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| Nicaragua extinguishes legal status for religious orders |
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Posted by: Stone - 08-23-2024, 07:55 AM - Forum: Global News
- No Replies
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Nicaragua extinguishes legal status for religious orders
![[Image: 20240102T1558-NICARAGUA-STATE-DEPARTMENT-1770757.jpg]](https://www.oursundayvisitor.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/20240102T1558-NICARAGUA-STATE-DEPARTMENT-1770757.jpg)
Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo. (OSV News photo/Oswaldo Rivas, Reuters)
August 20, 2024
(OSV News) — The Nicaraguan government has extinguished the legal status of more than 25 Catholic organizations, including religious orders such as the Franciscans, Carmelites and Augustinians, another diocesan Caritas chapter, and lay Catholic groups, as part of an attack on civil society with the closure of 1,500 nongovernmental organizations.
The closures, announced Aug. 19 by the Interior Ministry, targeted religious and civic groups ranging from Protestant churches to the Rotary Club to agricultural producer associations and even the National Chess Federation.
Recent closures and targeted groups
A source familiar with Nicaragua described the Aug. 19 actions as “an extraordinary effort by the Nicaraguan State to crush nongovernmental organizations across Nicaraguan society.”
The attack from the increasingly totalitarian regime of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, further eliminated civic spaces beyond their control, while further attacking freedom of worship.
The regime has closed at least 5,000 nongovernmental organizations and silenced independent media since 2018, when protesters took to the streets to demand the president’s ouster — only to be met with violence from police and paramilitaries.
The Aug. 19 closures especially targeted evangelical congregations, many of which were described as modest by independent media.
Impact on Catholic organizations
The assault also continued on the Catholic organizations, putting among the canceled religious orders: the Capuchin Friars Minor, Carmelite Sisters of the Divine Heart of Jesus, the Augustinian monks and nuns, Mercedarian Missionaries of Berriz, the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance (also known as “Trappist” Sisters), and the Brothers of Charity.
A pair of Salesian ministries were canceled: the Association of Salesian Cooperators, and the Association of Salesian Women. Other Catholic organizations losing their legal standing were Lumen Christi Catechist Missionaries, the Saint Pio Foundation, and the Association of Base Christian Communities.
The Caritas chapter in the Diocese of Granada was also shut down. The closure follows the Aug. 12 shuttering of the Caritas chapter in the Diocese of Matagalpa — headed by exiled Bishop Rolando Álvarez. The source speaking with OSV News described the targeting of Caritas chapters as an attack as the regime “not wanting anyone but the state or anyone they consider reliable providing services to the citizenry.”
Government’s allegations and asset seizures
The interior ministry alleged that the 1,500 NGO groups losing their registrations had failed to properly report their finances “for periods of between one and 35 years,” along with “hindering” its “control and oversight” over such organizations. The Nicaraguan state effectively seizes the assets of nongovernmental groups that lose their legal standing.
The closure of so many churches and church organizations — evangelical and Catholic — underscored the suppression of religious life under the Sandinista regime.
An Aug. 19 statement from the Centro de Asistencia Legal Interamericano en Derechos Humanos described evangelical churches as “the last places where Nicaraguans can freely meet. Hence, the remaining NGOs still exercise freedom of association in a minimal way.” The human rights group, Colectivo Nicaragua Nunca Más, reported that at least 21 evangelical pastors have been exiled, while three were denied reentry into the country. It has counted the legal cancellations of about 420 Christian organizations.
Suppression of religious life
Nicaragua’s evangelical congregations had been perceived as being less outspoken and not drawing the regime’s ire until recently.
Catholic Churches have long been spied upon, according to sources, with priests having to watch their words, even during homilies. The regime has also forbidden expressions of faith, shuttering Catholic media outlets, canceling church charitable projects and halting processions and patron saint celebrations outside of church property.
Martha Patricia Molina, an exiled lawyer who tracks aggressions against the Nicaraguan Catholic Church, has counted 9,688 attempts at thwarting processions and religious activities since April 2018. Her latest report on church persecution was released Aug. 15 and documented 154 bishops, priests, deacons, seminarians and 91 nuns unable to work in Nicaragua, having fled the country, being forcibly exiled or simply denied reentry after traveling abroad.
Impact on Catholic clergy and laity
Since 2018, nearly 250 priests, nuns, bishops and other members of the Catholic Church were forced out of the country, according to Molina’s report — with three bishops and 136 priests being expelled and arriving either in the United States or the Vatican.
At least 14 lay Catholics are currently imprisoned for religious reasons, Molina told news outlet Confidencial. More shortages have decimated dioceses such as Matagalpa and Estelí — both headed by Bishop Álvarez — along with the Diocese of Siuna, from which Bishop Isidoro Mora was exiled. Both Bishops Álvarez and Mora were exiled in January to the Vatican, along with 17 other churchmen.
The Diocese of Matagalpa has lost more than 80% of its priests, according to Molina, while the Dioceses of Estelí and Siuna have suffered significant losses of clergy.
“Because there are no priests in the area, it’s the laity who are assuming certain roles, such as celebrating the word or visiting the sick to bring them Communion,” Molina said.
Recent developments and exiled priests
The cancellation of 1,500 NGOs came as two more priests were exiled to the Vatican. Fathers Leonel Balmaceda and Denis Martínez were sent to Rome on Aug. 17, according to independent Nicaraguan media.
The Society of Jesus, which was kicked out of Nicaragua in 2023, released a statement on the one-year anniversary of its prestigious Central American University being confiscated and later reopened as a Sandinista-aligned institution, calling for the government to “stop the repression, stop committing systemic human rights violations and release the political prisoners.”
The Aug. 15 statement from the Jesuits’ Central American province continued by urging the government to “accept the search for a rational solution, in which truth, justice, dialogue, academic freedom and the rule of law prevail.”
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| The Rosary and the Immaculate Heart, Fatima’s two last remedies for the world |
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Posted by: Stone - 08-23-2024, 07:42 AM - Forum: Our Lady
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The Rosary and the Immaculate Heart, Fatima’s two last remedies for the world
Sister Lucy of Fatima said the Immaculate Heart of Mary would be our refuge,
and that the Rosary can resolve any problem, no matter how difficult.
![[Image: https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.ama...7x819.jpeg]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1923f42f-5072-41ef-a84c-184a4e06f513_1457x819.jpeg)
Wiki Commons
M. J. McCusker/ WM Review | Mar 01, 2022
Delivered at numerous pro-life rallies across Ireland in 2018. Edited for publication.
It is not unusual for those fighting for any length of time in the pro-life, pro-family movement to be subject at certain times to the temptations of hopelessness and despair. It can often seem as though we are constantly fighting a losing battle, as country after country falls away from the Catholic faith and the natural law and embraces the mass-killing of unborn children, the killing of the elderly and disabled, and the destruction of the structure of family designed and willed by God. In the face of this unparalleled collapse of western civilisation, many members of the hierarchy of the Catholic Church chose to defect from the faith, and from the Church, and chose instead the path of collaboration with evil.
It is common to reassure ourselves, and others, with the following assertions “the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church” or “Our Lady has already crushed Satan’s head”. These assertions are absolutely true, and are the foundations of our confidence, yet unless they lead us to clarity about the actions we are to perform in the present moment they may not be sufficient to deliver us from the temptation of despair. It is important therefore to form some clear resolutions on which to ground our combat for Christ.
In this context it is interesting to note that in recent years, and especially during the centenary year of 2017, a growing number of men and women in the pro-life, pro-family movement are becoming convinced that we must return to the message of Our Lady of Fatima and take seriously her warnings, her requests and her promises.
In 1957 Sister Lucy met with Fr Augustin Fuentes, a Mexican priest who had been appointed postulator of the cause of beatification of her cousins Jacinta and Francisco Marto, the two other seers of Fatima.
She told him:
Quote:“[T]he devil is in the mood for engaging in a decisive battle against the Virgin. And a decisive battle is the final battle where one side will be victorious and the other side will suffer defeat. Also, from now on we must choose sides. Either we are for God or we are for the devil. There is no other possibility.”
She continued:
Quote:“God is giving two last remedies to the world. These are the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. These are the last two remedies, which signifies that there will be no others.”
In his letter to the Ephesians St Paul wrote:
Quote:“[D]raw your strength from the Lord, from that mastery which his power supplies. You must wear all the weapons in God’s armoury, if you would find strength to resist the cunning of the devil.
“It is not against flesh and blood that we enter the lists; we have to do with princedoms and powers, with those who have mastery of the world in these dark days, with malign influences in an order higher than ours.
“Take up all God’s armour, then; so you will be able to stand your ground when the evil time comes, and be found still on your feet, when all the task is over.” (Eph 6:10-13)
In this spiritual combat with diabolical forces, God has given us two particular last remedies from his “armoury” – the Holy Rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart.
Sister Lucy explained:
Quote:“[I]n the plans of Divine Providence, God always, before He is about to chastise the world, exhausts all other remedies. Now, when He sees that the world pays no attention whatsoever, then as we say in our imperfect manner of speaking, He offers us with ‘certain fear’ the last means of salvation, His Most Holy Mother.”
The message of Fatima is about God sending His Most Holy Mother to warn of the consequences, both for individuals and societies, of our rebellion against Him. By returning to Fatima that we can more fully understand the significance of the two means of victory that God has given to us in our age.
Our Lady appeared at Fatima six times to the three shepherd children, Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco. The apparitions culminated in the great miracle of the sun on 13 October 1917 in which more than 70,000 people witnessed the sun dancing in the sky before plummeting to earth and then returning to its place in the heavens. This great public miracle was a guarantee of authenticity of the visions and message that Sister Lucy was chosen to transmit to the world.
This message concerned the need for mankind to turn back to God in prayer and penance. On 13 June 1917 Our Lady revealed to the children the terrible personal consequences of sin when she showed them a terrifying vision of Hell. She then continued by warning of the devastating consequences that sin has for society as a whole. She said:
Quote:“You have seen Hell — where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them God wants to establish throughout the world the devotion to My Immaculate Heart.
“If people will do what I tell you, many souls will be saved, and there will be peace. The war is going to end.
“But if they do not stop offending God, another and worse war will break out in the reign of Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that it is the great sign that God gives you, that He is going to punish the world for its crimes by means of war, hunger, persecution of the Church and of the Holy Father.
“To forestall this, I shall come to ask for the Consecration of Russia to My Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the First Saturdays.
“If they heed My requests, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace. If not, she shall spread her errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church; the good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, various nations will be annihilated; in the end, My Immaculate Heart shall triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, which will be converted, and a period of peace will be given to the world.”
Mankind has not responded fully to Our Lady’s message.
“Another and worse war” did break out during the reign of Pius XI. And shortly after the apparitions at Fatima ceased the Communists seized power in Moscow and, from the beginning, waged war against the family and against the Church. In Soviet Russia divorce was legalised in 1918 and abortion in 1920. The first sex education programmes, explicitly designed in order to destroy the family and uproot the Catholic faith, were introduced in Hungary in 1919 by the Bolshevik regime of Bela Kun. This “sexual revolution”, first implemented in Russia in the 1920s, has become dominant in the west since the 1960s. It is one of the primary manifestations of the errors of Russia which Our Lady came to warn us about.
When we look back from our vantage point in 2018, we can see that Our Lady’s warnings regarding Russia could not have been more accurate. Russia “shall spread her errors throughout the world, promoting wars and persecutions of the Church”. That one sentence is quite an accurate summary of the history of the twentieth century. In the decades following the Russian Revolution Communist governments were established across the world, and invariably worked for the destruction of the family and of the Church. Countries that escaped Communist regimes have fallen victim instead to insidious subversion, to “cultural Marxism”, the attempt to advance Communism by what one its proponents called “the long march through the institutions”, that is, through the subversion of institutions – schools, universities, charities, governments departments, international organisations, using every means at their disposal to advance atheistic materialism and to expel God from the life of individuals and of society. There is hardly an institution in the west today that has not been subverted to at least some degree in the cause of this revolution, including, tragically, many of the structures of the Catholic Church.
In response to these evils Our Lady called for prayer and penance. And the form of prayer that she urged continuously was the Holy Rosary. At every single apparition at Fatima she requested that the Rosary be said every day. And, after the great miracle of the sun, she revealed herself under of the title Our Lady of the Holy Rosary.
In 1957 Sister Lucy said to Fr Fuentes:
Quote:“The Most Holy Virgin, in these last times in which we live, has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary. She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary. With the Holy Rosary we will save ourselves. We will sanctify ourselves. We will console Our Lord and obtain the salvation of many souls.”
If we consider how many saints have urged us to pray the rosary, and how much they extolled its great power, how much more encouraged should we be by Sister Lucy’s words that “the Most Holy Virgin, in these last times in which we live, has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary.”
The second of the great means of deliverance that we have been given is devotion to the Immaculate Heart.
Sister Lucy described the essence of this devotion very simply:
Quote:“… devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Most Holy Mother, consists in considering Her as the seat of mercy, of goodness and of pardon, and as the sure door by which we are to enter Heaven.”
Devotion to the Immaculate Heart can be practised in a wide variety of different ways and can be introduced into every area of our lives. However, there are two particular acts that have been specified by Our Lady, one that can be practised by all the Catholics, the other which is reserved to the pope.
Our Lady called on us all to make reparation for offences against her Immaculate Heart through the practice of the five First Saturdays.
This practice consists of carrying out the following acts on the five consecutive First Saturdays with the intention of making reparation for offences against her Immaculate Heart:
- Going to Confession
- Receiving Holy Communion
- Praying at least five decades of the Rosary
- Meditating on one or mysteries of the Rosary for at least fifteen minutes.
Through this devotion Our Lady has given us a simple means of making reparation for sin and of participating in her victory over Satan. This devotion leads to deeper participation the fullness of the Church’s liturgical and sacramental life, leading souls as it does to the practice of regular confession, frequent reception of Holy Communion and the practice of mental prayer.
Our Lord, in a later apparition, told Sister Lucy that it was to be practiced on five First Saturdays because there are five principal offences against his mother’s Immaculate Heart:
- Offences against her Immaculate Conception
- Offences against her virginity
- Offences against her motherhood
- Offences against her sacred images
- And the offence caused by those who turn her children away from devotion to her.
The second practice requested by Our Lady at Fatima is the consecration of Russia to her Immaculate Heart by the pope in union with all the bishops. Pope Pius XII consecrated the world to the Immaculate Heart, and no doubt many extraordinary graces have been poured out on the world as a result of those consecrations.
Our Lord told Sister Lucy that the consecration of Pius XII in 1942 had obtained the shortening of the Second World War. Yet the consecration requested by Our Lady has not yet been done according to her specific requirements. When it is Russia will be converted as Our Lady promised.
In 1936 Sister Lucy, already troubled by the lack of response to Our Lady’s message, asked Our Lord why he didn’t just convert Russia anyway, even without the consecration. Our Lord’s answered her in a vision and said:
Quote:“Because I want My whole Church to acknowledge that consecration as a triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary so that it may extend its cult later and put the devotion of the Immaculate Heart beside the devotion to My Sacred Heart.”
Our Lord desires that the salvation of the world will come through His Mother’s Immaculate Heart and that we should acknowledge and glorify her for it.
The great sin of the human race in recent centuries has been that man has exalted himself into the place of God. We have placed our trust not in God but in science and technology, political ideologies, economic theories, or, now, even in “New Age” mysticism. All of our attempts at building an earthly utopia, a world without God, have failed and will fail and, in the end, we will be saved from ourselves not by any great or impressive human achievement, but by a simple prayer offered by Christ’s vicar on earth:
Quote:“[I]n the end, My Immaculate Heart shall triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to Me, which will be converted, and a period of peace will be given to the world.”
But by God’s power, not man’s.
Sister Lucy warned us already in 1957:
Quote:“… the most Holy Virgin is very sad because no one has paid any attention to Her Message, neither the good nor the bad. The good continue on their way, but without giving any importance to Her Message. The bad, not seeing the punishment of God actually falling upon them, continue their life of sin without even caring about the Message. But believe me, Father, God will chastise the world and this will be in a terrible manner. The punishment from Heaven is imminent.”
And she urges us:
Quote:“… we should not wait for an appeal to the world to come from Rome on the part of the Holy Father, to do penance. Nor should we wait for the call to penance to come from our bishops in our diocese, nor from the religious congregations. No! Our Lord has already very often used these means, and the world has not paid attention. That is why now, it is necessary for each one of us to begin to reform himself spiritually. Each person must not only save his own soul but also help to save all the souls that God has placed on our path.”
“The devil does all in his power to distract us and to take away from us the love for prayer; we shall be saved together or we shall be damned together.”
So let us now turn with renewed hope and confidence to Our Lady, trusting that by making use of the means that she has given us, we will soon participate in the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart!
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| Left-wing research paper includes ideas on manipulating conservatives into eating less red meat |
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Posted by: Stone - 08-23-2024, 07:36 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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Left-wing research paper includes ideas on manipulating conservatives into eating less red meat
The authors suggested nuancing the language to make eating more artificial foods palatable.
![[Image: Shutterstock_2250134527.jpg]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Shutterstock_2250134527.jpg)
Shutterstock
Aug 22, 2024
(LifeSiteNews [slightly adapted, not all hyperlinks included]) — Professors seeking to know how to manipulate people into eating less red meat have released a study on the subject.
Three professors and one Ph.D. student at the University of Southern California published their findings in Climatic Change magazine on August 12. Over 5,000 Democratic, Republican, and Independent Americans were surveyed for the report.
Working under the presumption that red meat is “a major contributor to climate change,” the study wanted to know if changes in language might induce ordinary citizens to reject red meat and eat more “climate-friendly” foods.
The study begins by noting that “people’s attitudes can be influenced by … variations in terminology.” It adds that Americans are most familiar with the terms “climate change” and “global warming.” The more partisan-infused phrases “climate justice” and “climate emergency” are not as well known.
The paper ultimately found that a willingness to eat less red meat fell along partisan lines, with Democrats being more eager to deny themselves the nutrient dense food, which is chock full of vitamins and proteins that aid in muscle growth. Republicans, on the other hand, were “often unresponsive” to changes in terminology.
The paper concludes that “climate change communications may therefore need to go beyond terminology.” It recommended that “effective communication strategies include using compelling everyday language, presenting clear graphs, emphasizing social norms, and making climate-friendly actions the default.”
It added that “efforts to reach Republicans may require messages from Conservative spokespeople, and involving the private sector in climate change mitigation.”
Reducing red meat consumption while promoting fake food and plant-based protein is a top priority for organizations like the World Economic Forum and the Club of Rome. Western oligarchs like Bill Gates as well as U.S.-based companies like Tyson are also investing billions in the movement by pouring money into synthetic eggs and lab-grown chicken, all in the name of purportedly fighting climate change.
But farmers in the Netherlands and a growing number of European countries are refusing to go along with the efforts. In December 2023, Italy’s lower and upper chambers of Parliament passed a bill that bans artificial food for public consumption.
The growth of imitation meat and genetically modified crops has caused many health experts as well as concerned citizens and chefs across the world to worry about the future of food and its impact on human beings.
While groups like the World Economic Forum have long touted them as alternatives that can help curb climate change, others argue they are a tool global elites use to seize control of the food chain and poison human beings with toxic ingredients to ensure a sick population so Big Pharma and the medical industry can reap massive profits.
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| New study traces Shroud of Turin to time of Jesus in first-century Middle East |
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Posted by: Stone - 08-23-2024, 07:31 AM - Forum: General Commentary
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New study traces Shroud of Turin to time of Jesus in first-century Middle East
The new finding that the Shroud of Turin’s fabric is consistent with linens found in Israel during the first century is further evidence that it is the authentic burial shroud of Jesus Christ.
![[Image: Untitled-25.png]](https://www.lifesitenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Untitled-25.png)
Shroud of Turin
Screenshot
Aug 22, 2024
TURIN, Italy (LifeSiteNews) — Researchers have newly traced the Shroud of Turin – long believed to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ – to Israel during the time of Jesus, discrediting previous theories that the Shroud is only a medieval forgery.
Italian scientists used a wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) method to examine the shroud’s cellulose fibers, yielding data that is “compatible with the hypothesis that the Turin Shroud is a 2000-year-old relic,” the study concluded.
The research team, led by Dr. Liberato De Caro, found that the cellulose in the shroud had a breakdown pattern consistent with other linens from Israel that date back to the first century.
“The data profiles were fully compatible with analogous measurements obtained on a linen sample whose dating, according to historical records, is 55-74 AD, found at Masada, Israel [Herod’s famous fortress built on a limestone bedrock overlooking the Dead Sea],” reads the study, published in the journal Heritage.
According to the researchers, the nature of the cellulose breakdown suggested that the Shroud of Turin was likely kept at a temperature of about 72.5 degrees Fahrenheit and a relative humidity of 55 percent for about 13 centuries before it was brought to Europe.
Preserved in the royal chapel of the cathedral of San Giovanni Battista in Turin, Italy, since 1578, the shroud was thought by some to have been manufactured between 1260 and 1390 after researchers examined the cloth in 1988 using radiocarbon dating.
However, when the team compared the shroud with linens made between 1260 and 1390 AD, their X-ray determined aging did not match up.
In addition, particles of pollen that come from the Middle East were lodged in the linen fibers, appearing to exclude the possibility that the shroud originated in Europe, according to Dr. De Caro.
He said that the error of the 1988 dating is likely due to contamination of the fabric, which he said is a normal occurrence.
“Fabric samples are usually subject to all kinds of contamination, which cannot be completely removed from the dated specimen,” he said, according to the Daily Mail. “If the cleaning procedure of the sample is not thoroughly performed, carbon-14 dating is not reliable,” he added.
The research team dated the shroud’s fabric at Italy’s Institute of Crystallography of the National Research Council, where another group of experts said in 2017 they found evidence that the shroud bore the blood of a man who suffered intensely.
They had identified the substances creatinine and ferritin, found in the blood of victims who suffer severe traumas, such as torture.
It is noteworthy that the shroud’s bloodstains show a man who was scourged on his back, crowned with thorns, and stabbed in the side, all consistent with Scripture’s account of Jesus Christ’s Passion and death.
Scripture also describes how Joseph of Arimathea wrapped the body of Jesus in a linen cloth after he died, and placed him in a tomb: “And Joseph taking the body, wrapped it up in a clean linen cloth. And laid it in his own new monument, which he had hewed out in a rock. And he rolled a great stone to the door of the monument, and went his way.” (Matthew 27:59-60)
An image of Jesus Christ based on the Shroud of Turin, rendered by AI, has recently gone viral.
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