ldquo A catastrophe rdquo is how Samir Sumaida rsquo ie Iraq rsquo s ambassador to the United States described the Oct 31 attack on Baghdad rsquo s Syriac Catholic Cathedral Fifty-two were killed along with six attackers and 78 were wounded when Iraqi Security Forces stormed church offices wh

From Mirada Global Where Vargas Llosa truly shows us his streak as a writer and especially an essayist is in his study of his much admired Flaubert through Madame Bovary with a beautiful title The Perpetual Orgy Beyond the distance in years 115 years Vargas Llosa considered Flaubert as the

To add some video to Austen Ivereigh s comprehensive coverage of Pope Benedict s trip to Spain here is some video of the consecration of the Sagrada Familia Basilica on Sunday

BARCELONA Pope Benedict XVI has left Spain after a visit of less than 48 hours after a warm send-off by King Juan Carlos and a brief meeting with the the country s anticlerical prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero Zapatero has conspicuously absented himself from the papal visit to Spain

BARCELONA Pope Benedict s last visit today was to the Child Jesus Nen Deu project in Barcelona a home for the disabled run by Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart founded by an Anadalusian nun beatified in 2007 nbsp He greeted teenagers with learning difficulties many with Down s Syndrome

BARCELONA The liturgy was to die for There were more than 1 000 celebrants and the chief among them was pretty hard to beat And it helped to have the King and Queen of Spain in the congregation But the real star of Pope Benedict XVI s dedication this morning of the Sagrada Familia cathedral --