HUMOR: Not All Taliban Are Created Equal

Argentinians celebrated on the streets of Buenos Aires as Jorge Mario Bergoglio was unveiled as Pope Francis I (PHOTO STORY)

Unexpected visit: Pope Francis, flanked by Cardinals walks to the altar with some flowers at Rome's main Basilica on his visit for prayers this morning

Humble: The Pope is said to have shunned security in the opening hours of his papacy as he is said to have popped out in Rome last night. He is pictured at the altar of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore 

Vow: The new Pope honoured his vow to take his role as Bishop of Rome seriously by heading to one of the city's most important churches today

Arrival: Newly elected Pope Francis I, the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina waves from the steps of the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome this morning

'He spoke to us cordially like a father,' said Father Ludovico Melo, a priest who prayed with the pope. 'We were given 10 minutes' advance notice that the pope was coming'.
The first South American pontiff and the first non-European pope in 1,300 years, Pope Francis is also bishop of Rome.

Caught in the wind: The new Pontiff's cloaks are blown about as he is caught in a gust of wind leaving the Basilica earlier

First service: Pope Francis I, pictured arriving for prayers this morning (left), waves as he stands in the doorway of Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica flanked by Cardinals and security

Pope Francis, centre, waves as he leaves Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica after a visit in Rome on his first morning as pontiff today

Chauffeur driven: The new Pope was pictured smiling as he climbed into the Papal car in Rome this morning

Joy: Argentinians celebrate the news that Jorge Bergoglio is the new Pope at the Metropolitan Cathedral in Buenos Aires

Celebration: Argentinian Catholics gathered outside the cathedral in Buenos Aires to celebrate their former Archbishop becoming Pope Francis I

Dancing in the streets: Argentinean Catholics gather to celebrate the election of the new Pope, the Argentinean Jorge Mario Bergoglio, in Buenos Aires

Faithful hold up an Argentine flag with an image of Buenos Aires' Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio that reads in Spanish 'Francisco I' outside the Metropolitan Cathedral

Big news: A nun buys a copy of a newspaper in Rome this morning as the new Pope's face adorns the front cover of every Italian title this morning

Busy: An Italian newspaper vendor is rushed off his feet as people rush to buy this morning's newspapers featuring the Pope on the front page

Artistic: Indian sand artist Sudersan Pattnaik works on a sand sculpture of Pope Francis in Puri, some 65 kms from the eastern Indian city of Bhubaneswar today

A first: The 76-year-old, unveiled as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, becomes both the first South American and Jesuit Pope 

Greeting: Pope Francis I looks out over St Peter's Square from the Papal balcony last night as thousands of wellwishers gathered to welcome him as the new leader of the Catholic Church

Blessing: The 266th Pope blesses the vast crowds in St Peter's Square last night

His unexpected election answered some fundamental questions about the direction of the Church in the coming years.

Smoke signals: White smoke emerges from the chimney on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, in St. Peter's Square last night indicating that a new Pope had been elected

Happy news: Crowds cheer with delight as white smoke billows from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel as news that a new Pope has been elected by Cardinals in Conclave emerges

Overwhelmed: One rain soaked woman can't hide her emotion as white smoke pours from the chimney yesterday evening

EGYPT: Shape-Shifting Jesus Described in Ancient Egyptian Text

 

A newly deciphered Egyptian text, dating back almost 1,200 years, tells part of the crucifixion story of Jesus with apocryphal plot twists, some of which have never been seen before.

Written in the Coptic language, the ancient text tells of Pontius Pilate, the judge who authorized Jesus' crucifixion, having dinner with Jesus before his crucifixion and offering to sacrifice his own son in the place of Jesus. It also explains why Judas used a kiss, specifically, to betray Jesus — because Jesus had the ability to change shape, according to the text  — and it puts the day of the arrest of Jesus on Tuesday evening rather than Thursday evening, something that contravenes the Easter timeline.

The discovery of the text doesn't mean these events happened, but rather that some people living at the time appear to have believed in them, said Roelof van den Broek, of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, who published the translation in the book "Pseudo-Cyril of Jerusalem on the Life and the Passion of Christ"(Brill, 2013).

Copies of the text are found in two manuscripts, one in the Morgan Library and Museum in New York City and the other at the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania. Most of the translation comes from the New York text, because the relevant text in the Pennsylvania manuscript is mostly illegible. [Image Gallery: 2 Ancient Curses Deciphered]

--Pontius Pilate has dinner with Jesus

While apocryphal stories about Pilate are known from ancient times, van den Broek wrote in an email to LiveScience that he has never seen this one before, with Pilate offering to sacrifice his own son in the place of Jesus.

"Without further ado, Pilate prepared a table and he ate with Jesus on the fifth day of the week. And Jesus blessed Pilate and his whole house," reads part of the text in translation. Pilate later tells Jesus, "well then, behold, the night has come, rise and withdraw, and when the morning comes and they accuse me because of you, I shall give them the only son I have so that they can kill him in your place."

In the text, Jesus comforts him, saying, "Oh Pilate, you have been deemed worthy of a great grace because you have shown a good disposition to me." Jesus also showed Pilate that he can escape if he chose to. "Pilate, then, looked at Jesus and, behold, he became incorporeal: He did not see him for a long time ..." the text read.

Pilate and his wife both have visions that night that show an eagle (representing Jesus) being killed.

In the Coptic and Ethiopian churches, Pilate is regarded as a saint, which explains the sympathetic portrayal in the text, van den Broek writes.

--The reason for Judas using a kiss

In the canonical bible the apostle Judas betrays Jesus in exchange for money by using a kiss to identify him leading to Jesus' arrest. This apocryphal tale explains that the reason Judas used a kiss, specifically, is because Jesus had the ability to change shape.

"Then the Jews said to Judas: How shall we arrest him [Jesus], for he does not have a single shape but his appearance changes. Sometimes he is ruddy, sometimes he is white, sometimes he is red, sometimes he is wheat coloured, sometimes he is pallid like ascetics, sometimes he is a youth, sometimes an old man ..." This leads Judas to suggest using a kiss as a means to identify him. If Judas had given the arresters a description of Jesus he could have changed shape. By kissing Jesus Judas tells the people exactly who he is.

This understanding of Judas' kiss goes way back. "This explanation of Judas' kiss is first found in Origen [a theologian who lived A.D. 185-254]," van den Broek writes. In his work, Contra Celsum the ancient writerOrigen, stated that "to those who saw him [Jesus] he did not appear alike to all."

--St. Cyril impersonation

The text is written in the name of St. Cyril of Jerusalem who lived during the fourth century. In the story Cyril tells the Easter story as part of a homily (a type of sermon).  A number of texts in ancient times claim to be homilies by St. Cyril and they were probably not given by the saint in real life, van den Broek explained in his book.

Near the beginning of the text, Cyril, or the person writing in his name, claims that a book has been found in Jerusalem showing the writings of the apostles on the life and crucifixion of Jesus. "Listen to me, oh my honored children, and let me tell you something of what we found written in the house of Mary ..." reads part of the text.

Again, it's unlikely that such a book was found in real life. Van den Broek said that a claim like this would have been used by the writer "to enhance the credibility of the peculiar views and uncanonical facts he is about to present by ascribing them to an apostolic source," adding that examples of this plot device can be found "frequently" in Coptic literature. 

--Arrest on Tuesday

Van den Broek says that he is surprised that the writer of the text moved the date of Jesus' Last Supper, with the apostles, and arrest to Tuesday. In fact, in this text, Jesus' actual Last Supper appears to be with Pontius Pilate. In between his arrest and supper with Pilate, he is brought before Caiaphas and Herod.

In the canonical texts, the last supper and arrest of Jesus happens on Thursday evening and present-day Christians mark this event with Maundy Thursday services. It "remains remarkable that Pseudo-Cyril relates the story of Jesus' arrest on Tuesday evening as if the canonical story about his arrest on Thursday evening (which was commemorated each year in the services of Holy Week) did not exist!" writes van den Broek in the email.

--A gift to a monastery ... and then to New York

About 1,200 years ago the New York text was in the library of the Monastery of St. Michael in the Egyptian desert near present-day al-Hamuli in the western part of the Faiyum. The text says, in translation, that it was a gift from "archpriest Father Paul," who, "has provided for this book by his own labors."

The monastery appears to have ceased operations around the early 10th century, and the text was rediscovered in the spring of 1910. In December 1911, it was purchased, along with other texts, by American financier J.P. Morgan. His collections would later be given to the public and are part of the present-day Morgan Library and Museum in New York City. The manuscript is currently displayed as part of the museum's exhibition "Treasures from the Vault" running through May 5.

--Who believed it?

Van den Broek writes in the email that "in Egypt, the Bible had already become canonized in the fourth/fifth century, but apocryphal stories and books remained popular among the Egyptian Christians, especially among monks."

Whereas the people of the monastery would have believed the newly translated text, "in particular the more simple monks," he's not convinced that the writer of the text believed everything he was writing down, van den Broek said.

"I find it difficult to believe that he really did, but some details, for instance the meal with Jesus, he may have believed to have really happened," van den Broek writes.  "The people of that time, even if they were well-educated, did not have a critical historical attitude. Miracles were quite possible, and why should an old story not be true?"

HUMOR: Ex - Benedict16! (PHOTO)

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ROMANIA: Elder Ioanichie Balan - About Elder Gherasimos (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Archim. Ioanichie talks about an Elder: Fr. Gherasimos from Neamt Monastery...

Neamt Monastery,ROMANIA

 

 

RUUSIA: SNOWPOCALYPSE STORMS INTO RUSSIA (PHOTO STORY)

 

Unrelenting snowfalls have caused unprecedented chaos in Russia. Over the past week, the country has seen scores of traffic accidents, flight delays and, in some cases, the complete isolation of some remote settlements and towns.

On Friday, Moscow was on a verge of traffic collapse as more than 10 inches of snow fell on the city, which is more than half of January’s average.

Thousands of passengers were stranded overnight in the capital’s major airports, as several dozen flights were delayed.

Muscovites woke up and found their cars, driveways and houses buried under a thick layer of snow, with city workers unable to get to smaller streets.