, which covered the body of a crucified man, which in everything corresponds to what the Gospels transmit about the passion and death of Jesus! Contemplating him is an invitation to reflect on what St. Peter writes: 'By his wounds we have been healed' (1 Peter 2:24)"
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