I’ve Moved!
November 20, 2008
So I’m sure that most people have noticed that the site has been offline for a few days. There’s a reason for that, which I will get to shortly. But first, let me just say this:
In fact, I am blogging at a new site I have just finished setting up: kennethhynek.net. A full explanation for the reasons behind the move can be found here
.
That said, this is not the end of Time Immortal. My wife Grace has expressed interest in taking over blogging at this domain, and I am working to make sure that she gets set up here as soon as possible.
Also, my profound apologies for the modification to the site face; the move was not as seamless as I would have hoped, and many of the image files for this theme, and in the gallery, were corrupted during the course of their evacuation from my previous web host’s servers. Until such time as I have repaired them, I’ve put a clean-looking template in place of the previous one.
Update: for the purposes of further traffic shaping, new posts from kennethhynek.net will be excerpted below. Full articles can be read at the new blog.
The Vatican is negotiating to open a church in Saudi Arabia
March 17, 2008
It’s the last country on Earth that bans churches within its borders.
The Vatican is in negotiations with Saudi Arabia to open the first Catholic church in the kingdom.
Archbishop Mounged El-Hachem, the papal envoy to Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates said talks had started a few weeks ago, in the wake of King Abdullah’s visit to [Pope Benedict XVI] last November.
Currently, all Saudi citizens are required by law to be Muslim, and the Mutaween, or religious police, strictly prohibits the public practice of non-Muslim religions.
The last Christian priest was expelled from the kingdom in 1985.
However, the Vatican?s relationship with the Muslim world is improving rapidly, and Qatar opened its first Catholic church on Sunday.
Mgr El-Hachem said a church in Saudi Arabia would be an important sign of ‘reciprocity’ between the faiths.
I find I cannot help but be a bit pessmistic about the prospects of these talks amounting to anything — the Saudi (Wahabbist) strain of Islam is perhaps the most bigoted and narrow-minded of all the various iterations of the religion of the false prophet that can be found in the world. Still, it would be an incredible thing to be able to return the light of the Lord to the darkness of the country that contains within it both Mecca and Medina. Pray for this event to transpire, O Reader, and call upon the intercession of every saint.
