Peace and Sophia Loren vs. Intolerance and Murder

I sometimes assume that people who use the same blogger templates must have something in common. Myself and Paul Walter, for example. Paul makes the valid point today that

"On a Sunday it is always good to reflect on something positive being done in the world of faith. The peace vigil by the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, is one such event"

Meanwhile on another similarly-coloured blog, Petrelis reports that , horrifically, women are being stoned to death in Iran for adultery :

"Please feel free, and I emphatically encourage you, to cut and paste the Supes' resolution, or the information from Mazahery's site, on your own blog or web site. Get the word out that now is the time to open our mouths and say, in loud and clear voices, "No stoning of women!""

(Please have a look at Petrelis' links on this. According to Amnesty International

The Iranian Penal Code is very specific about the manner of execution and types of stones which should be used. Article 102 states that men will be buried up to their waists and women up to their breasts for the purpose of execution by stoning. Article 104 states, with reference to the penalty for adultery, that the stones used should "not be large enough to kill the person by one or two strikes; nor should they should they be so small that they could not be defined as stones")

So can I find something connected with religion that will sound positive at the end of a grim week?

Well, the the Daily Telegraph doesn't help me here. they reported yesterday that:

"Powerful evangelical churches are pressing Kenya's national museum to sideline its world-famous collection of hominid bones pointing to man's evolution from ape to human."

But the BBC website does help me. At last, a cleric with a sense of proportion and a sense of humour:

"Even the Archbishop of Genoa once said that although the Vatican opposed human cloning, "an exception might be made in the case of Sophia Loren"".

This chap is now Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone , the incoming Vatican Secretary of State.