Esam Omeish

Esam S. Omeish (born December 19, 1967) is a Libyan-born American physician and chief of the Division of General Surgery at Inova Alexandria Hospital since 2006. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Dar Al-Hijrah mosque and former President of the Muslim American Society (MAS).
As President of the MAS in 2005, Omeish represented the organization at a news conference announcing an anti-terrorism campaign launched by a coalition of US-based Muslim groups.
In August 2007, Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine appointed Omeish to the Virginia Commission on Immigration. In 2009, he unsuccessfully ran for State Assemblyman in a primary election in the 35th District of the Virginia House of Delegates.
Education and family.
Esam Omeish was born in Tripoli, Libya. In 1982 he immigrated at the age of 15 with his family to the United States, not knowing any English. They settled in Falls Church, Virginia, where he attended J. E. B. Stuart High School. He and his brothers started the first Muslim Friday prayers in a high school in the Washington, DC area. He finished secondary school in two and half years, excelled in gifted programs and advanced placement courses, and graduated with a near perfect grade point average.
He attended Georgetown University. Upon graduating with a double major in government and biology in 1989, Omeish attended the Georgetown University School of Medicine. He was the only foreign student to gain admission from a pool of over 6000 candidates for less than 180 positions.
Omeish helped start the first chapter of the Muslim Students Association (MSA) at Georgetown. He chaired the MSA Council for the Washington, DC, metropolitan area during his years as a student at Georgetown.
A medical first responder to the events of the September 11 attacks, he was the surgeon on call at Alexandria Hospital; it received some of the victims of the attack on the Pentagon.
He has, and continues to participate in several local and regional civic, religious and community organizations and has appeared on several media outlets. He has lectured extensively in various topics of Islamic activism, youth, community development and Islamic educational programs and continues to participate in programs nationwide.
Marriage and family.
His wife is Badria Kafala, a scientist with a Ph.D. in molecular genetics. They have four children as of 2009: Abrar, Anwar, Yousof, and Ibrahim. In 2008 their daughter Anwar participated in an episode on discussing the legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." The show included children from across the U.S., of different ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds.
Islamic leader.
Dar al-Hijrah.
Omeish is a former vice president and current board member of the Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Falls Church. He has consistently worked against extremist elements within the Muslim community, emphasizing that "we…are uniquely positioned and equipped to provide a comprehensive, multifaceted approach in pro-actively combating terrorism and eliminating its scourge." According to Omeish, the mainstream Islamic community needs to protect itself from extremist ideology and violent action.
In 2000, Esam Omeish was among those who recommended the board of directors hire Anwar al-Awlaki as the mosque's imam; at the time the American-born cleric espoused moderate Muslim views and appeared to bridge the American and Muslim cultures. Omeish said in 2004 that he was convinced that al-Awlaki: "has no inclination or active involvement in any events or circumstances that have to do with terrorism."
In 2004, at 36 years of age, Omeish was the youngest member of the mosque's Board of Directors. He said then that the mosque leadership needed to be more open and inclusive of younger people, including women. "The bottom line is that this is a mosque that is in the heart of Washington," he said. "Our goal is to make the congregation reflect that reality."
Omeish acknowledged that some mosque members raised reasonable questions about the mosque's constitution. In 2004, proposals for change under consideration included direct elections to the mosque's board of directors, director term limits, and phasing out the board seats that the constitution assigns to officials of certain Muslim organizations. As of December 2009, Omeish was still a member of the mosque's Board of Directors. In early 2010, he resigned from the Board of Directors because of lack of major reform in the center's policies.
Muslim American Society.
In 2004, as President of the Muslim American Society, Omeish wrote a letter to the "[[Washington Post]]" in which he took issue with "inaccuracies" in the definition of the Muslim Brotherhood published by the paper. It was discussed in John Mintz and [[Douglas Farah]]'s article, "In search of friends among the foes, US hopes to work with diverse group," (September 11, 2004). Omeish wrote,
The moderate school of thought prevalent in the Muslim Brotherhood represents a significant trend in Islamic activism in the United States and the West, and we in MAS accordingly have been influenced by that moderate Islamic school of thought as it applies to our American identity and relevance for our American reality.
[[Daveed Gartenstein-Ross]], in an opinion editorial he wrote for the "[[Weekly Standard]]", responded,
Omeish ... wrote that the reason MAS draws inspiration from the Muslim Brotherhood is 'in order to espouse the values of human dialogue, tolerance, and moderation.' Yet both MAS's curriculum and also the scholars that MAS requires its members to read openly flout these values.
As President of the MAS in 2005, Omeish represented the organization at a news conference announcing an anti-terrorism campaign launched by a coalition of US-based Muslim groups. He told reporters: "The fact of the matter is we know of no [[sleeper cell]]s, we don't know of that phenomenon to exist in our community." He attributed this success in part to the teaching of moderate, authentic Islam: "What has protected our community far before 9/11 from extremism and violent ideology is that balanced mainstream advocacy of Islamic principles." He was President of MAS through 2007, but resigned in 2008.
Political career.
Controversy regarding resignation from Virginia commission.
In 2007, Omeish earned the prestigious "Outstanding Physician of the Year" award. That same year, Virginia Governor [[Timothy M. Kaine]] appointed him to the Virginia Commission on Immigration, which was evaluating issues related to illegal immigration.
Following public revelations of controversial remarks by Omeish in several videos, which criticized Israel and the United States government and appeared to encourage "jihad," Kaine asked for Omeish's resignation from the commission on September 27, 2007, and he complied. A caller noted Omeish's remarks when the governor appeared on a radio show.
In one video, Omeish said to Washington-area Muslims:
you have learned the way, that you have known that the "[[jihad]]" way is the way to liberate your land.
In another, he praised Palestinians for giving up their lives for [[Allah]]. In a third video, he addressed a crowd, saying:
We must prosecute those who are responsible for this war. [[Impeach]] Bush today! Let us cleanse our [[United States Department of State|State Department]], our [[United States Congress|Congress]], our [[the Pentagon|Pentagon]] of those who have driven America into this colossal mistake.
Omeish was filmed at an August 12, 2006, rally in Washington near the [[White House]], denouncing [[Israel]]'s [[2006 Lebanon|invasion of Lebanon]] that year and the "[[Israel Defense Forces|Israeli war machine]]." He accused Israel of [[genocide]] and massacres against [[Palestinians]], and said the "Israeli agenda" controlled [[Congress of the United States|Congress]].
In accepting the doctor's resignation, Kaine said, "Omeish is a respected physician and community leader, yet I have been made aware of certain statements he has made which concern me." He added that [[background check]]s of commission nominees would be more thorough in the future.
Omeish told a news conference that "jihad" traditionally was not about violence, but about the inner struggles leading to spiritual triumph. Omeish said his remarks were "taken out of context." He said Kaine was reacting to "speech excerpts taken out of context by proponents of a relentless campaign of ... [[Islamophobia]]." He accused his critics of perpetrating a "[[smear campaign]]" against him. The political commentator [[Cal Thomas]] disputed Omeish's assertion that his remarks were "taken out of context," saying that the meaning of the controversial phrase was clear.
After Omeish resigned, Delegate. C. [[Todd Gilbert]]'s office released a statement entitled, "Kaine Appointee on Board of Directors of Radical 9-11 Mosque", referring to the Dar Al Hijrah mosque.
Candidacy for state assemblyman.
In 2009 Omeish ran for State [[Virginia General Assembly|Assemblyman]] in the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] [[primary election|primary]] election in the 35th District of the [[Virginia House of Delegates]]. Omeish raised $143,734 for his campaign from January 1 to May 27, 2009 ($52,000 of which was his personal money), the fourth-largest amount of fundraising statewide among all Virginia House of Delegates candidates. His third-highest contributor was the [[International Institute of Islamic Thought]].
Upon starting his political candidacy, Omeish said, "I love Virginia and I've been involved in community activities since I came here. My candidacy is a continuation of a lifelong passion for public and community service." He also said, "As a physician and health care provider, I think this year health care is going to be one of the major issues we bring to the General Assembly."
Local Virginians described him as "a very logical person" that is very patriotic and who speaks the people's language. Jim Hyland, the Republican candidate for the seat, said Omeish was a poor choice to represent his region's growing Muslim community. "What criteria were they using to select people?" he said. "I think (his views) come from a small-minded perspective—got to fight Israel and all that sort of rhetoric. Some people have tried move beyond that." John Carroll, who ran against Omeish in the primary, said: "I was surprised (when I watched the video). He's about as nice a guy as you can meet," and "He's really championed health care for the uninsured."
Columnist [[Marc Fisher]] wrote in "The Washington Post", in a column entitled "From Fairfax To Richmond, 'The Jihad Way?'":
A candidate who speaks with great pride and zest to an audience of fellow Muslims about people "giving up their lives..for the sake of the Muslim honor" should also be someone who happily delivers the same message to the Virginia voters he hopes will choose him for public office. But there is not a word in Omeish's campaign literature about this great passion of his life.
Omeish came in third in the primary on June 8, 2009, with 1,039 votes (15.7%).
Clinton call.
In June 2009, [[United States Secretary of State]] [[Hillary Clinton]] invited Omeish to join 100-200 invitees on a conference call that was billed as a forum in which to discuss how to bridge the divide between the United States and the Muslim community. Omeish expressed his support for President [[Barack Obama]], and said that Muslim-Americans needed to get more involved in politics. A press statement from his campaign office included a message from him expressing his hope that,
[...] my friends on the far right and even some of those in the media, that continue to try and distort my record and my name, and continue to distort public perceptions of the Muslim community, will realize that we have a president and an administration, along with most of the American people, that are ready to move beyond divisive politics.
Work on Libya.
In an article published by the Washington Times, Dr. Omeish said:
The above was featured in "A Nation of Nations" by NPR journalist Tom Gjeltan.
External links.
[[Category:1967 births]]
[[Category:Anwar al-Awlaki]]
[[Category:American surgeons]]
[[Category:Georgetown University alumni]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Falls Church, Virginia]]
[[Category:People from Tripoli]]
[[Category:Virginia Democrats]]
[[Category:Libyan emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:American people of Libyan descent]]
[[Category:Georgetown University School of Medicine alumni]]
[[Category:American Muslim activists]]
[[Category:Libyan Muslim activists]]


Aurelio Bacciarini

Aurelio Bacciarini (8 November 1873 – 27 June 1935) was a Swiss Roman Catholic who served as the interim administrator of the Diocese of Lugano. He was a professed member of the Servants of Charity - also known as the Guanellians - and was also the founder of the Secular Institute of the Company of Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. He became known in his diocese as the "Apostle of the Sacred Heart".
He was proclaimed to be Venerable in 2008 after Pope Benedict XVI recognized that he had lived a life of heroic virtue. A miracle attributed to his intercession required for his beatification is now under investigation.
Early life.
Aurelio Bacciarini was born in Ticino in Switzerland on 8 November 1873 to Lodovico and Maria Sciarini as the seventh of eight children; one older sister was Filomena. He was baptized on 9 November under the Provost Father Pietro Vaghetti with the names of "Stefano Aurelio". The eighth child - a sister - died in 1875 soon after birth and his father died on 6 September 1876.
Career.
He went to Vaghetti for support in following his vocation and he soon commenced his theological studies in Milan. He was ordained to the priesthood on 12 June 1897 in Rome in the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. He served as a spiritual director from 1903 to 1906. On 8 October 1906 in Como he entered Luigi Guanella's order and ascended to the post of its Superior General in 1915. The beginning of 1917 saw Pope Benedict XV appoint him as the Apostolic Administrator of Lugano and he received his episcopal consecration a week later in Rome under Cardinal Basilio Pompili. He was also consecrated as the Titular Bishop of Daulia. Bacciarini was committed to the reorganization of Catholic Action as well as the promotion of crucifixes in public spaces.
His program for his diocese was thus:
Bacciarini established several diocesan institutions that included a newspaper - "Giornale del Popolo" - in 1926 and his own religious congregation at the same time. He was described as the "Apostle of the Sacred Heart".
Bacciarini died on 27 June 1935 at 4:45pm in Lugano. He was buried in the Shrine of the Sacred Heart.
Beatification process.
The beatification process commenced in Lugano in 1946 under Pope Pius XII in a process that spanned until 25 March 1964. This occurred despite the fact that the formal introduction of the cause was not until 15 December 1981 under Pope John Paul II; it was this introduction that conferred upon him the posthumous title Servant of God. The local process was ratified in 1982 and culminated with the creation of the Positio. It was sent to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome in 1997 for further evaluation.
On 15 March 2008 he was declared to be Venerable after Pope Benedict XVI recognized that Bacciarini had lived a life of heroic virtue.
The miracle needed for his beatification was investigated and the process received the formal decree of ratification in 2007.


Angel Kreiman Brill

Angel Kreiman Brill (1945–6 January 2014) was the Chief Rabbi of Chile, Director of the International Council of Christians and Jews in Latin America and the International Vice President of the World Council of Synagogues.
Early life and education.
He was born in Buenos Aires into a secular Jewish family. He graduated as a Professor of Hebrew and Jewish Sciences in the Seminar Morim of Buenos Aires (1963) and as a Rabbi in the Latin American Rabbinical Seminar (1968). He married Susy Wolinsky in 1969. In 1975 he obtained a Degree in Right at the Free University of Colombia in Barranquilla, Colombia. He moved to Santiago in the 1970s.
Move to Argentina.
In 1990 after a series of scandals, Kreiman left Chile and moved to Buenos Aires with his family. His wife was killed in the 1994 AMIA bombing.
Later life.
In 1995, Kreiman returned to Chile to the southern city of Concepción, and in 2011 moved to Jerusalem. He died in 2014 in Chile.
Interfaith activities with Opus Dei.
According to Kreiman Brill, Josemaría Escrivá's teachings are strongly rooted in Talmudic traditions about work. The Talmudic concept of work, said Kreiman, is that "work is not a punishment, but man's duty, a blessing from God that allows us to fully enjoy the Sabbath and allows us to be in the image and likeness of God".


Annolied

The Annolied ("Song of Anno") is an Early Middle High German poem in praise of Archbishop Anno II of Cologne. Anno died in 1075 and the poem, probably written in the years immediately after his death, can be seen as part of a campaign for his canonisation, which was finally achieved in 1183.
Sources.
There is no surviving manuscript of the "Annolied". Our knowledge of the poem comes mainly from the printed version published by Martin Opitz in 1639. Part of the poem had been published previously by Bonaventura Vulcanius in 1597, but this was only a short extract from the start of the work (strophes 2,1–5,4)). There are significant differences between the two printed versions: Vulcanius's is missing the prologue, has some additional lines, and differing strophe divisions. The two editors, therefore, must have drawn on different manuscripts, conventionally called *V and *O after their later editors.
However, the two manuscripts seem to be closely related and the codex probably combined the "Annolied" with Williram of Ebersberg's "'Expositio in Cantica Canticorum" ("Commentary on the Song of Songs"): Opitz borrowed a Williram manuscript from his friend Michael Flandrin in Breslau, which may be the one held in the Breslau town library as R 347. The connection between the "Annolied" and a Williram manuscript in Breslau comes from a 15th century record which notes the presence in the Rhediger collection in the Breslau town library of a codex containing both the Annolied () and Williram's text.
A manuscript transcription by Junius now in the Bodleian Library seems to be a copy of Opitz's edition rather than an independent source.
Dating.
The principal point of reference for the dating is the mention of Mainz as the new place of coronation. This may refer to one of two coronations:
Support for the earlier period 1077–81 comes from evidence that the "Gesta Treverorum", which ends in 1106, drew on the "Annolied". The "Vita Annonis", a Latin life of Anno written in 1105, concentrates more on Anno's miracles, which suggests a later reworking of the story and an earlier date for the "Annolied".
Content.
The Annolied was an encomium to Archbishop Anno II of Cologne (d. 1075), later Saint Anno, who was the founder of Siegburg Abbey.
The poem consists of three parts: the religious or spiritual history of the world and its salvation, from the creation to the time of Anno II; the secular history of the world up to the foundation of the German cities (including the theory of the world empires derived from the vision of the Book of Daniel); and finally the "Vita Annonis", or the biography of Archbishop Anno II.
A recent interpretation (Dunphy, Herweg) sees this threefold structure in the context of the poet's remark in the prologue that in the beginning God created two worlds, one spiritual and one earthly, and then he mixed these to create the first human, who, being both, was a "third world". The poem then charts spiritual and secular history and finally shows the two culminating in the biography of the man who stands at the centrepoint of history. This is a remarkable and highly original historiographical approach.
Parts of the Annolied were incorporated into the later Middle High German "Kaiserchronik" and the two works are often considered together.
German origin story.
The poem includes sections on four German peoples, the Bavarians, Franks, Saxons and Thuringians, a typical medieval story, telling in each case of their origins in the classical near east. The "Annolied" is the first text to give what later became quite a popular motif whereby the ancestors of the Bavarians migrated from Armenia.


Philip Hefner

Philip Hefner is a professor emeritus of systematic theology at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.
Academic career.
His research career has focused on the interaction of religion and science, for which he is most well known. Hefner has held several dozen visiting teaching and lecturing appointments at seminaries, colleges, and universities in the United States, Europe, Africa, and Asia. He is an ordained minister of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, and has taught in numerous Lutheran seminaries in America.
In 1988, Hefner was instrumental in bringing to fruition the vision of Ralph Wendell Burhoe by helping to create the "Chicago Center for Religion and Science," which later was renamed the "Zygon Center for Religion and Science." He was the first director of the center and remained in that capacity from 1988 until 2003, at which point Antje Jackelén succeeded him. Today the Zygon Center is directed by Lea Schweitz.
He is the former editor for Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science the leading journal of religion and science in the world. He retired as editor at the end of 2008. Dutch scholar Willem B. Drees was named as his successor at the Journal. Hefner was four times co-chair of the annual conference of the Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS). In this activity he has been a leader in the discussions there on the evolving paradigm of Religious Naturalism. Hefner is a prominent figure in this emergence belief. It distances itself from traditional religions seeing religious aspects in the world which can be appreciated in a naturalistic framework rather than relying on the supernatural. He is an individualist in his approach to it.
Hefner writes "A second alternative response, often identified as “religious naturalism,” is composed of a cross-section of people, many of whom are scientists, who are fashioning a religious worldview that is consistent with their personal outlook and/or free of those encumbrances of traditional religion which they consider conceptually anachronistic and morally dangerous. Religious naturalism is a variety of naturalism which involves a set of beliefs and attitudes that there are religious aspects of this world which can be appreciated within a naturalistic framework."
Audrey R. Chapman says of him "Philip Hefner is perhaps the theologian who has grappled the most seriously and explicitly with the evolution of human nature. His approach to this topic, particularly in his work ‘The Human Factor’ is to sacralize the process of evolution...like several other thinkers, Hefner presents a bio-cultural evolutionary paradigm of Homo sapiens...For him, culture is a happening in nature"
Legacy.
Hefner is a Senior Fellow at the Metanexus Institute where one can find his biography.
The Publications Board of "Zygon" has established the "Philip Hefner Fund" to honor the 20 years of outstanding editorial leadership that was demonstrated by Hefner.
Selected works.
Over 150 scholarly articles, about half of which deal with religion and the natural sciences, while the other half deal with traditional historical and theological issues.
He translated and edited a volume of Ritschl's shorter writings, "Three Essays by Albrecht Ritschl" – Fortress Press, 1972. He contributed two essays "Creation" and "Church" to the two-volume work, "Christian Dogmatics" – eds., Carl Braaten and Robert Jenson – Fortress Press, 1984. His 2002 Rockwell lectures, delivered at Rice University, on the theme of the "Created Co-Creator" were to be published by Trinity International Press.


Saint Ame

Saint Amatus, (c.560-c.627)) also called Amatus of Grenoble or Saint Ame or Aimee, was a Colombanian monk and hermit. Together with St. Romaric, he founded Remiremont Abbey.
Biography.
Amatus was born about the year 560 to a noble family at Grenoble. Around 581, he entered the Abbey of St. Maurice, Agaunum, and at the age of thirty retired into a hermitage, where his reputation for a life of penance and prayer, privileged with the grace of miracle working, drew the attention of Eustace of Luxeuil, who persuaded Amatus to join his community.
One of his missionary journeys brought him to the court at Metz, and there he converted a former Count Palatine of King Theodebert II, the Frankish noble St. Romaric. St. Romaric founded with Amatus a double monastery for men and women at Remiremont Abbey on land that had been in Romaric's possession since his days as a count palatine. Amatus was its first abbot. He ruled this Abbey for many years, and established there the difficult pious practice of the “Laus perennis” or Perpetual Praise, which consisted in the maintaining in the Church an uninterrupted service of Psalmody and Prayer, day and night. Saint Amatus died in the year 627, and at his own request was buried just outside the church door. Later, his remains were suitably enshrined under one of the altars of the same church.
Veneration.
Saint Amatus was canonized on 3 December 1049 by Pope Leo IX and his memorial day is 13 September. He is particularly honored in Grenoble.


John Corapi

John Anthony Corapi (born May 20, 1947), formerly known as Fr. John Corapi, is an inactive Catholic priest of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (S.O.L.T.) in the United States. He was popular in the early 2000s for his regular appearances on Catholic television and his syndicated daily Catholic radio show. He published instructional media including books, DVDs, and websites, and made speaking appearances throughout the world.
In 2005, Corapi was awarded $2.7 million USD for his role as a whistleblower in a "qui tam" False Claims Act lawsuit against Redding Medical Center in California. This resulted in an overall $24 million USD payment to defrauded patients.
In 2011, Corapi was removed by his order from public ministry as a priest following allegations of misconduct, which he denied. By 2012, his website and his accounts on Facebook and Twitter had been closed. As of 2021, no official information is available about John Corapi's activity, such as whether he was laicized or whether he is still affiliated with his order. A LinkedIn page appears to indicate that he might have pursued an occupation as a writer of fiction and non-fiction and a speaker for non-religious events. However, a 2015 article published by Church Militant reported that he remained in the priesthood and was "re-establishing his spiritual life".
Life.
Early years.
Corapi was born and grew up in Hudson, New York. In high school, he was a football player and an undistinguished student. In 1965, he entered the State University of New York at Albany, but returned to Hudson after academic difficulties.
Military service.
Corapi joined the United States Army on April 16, 1967, serving as a clerk and typist. He was discharged in January 1970. He has said that he enlisted to join the Special Forces but was injured before completing his training.
Career.
After his discharge in 1970, Corapi studied accounting at Pace University and graduated in 1973. He joined an accounting firm in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he audited hotels and casinos. In 1975, he became assistant comptroller at the Tropicana Resort & Casino. A year later, he took a position with the Nevada Gaming Control Board as an investigator. He later operated his own bookkeeping firm for about a year before moving to Los Angeles, California in 1978, where he became a real estate agent.
Corapi has stated that he was making a six-figure income in condominium conversions in the early 1980s; he lived in a waterfront home in Oxnard, California, and owned a Ferrari 308 GTS and a 60-foot yacht. At the height of his career in California, Corapi lived in a mansion in the affluent beachfront city of Malibu.
After being introduced to cocaine, he developed a substance abuse problem, sometimes spending as much as $10,000 USD per week on illegal drugs. Corapi would later refer to his drug use as an encounter with a demon. His finances deteriorated and he eventually had a mental breakdown, suffering homelessness following a stay at a VA psychiatric hospital.
Religious conversion.
Corapi spent three years wandering the streets of Los Angeles as a vagrant following his mental breakdown. His mother sent him a prayer card with the Hail Mary prayer and asked him to pray it once a day. He eventually changed his life, escaping homelessness and illicit sex and drugs. His mother sent him an airline ticket to New York, and he returned home. He lived with his mother for some time and returned to the practice of the Catholic faith after a conversion experience on June 24, 1984, making his first confession in several years. He later told his story in a series of sermons called "The Darkness Will Not Prevail".
Corapi entered Holy Apostles Seminary in Cromwell, Connecticut, in 1986 and earned an M.A. in Sacred Scripture. He joined the missionary community the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity and on May 26, 1990, was ordained a deacon by René Henry Gracida, Bishop of Corpus Christi, Texas. He earned an S.T.B. degree from the University of Navarre in Pamplona, Spain.
Priesthood.
On Trinity Sunday, May 26, 1991, Pope John Paul II ordained Corapi to the priesthood. Corapi says that Mother Teresa of Calcutta stood behind him at his ordination, and that he saw a vision of the Virgin Mary smelling lilacs on that day. Corapi's first assignments as a priest were at parishes in Hudson, New York and Robstown, Texas. Later, in the Catholic Diocese of Sacramento, he became the Director of Catholic Faith Formation and of the Bishop's Project on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Corapi earned a doctorate in dogmatic theology from the University of Navarre. He became a regular contributor to the EWTN television and radio networks.
In 2008, Corapi curtailed his public appearances for reasons of health, but continued to produce audio and video programs from his studio in Montana. On August 15, 2009, Corapi made his first public appearance in over a year in Buffalo, New York for his "Lord and Giver of Life" conference at HSBC Arena. He completed and taped several conferences in 2010, including at San Antonio, Texas; St. Louis, Missouri; and Cincinnati, Ohio. In subsequent months, Corapi preached sermons on the dangers of socialism.
"Qui tam" False Claims Act lawsuit.
In 2002 Corapi filed a "qui tam" False Claims Act lawsuit against Redding Medical Center cardiologist Chae Hyun Moon after Moon informed Corapi that year that he was in immediate need of triple bypass surgery, but then told Corapi that the procedure could wait three weeks. Corapi decided to seek other medical advice; his second doctor determined that he had perfectly clear arteries. Corapi ultimately went to the FBI and filed the suit that was the basis of an FBI raid and a multi-year investigation into Moon's practice.
In 2005 the United States Department of Justice reached a settlement with four cardiologists and Tenet Healthcare, the owner of Redding Hospital, in part due to the investigation following Corapi's initial complaint. Three physicians settled for a total of $24 million USD. Moon, the target of Corapi's lawsuit, paid $1.4 million USD and agreed never to perform cardiology procedures or surgeries on Medicare, Medi-Cal or Tricare patients. Moon's medical license was eventually revoked in 2007 for gross negligence, among other charges.
Corapi was awarded $2,712,281 USD for his role as a whistleblower in the False Claims Act Lawsuit, as well as the $500,000 USD he and his friend were awarded for the insurance case they filed. Stephen Klaidman explored Corapi's role as a whistle blower in his non-fiction book about the case, "Coronary".
Allegations of misconduct.
Administrative leave.
In March 2011, Bishop William Mulvey of Corpus Christi, Texas, instructed the SOLT religious community to appoint two independent priests to investigate allegations by a former employee that Corapi had been in a relationship with her and was a drug addict. On March 18, 2011, Corapi was placed on administrative leave by his religious superior, Father Gerald Sheehan. Corapi denied the allegations and said the process was flawed. Sheehan issued a statement emphasizing that the suspension "in no way implies Father Corapi is guilty of the allegation."
Sheehan said that a fact-finding committee was formed consisting of two members of religious orders and a lay person. Its work was hampered by Corapi's refusal to release witnesses from non-disclosure agreements and the breach of contract lawsuit he filed against the principal accuser.
The television network EWTN suspended broadcasts by Corapi when he was placed on leave.
Leaving priestly ministry.
On June 17, 2011, Corapi announced that he would no longer engage in public ministry as a priest. On a new website, titled "The Black Sheep Dog", Corapi wrote:
There are certain persons in authority in the Church that want me gone, and I shall be gone...They can't prove I'm guilty of the things alleged because I'm not, and they can't prove I'm innocent because that is simply illogical and impossible...My canon lawyer and my civil lawyers have concluded that I cannot receive a fair and just hearing under the Church's present process.
The Church will conclude that I am not cooperating with the process because I refuse to give up all of my civil and human rights in order to hold harmless anyone who chooses to say defamatory and actionable things against me with no downside to them. ... I am, indeed, not ready to be extinguished. Under the name "The Black Sheep Dog," I shall be with you through radio broadcasts and writing. My autobiography, "The Black Sheep Dog", is almost ready for publication. My topics will be broader than in the past, and my audience likewise is apt to be broader. I'll do what I can under the circumstances.
On July 5, 2011, Father Gerald Sheehan, Corapi's religious superior in the Society of Our Lady of the Trinity, released a press statement accusing Corapi of drug and alcohol abuse, "sexting", having an affair with a former prostitute, and violating his promise of poverty as a perpetually professed member of the society by owning more than $1 million in real estate, numerous luxury vehicles, motorcycles, an ATV, a boat dock, and several motor boats. He stated, "SOLT's prior direction to Fr. John Corapi not to engage in any preaching or teaching, the celebration of the sacraments or other public ministry continues. Catholics should understand that SOLT does not consider Fr. John Corapi as fit for ministry."
On July 7, 2011, Corapi announced that he would not obey Sheehan's order to relocate from Montana and take up residence in a house of the society. According to a "Catholic News Service" report, he said he would not return to the order, and that he had resigned from the priesthood on June 17, two days short of the 20th anniversary of his ordination.
I resigned because the process used by the church is grossly unjust, and, hence, immoral. I resigned because I had no chance from the beginning of a fair and just hearing. As I have indicated from the beginning of all this, I am not extinguished! If I were to commit to the suggestion of the society, then I would essentially crawl under a rock and wait to die.
Activity post-2011.
As of 2021, no official information is available about John Corapi's activity, such as whether he was laicized or whether he is currently affiliated with S.O.L.T. or any religious order. A LinkedIn page appears to indicate that since 2011, Corapi has pursued an occupation as a writer of fiction and non-fiction and a speaker for non-religious events. However, a 2015 article by Matt Abbott, published by Church Militant, reported that according to "a reliable source", Corapi "remains in the priesthood and is re-establishing his spiritual life. There's no indication he'll be returning to public life anytime soon, if ever." In 2021, Abbott posted an update quoting the Catholic lay evangelist and author Jesse Romero as saying that in 2016, Romero had unofficially been told by S.O.L.T.'s then-superior general that Corapi had "reconciled with his order", "was living the life of a monk in a monastery", was practicing "full-time prayer and penance", "had medical problems", and "will never speak in public again—by his choice and his superior’s choice as well."


Juan Falconi de Bustamante

Juan Falconi de Bustamante (1596–1638) was a Spanish religious writer, theologist and ascetic.


Barbara Aiello

Rabbi Barbara Aiello is the first female rabbi in Italy, as well as Italy's first non-Orthodox rabbi. She was born in Pittsburgh to a family of Italian Jewish origin and was ordained at the Rabbinical Seminary International in New York at the age of 51. She also, in 1977, created the "Kids on the Block" puppet troupe. In 2005 she conducted the first Passover Seder in Sicily since 1492, when the Jews were expelled.
She also founded the Italian Jewish Cultural Center of Calabria and Sinagoga Ner Tamid del Sud (which is the first active synagogue in 500 years in Calabria).
“Kids on the Block,” was a pioneering effort in helping include children with disabilities into school and society and develop positive attitudes toward children with disabilities. A gifted puppeteer, Aiello, created a troupe of children puppets with varying disabilities e.g. using a wheelchair, visually impaired etc. She performed wildly in elementary schools creating a positive experience for all.
External links.
Website: http://rabbibarbara.com/


William Ballantine (priest)

William Ballantine (also Ballentine, Bannatine, Ballantyne, Ballentyne, Ballenden, Bellenden) (1616/1618 – 1661) was a Roman Catholic priest who became the first Prefect of Scotland.
Life.
Ballantine was a native of Douglas, Lanarkshire, the parish of which his father was the minister. His paternal uncle was a lord of session, with the title of Lord Newhall. He studied at the University of Edinburgh, and later travelled on the continent. At Paris he was converted to the Catholic religion. He entered the Scotch College, Rome, where he took the oath on 1 November 1641, and for the next five years he studied philosophy and theology. In consequence of his delicate health, he was ordained a priest earlier than usual, on 3 December 1645. Having received the order of priesthood, he left the Scots College on 15 March 1646 and then stayed in the Scotch college at Paris, preparing himself for the mission.
In 1649 Ballantine returned to Scotland. At this period the secular clergy of Scotland were in a state of disorganisation, and dissensions had arisen between them and the members of the religious orders, particularly the Jesuits. Ballantine despatched the Rev. William Leslie to Rome to ask for the appointment of a bishop for Scotland. This request was not granted by the Holy See, but in 1653, by a decree of propaganda, the Scotch secular clergy were freed from the jurisdiction of the English prelates and Jesuit superiorship; they were incorporated into a missionary body under the superintendence of Ballantine, who was declared the first Prefect-apostolic of the Mission in Scotland by the Propaganda Congregation on 13 October 1653.
Among other conversions, he received Lewis Gordon, 3rd Marquess of Huntly into the Catholic Church. In 1656 Ballantine visited France, and on his return, landing at Rye, Sussex, he was arrested by Oliver Cromwell's orders and taken to London, where he remained in confinement for nearly two years. He was then banished, and withdrew to Paris in poverty. In 1660 he returned to Scotland, and he spent the brief remainder of his life in the house of the Marchioness of Huntly at Elgin, where he died on 2 September 1661, aged 45.
Works.
From the writings of he composed a treatise "On Preparation for Death", of which a second edition was published at Douay in 1716.


Joseph Bolangi Egwanga Ediba Tasame

Joseph Bolangi Egwanga Ediba Tasame (29 December 1937 – 1 July 2019) was a Democratic Republic of the Congo Roman Catholic bishop.
Bolangi Egwanga Ediba Tasame was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and was ordained to the priesthood in 1966. He served as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Budjala from 1974 until 2009.


Bashar Warda

Bashar Matti Warda (; born 15 June 1969 in Baghdad, Iraq) is a Chaldean Catholic cleric and the current Archbishop of Erbil, Kurdistan Iraq.
Biography.
Born in 1969, Warda joined the Saint Peter's Chaldean seminary in Baghdad and was ordained a priest in 1993. In 1995 he joined the Redemptorist order of Flanders in Belgium. After receiving his master's at the Catholic University of Louvain in 1999 he returned to Iraq.
Warda was apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Zaku from July 2007 until its merger with the Diocese of Amadiyah in June 2013.
In 2009 the Synod of Bishops of the Chaldean Catholic Church elected him Archbishop of the Archeparchy of Erbil. After Pope Benedict XVI gave his consent to this election in 2010 he was consecrated on 3 July of the same year.;
As part of his efforts to support the continuing Christian presence in Iraq, the Archbishop founded the Catholic University in Erbil, which was inaugurated in 2015.
On 17 May 2017 he was received by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales in Clarence House, London.


Maxwell Anikwenwa

Maxwell Anikwenwa is an Anglican bishop in Nigeria.
Anikwenwa was born in Oyi in 1940; and educated at Trinity Theological College, Umuahia. He was ordained Deacon in 1964 and Priest in December 1966.
He served in Onitsha and Freetown. He was appointed the first Bishop of Awka in 1987; and Archbishop of the Niger in 2000.
He was also Dean of the Church of Nigeria.
He retired as Bishop of Awka, Archbishop of the Niger and Dean of the Church on 22 November 2010.


Mahmud Ahmed

Lieutenant-General Mahmud Ahmed (; b. 1944) , is a retired three-star rank army general in the Pakistan Army who served as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence from 1999 to 2001.
He commanded the X Corps and was considered to be a well-respected general who led from the front. In 1999 he highlighted the Kashmir issue through his book called "A History of 1965 War" and was identified as one of the four army generals who helped safely land a local passenger plane carrying Lt. Gen Musharraf which was ordered to be sent to India by the then PM Nawaz Sharrif. The plane is said to be carrying innocent civilians and school children. This was ordered by the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in 1999. As the DG ISI, Mahmud actively supported the sponsorship of the Islamic fundamentalism by endorsing the Talibans in Afghanistan under its Emir Mohammad Omar in 2000. This information has not been verified by any official or non official source.
Despite being responsible for stabilizing Lt. Gen.Pervez Musharraf's presidency in the wake of an economic crisis in Pakistan, Lt-Gen. Ahmed resigned from his commission as he refused to support policies affecting the region negatively.
CNN described him as the second most powerful man in the country while he was visiting USA on an official visit. He was invited to the CNN headquarters in Atlanta and was considered to be a dashing gentleman with a penchant for literature and was a prolific writer, artist and quoted Iqbal and Rumi equally well. Later on Wendy Chamberlin described him to be a loyal, professional and an upright soldier of the Pakistan army who propounded peace in the region. She often described him as a man who was well versed in history, art, religion and languages and was a devout Muslim, soldier and family man who wanted peace for both the West and the East.
Biography.
Mahmud Ahmed was born in 1944 in Ludhiana, Punjab in India in Arain family,and joined the Pakistan Army in 1964 where he did his combat duty, first participating in second war with India in 1965. His family emigrated from India to Pakistan after India's partition on 14/15 August 1947. He secured his graduation from the Lawrence College in Murree before attending Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul in 1965.
He passed out from the PMA Kakul in 1966 where he commissioned as 2nd-Lt in the 16th Self-Propelled (SP) in the Corps of Artillery. Lieutenant Ahmed was the regimental colleague of then army Captain Pervez Musharraf. He participated in the third war with India on the western front.
In the 1980s–90s, Ahmed served in the ISI where he worked under Lt-Gen. Hamid Gul.
In 1994–95, Major-General Ahmed commanded the 23rd Infantry Division as its GOC, stationed in Jhelum in Punjab, Pakistan.
His career in the military is mostly spent in the military intelligence and became the Director-General of the Military Intelligence (DG MI), when he took it over from then-Maj-Gen. Ali Kuli Khan in October 1995. In June 1998, Maj-Gen. Ahmed was promoted to three-star rank, Lieutenant-General and was moved the President of the National Defence University (NDU) in Islamabad by then-Chairman joint chiefs Gen. Jehangir Karamat.
X Corps and Kargil war with India.
In October 1998, -Chairman joint chiefs Gen. Pervez Musharraf appointed Lt-Gen. Ahmed as the field commander of the X Corps, and as soon as he was appointed to command the X Corps the planning of the covert infiltration in Indian Kashmir begin to implemented under Lt-Gen. Aziz Khan, the CGS under Gen. Musharraf in Rawalpindi. In the military, Lt-Gen. Ahmed was described as ultraconservative, professional and kind to his subordinates though some found him to be control minded with a very short-temper.
Lt-Gen. Ahmed greatly aided in providing the tactical support of mass troop infiltration, starting first by closely and micromanaging the troop deployment near the LoC. In July 1999, he provided the briefing to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over the troop deployments, eventually giving a go-ahead for the military operation.
After the Kargil war, the Pakistani Investigative journalist news reports identified that there were four army generals who were in much control of the area contingency plans in Kargil including Lt-Gen. Aziz Khan, the CGS under Gen. Musharraf, Lt-Gen. Shahid Aziz of ISI's Analysis Wing, and Lt-Gen. Jan Orakzai, commanding the XI Corps, besides Lt-Gen. Mahmud. There were no official military inquiries into this incident nor there were any subsequent evidence that led to the punishments of those responsible for such incidents.
On 12 October 1999, Lt-Gen. Ahmed refused to accept to follow the orders of new chain of command set up by then-army chief Gen. Ziauddin Butt and ordered his X Corps to seize the control of the Prime Minister's Secretariat while Lt-Gen. Aziz Khan, the CGS under Gen. Musharraf, took control of the Jinnah Terminal in Karachi as the PIA aircraft carrying Lt. Gen Musharraf and innocent civilians and children was refused to land in Pakistan.
After the martial law in 1999, Lt-Gen. Ahmed subsequently appointed as the Director-General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), and his tenure-ship is marked with alleged terror financing of al-Qaeda and sponsoring the Talibans in Afghanistan. On 17 March 2001, Lt-Gen. Ahmad was appointed as the Colonel commandant of the Corps of Artillery at the Artillery Regimental Center on 17 March 2001. Mahmud was later replaced by Lt General Khalid Kidwai as the colonel commandant on 13 October 2004.
In 2001, Lt-Gen. Ahmad regularly visited the United States where he consulted with The Pentagon and CIA officials in the Bush administration in the weeks before and after terrorist attacks took place in New York on 11 September 2001. In fact, he was with U.S. Republican Congressman Porter Goss and U.S. Democratic Senator Bob Graham in Washington D.C., discussing Osama bin Laden over breakfast, when the attacks of September 11, 2001 took place in New York, United States.
On the morning of Sept. 12, the deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage, told Mahmood that Pakistan had to make a choice "you are either 100 percent with us or 100 percent against us—there is no gray area." This statement was later denied by Armitage. Mahmood expressed willingness to cooperate, however in the afternoon, he told George Tenet, the CIA director, that Mullah Omar, the Taliban chief, was a religious man not a man of violence. On September 16, Musharraf sent a delegation to the Taliban with the mission to convince them to hand over Osama bin Laden which included Lieutenant General Mahmood, and other religious figures.
He wrote a book initially titled "The Myth of 1965 Victory". It was carefully researched and included numerous maps and other details. It questioned the official Pakistani view about winning the war, and acknowledged that the war was initiated "as a clandestine guerrilla struggle". Upon Musharraf's directive, almost all the copies of the book were bought by Pakistan Army to prevent circulation because the topic was "too sensitive". The book was published with the revised title "History of Indo Pak War 1965". It was published by Services Book Club, a part of the Pakistan military. A few copies of the book have survived in libraries. A version was published in India as "Illusion of Victory: A Military History of the Indo-Pak War-1965" by Lexicon Publishers. A second reprint of the book was published recently in 2017 in Pakistan.
Post-retirement and Islamic missionary activity.
After this termination, Ahmed critiqued President Pervez Musharraf's policy on siding with the United States, without effectively addressing the issue of containing the .
He viewed the American attack on Afghanistan with great suspicion, and had held sympathetic views towards the Talibans in Afghanistan. He later regretted his role in playing his part in bringing to help stabilize Gen. Pervez Musharraf's role against the civilian government when he joined the Alliance for Restoration of Democracy that viewed to removing Musharraf's administration. Ahmed opposed the US invasion of Afghanistan.
He has been lauded by several authors like Amarinder Singh in his book "A Ridge too Far: War in the Kargil Heights 1999", Bob Woodward's "Bush at War", and Steve Coll's "Directorate S".
He has vast knowledge of history, science, religion, geography, social sciences and economics and is known to be a great sportsman as he enjoys tennis, hockey, swimming, gunnery and cricket. He has memorized the Quran and can quote several great British, German, Russian, English and Eastern authors when the occasion demands it as he enjoys the turn of the phrase. He and his wife are both artistic and enjoy painting, gardening and philanthropy.


Tim Timmons (musician)

Timothy "Tim" Howard Timmons (born February 9, 1976) is an American musician, who sings and contemporary worship and contemporary Christian music, and is currently signed to Reunion Records. His debut studio album "Cast My Cares" was released on June 4, 2013, and Paul Mabury produced the album. The lead single from that album released on March 22, 2013, and it has reached No. 21 on the Christian Songs chart.
Background.
Timmons was born on February 9, 1976. Timmons is married to Hilary Beth Timmons, whose birth name is Hilary Beth Larson, and they have four children together, who are Malia, Noah, and twins Aaron and Anna. Timmons home church is The Following Church in Laguna Hills, California. Doctors told him he had five years left to live after a cancer diagnosis was made in June 2001.
Music.
Timmons was signed to Reunion Records in 2013. His first studio album was produced by Paul Mabury, and is entitled "Cast My Cares", which was released on June 4, 2013.


John Mavor (Australia)

Reverend John Mavor is an Australian minister of religion. He was the 8th president of the Uniting Church in Australia, serving in that role from 1997 to 2000.
He was accepted as a candidate for the Methodist Church of Australasia in 1954. Mavor worked for the Queensland Synod as director of Mission and Parish Services, then as the Moderator of the Synod from 1988 to 1989. He was President of the Assembly for a three-year term from 1998 to 2000. He later worked as a project officer for Uniting International Mission then acting National Director for 15 months. He retired in April 2007.
He was conferred membership of the Order of Australia in the 1999 Australia Day Honours.


Arnoldus Hille

Arnoldus Marius Hille (14 March 1829 – 7 January 1919) was a Norwegian Lutheran Bishop.
Biography.
Hille was born at Leikanger in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. He was the son of Wollert Krohn Hille (1796-1860) and Elisabeth Marie Hess Lem (1798-1888).
In 1841 he entered Bergen Cathedral School. In 1848, he begin to study theology.
In 1865, he became prison chaplain in Bergen and in 1872 he was appointed assistant pastor in Stange in Hedmark. He served as bishop in the Diocese of Hamar from 1887 to 1906. He was decorated Knight of the Order of St. Olav in 1882 and Commander, First Class in 1895.
Personal life.
He was married twice. In 1861, he married Charlotte Sofie Sandberg (1832-1875), daughter of Pastor Christian Juell Sandberg (1805-1843; see NBL1, Vol. 12) and Marie Catharine Rosenkilde (1802-1886). After her death, he married Georgine Børrea Sandberg (1840-1927), the younger sister of his first wife. His son Henrik Greve Hille (1881–1946) was Bishop of the Diocese of Hamar from 1934 to 1942 and his grandson Georg Hille was Bishop from 1975 to 1993.


Johannes van Hooydonk

Johannes van Hooydonk (born 1782 in Ginneken) was a Dutch clergyman and bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Breda. He was ordained in 1827. He was appointed bishop in 1853. He died in 1868.


Fernando Miguel Gil Eisner

Fernando Miquel Gil Eisner (8 May 1953 – 17 January 2020) was a Uruguayan Roman Catholic bishop.
Gil Eisner was born in Uruguay and was ordained to the priesthood in 1983. He served as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salto, Uruguay, from 2018 until his death in 2020.


Owsley (musician)

William Reese "Will" Owsley III (March 6, 1966 – April 30, 2010), known professionally as Owsley, was an American singer and songwriter. His two solo albums won critical acclaim, and his debut album was nominated for a Grammy Award, as was the song "Threaten Me With Heaven". Owsley was also a record producer, a recording engineer, and the guitarist in Amy Grant's touring band.
Early life and influences.
Owsley was born and raised in Anniston, Alabama in a musical household. His father was the drum major of the Million Dollar Band, the marching band of the University of Alabama; his mother was a singer and stage actress; his sister was a classically trained pianist, and his brother was a rock guitarist, with whom Owsley played in the band Stormfront. Owsley graduated from the Rectory School and attended the Blue Ridge School.
He was a guitarist and singer in the Southeastern rock club band Baghdad in the mid-80s that played both covers and original work, before moving to Nashville, Tennessee in 1987.
Owsley started playing guitar at age nine. He was a fan of Kiss and of Todd Rundgren, but mostly practiced Eddie Van Halen and Steve Morse licks note-for-note. With his father's mentorship, he played snare drum in the Anniston High School marching band, whilst continuing his passion for guitar, playing in his high school jazz band and in top-40 cover bands at local venues. Later, when he began writing his own songs, they were more similar to the style of The Beatles. As a guitarist, he also cited influences such as Chet Atkins, Jimi Hendrix and Robert Johnson.
Career.
Early career and The Semantics (1986–1998).
Prior to developing his own band and solo work, he was added to the band of Judson Spence, appeared in various of his videos on MTV, and was part of Spence's groundbreaking Nashville showcases that landed him 14 label offers. Nashville music executive Scott Siman encouraged Owsley to pursue his own writing and performing, which is why he declined an offer by Amy Grant in the late 1980s to become her guitarist.
Together with Millard Powers, he founded the power pop band The Semantics, which included Jody Spence and Ringo Starr's son, Zak Starkey. They were signed to Geffen Records by John Kalodner. The band recorded an album entitled "Powerbill" in 1993, which was never released in the U.S for being "too pop for alternative and too alternative for pop." It eventually got distributed in Japan in 1996. Fine-tuning the album under the tutelage of producer and manager Peter Asher for four years taught him much about the production process and about management. Suddenly being dropped from the label left the band members destitute and broke.
Amy Grant turned out to have heard tapes of The Semantics and she contacted Owsley in 1994 to let him know how much she liked it, and to ask him to join her as her guitarist on the House of Love tour. Owsley would subsequently hold the position of tour guitarist for 16 years, until his death. He would later also co-write and record various songs with her. Through his work with producer Mutt Lange, Owsley was introduced to Shania Twain. Over the years, he would tour with her as guitarist and harmony singer, with appearances on many national television shows and awards programs. Owsley went on to work with many mainstream and Christian artists, often in the country genre. During the 1990s, he among others worked with Vince Gill, Michael W. Smith, Chris Rodriguez, dc Talk (for whom he also produced), the Neville Brothers, Vanessa L. Williams, and Wynonna.
Solo albums (1998–2005).
"Owsley" (1999).
With the money he earned working with Amy Grant and Shania Twain, he bought a house in Green Hills, Tennessee and in it built a home recording studio. In 1998, it led to the release of his self-titled solo album distributed by Not Lame Recordings. It was co-produced by Millard Powers and Jeff Balding. Doug Morris of Universal Music Group picked it and proposed the album to be rerecorded, but Owsley insisted that it simply needed to be remixed by either Tom Lord-Alge, Bob Clearmountain or Andy Wallace. Tom Lord-Alge signed on, together with J.R. McNeely. The eponymous album "Owsley" got re-released on March 23, 1999 under Giant Records.
Many of the songs on the album are about Anniston, Alabama, where he was born and lived until he was 21, and his longing to the town. With the first single off the album being "Coming Up Roses", Owsley sent the entire staff of Giant a red rose and a Valentine's Day card, expressing his hopes that things were "coming up roses" for all. The single didn't catch on, but "I'm Alright" later did score a minor hit. Recorded almost entirely on a vintage Studer A-80 (2-inch, 16-track of which one defective) tape machine in his home studio on Hobbs Road in Nashville, Tennessee, it garnered him a Grammy Award nomination for Best Engineered Album. The album would be labeled one of the best pop records of the 1990s. During the ensuing tour, he among others joined the Pat McGee Band and Fountains of Wayne, whose bassist Adam Schlesinger Owsley has recorded with in later years.
"The Hard Way" (2004).
Owsley released his second album, "The Hard Way", on the indie record label Lakeview Entertainment on February 24, 2004, five years after his first solo album. It was ready in 2003, but got delayed in part due to legal difficulties with his former label, Giant Records. The album had a heavier and more mature sound compared to his debut. "Be With You" was chosen as single, but despite some rotation on triple-A radio stations, it never reached the greater audience. The album was recorded over the span of three years, using a variety of recording formats, in his new home studio in Franklin, Tennessee and a number of studios in Tennessee. Owsley played multiple roles on it, including that of producer. It was entirely mixed by Paul David Hager, and dedicated to Owsley's maternal grandmother, the late Alys O. Boozer. A cover of Paul McCartney's "Band on the Run", which Owsley recorded for a 2001 tribute album, was included as a hidden track.
"Psycho / Upside Down" (2005).
In 2004, he entered into an agreement with UMe Digital, a new label in the Universal Music Group, and the first major label to distribute music only through digital downloads. It led to the release of the combined single "Psycho / Upside Down" in 2005. That same year, Owsley contributed the cover song "Got a Lot on My Head" to "Substitution Mass Confusion", a tribute album in honor of The Cars.
Session work (2005–2010).
In the 2000s (decade), Owsley continued work as a session guitarist, (backing) vocalist, mandolin player and less frequently as bassist and keyboardist. He among others recorded with Faith Hill, Michael McDonald, Charlotte Church, Jump5, Natalie Grant, David Phelps, James Ingram, Rodney Crowell, MercyMe, The Katinas, Nate Sallie, Graham Colton, and Kenny Loggins. Producer John Fields arranged for Owsley to back various Disney stars, such as Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, the Jonas Brothers, and Luke Benward.
Besides being a musician, Owsley also continued producing and engineering. He co-produced Kevin Max's 2007 album "The Blood" and toured with him. He played various instruments on Chris Sligh's 2008 album "Running Back to You" and produced several songs on it. In the last two years of his life, Owsley occasionally worked as a session guitarist for Andy Sturmer's movie soundtracks. In 2009, Owsley made a version of "When Lonely Comes Around" (Grant/Owsley), sung and recorded by himself, available to fans for free. Also in 2009, Owsley co-produced and played on Popfilter Boston's debut release Pop This.
Personal life.
In sports, Owsley was a University of Alabama football fan. He himself played soccer and lacrosse and competed in cross country running in his formative years. As an adult, Owsley was a reasonably good golfer and tennis player, as well as an outstanding table tennis and billiard player. Whenever he was on tour and playing a club that had a billiard table, he'd often pick-up a game prior to going on stage to perform. He was also a very good horseman and owned several Tennessee Walking Horses over the years.
Owsley had a passion for telling jokes. He was widely known for his sense of humor, as well as being a terrific mimic, skilled at closely imitating people. He also was a fan of card tricks and coin illusion tricks and worked for years to hone his skills in illusion. Whenever he was in Los Angeles, he frequently visited the Magic Castle, located in Hollywood.
Owsley was an American Civil War buff. He was very knowledgeable on the subject and loved to interact with others who were interested in it as well. On many occasions, he helped to reenact specific battles.
Owsley was a Christian and was a member of the Village Chapel in Nashville, TN.
Owsley was an avid collector of vintage guitars, amplifiers, microphones and mic preamps for his studio. At one time, he had a very large collection.
Death.
Owsley died on April 30, 2010 at Williamson County Hospital in Franklin, Tennessee. He was 44. "The Tennessean" reported the cause of death was "an apparent suicide." He is survived by his two sons Walker (born 1998) and Liam (born 2001) from his previous marriage with Rebecca Walker.
In 2011, Vince Gill released the song "Threaten Me With Heaven", which was co-written with Amy Grant, Owsley and Dillon O'Brian. It was nominated for the 2012 Grammy Awards in the category of "Best Country Song", which according to Gill is "a lasting tribute to Owsley" and "would have meant the world to him". The song was recorded prior to Owsley's death and was also performed at Owsley's funeral.
Discography.
 The Semantics
 Owsley solo


Elena Frolova

Elena Borisovna Frolova (; born 1 October 1969, in Riga) is a Russian singer-songwriter, composer, and poet. She is author and performer of songs based on poems by many Russian poets of twentieth century, including Marina Tsvetaeva, Sophia Parnok, Joseph Brodsky, Anna Barkova, Andrei Belyi, Varlam Shalamov, Maria Petrovykh, Veniamin Blazhenny, Bulat Okudzhava, and many others, as well as her own poetry. Frolova is one of few performers who uses Russian folk instrument gusli and ancient harp, along with classical six-string guitar for the accompaniment. During 25 years of work she created more than 630 songs and published more than 40 music albums.
Biography.
Born in Riga, Frolova composed her first song at age of 15. That was song on poem "I wrote on the slate" by Marina Tsvetaeva. She was a winner of many song and music festivals, including the Second All-Union Festival in Tallinn in 1988. Since 1988 Elena performed together with Vera Evushkina, in the author's duet "VerLen". She is a co-founder and active member of creative group "ASiA", together with Tatiana Aleshina, Alexander Derevyagin and Nicholai Yakimov. She is a member of juries in Russian art song festivals, including Grushinsky festival. During last few years, Elena made a number of tours in trio "Trilogy" with performer of Russian romance Julia Ziganshina and singer-songwriter Elmira Galeeva,
Since 1989, Elena Frolova worked in Moscow Theatre of Music and Poetry directed by Elena Kamburova. She is a member of Union of Russian Writers. Since 1991, she made many tours with her solo concerts in Russia, Germany, Italy, France, and Israel. Her songs on poems by Russian poets of the Silver Age and her own poetry brought her wide recognition. According to Marina Gershenovich : "The cycle of songs based on poems by Marina Tsvetaeva makes you to believe in the idea of reincarnation. The image of Marina is just as real as your own perception of reality. Coming through the music and voice of Elena, Tsvetaeva rebels, loves, tell prophecies, makes fun, and creates... One can bring back from the death someone he truly loves. Elena Frolova does it with her songs." A documentary about work by Frolova on poetry by Tsvetaeva was created by Irina Roerig
In 1996, Elena has mastered a new instrument, gusli, to perform Russian folk and other songs.
Since 2002, she participates in World Music festivals and concerts in Russia, many countries around the Europe, Israel, Argentina, and Mexico. She performed in Théâtre de la Ville, Bienvenue à la Maison des Cultures du Monde and Théâtre des Abbesses in Paris, Teatro de la República in Mexico, as well as in Barcelona, Madrid, Brussels and Antwerp. Since 2008 she has been a regular guest at the Festival of Arts in Naxos.
Frolova took part in the congress "The historical experience of the Soviet Communist totalitarianism: the opposition to Gulag" in Milan in 2003 with the program on poems by Varlam Shalamov. In March 2004, she represented Russia at the First International Festival "Eurasia Diva" in Moscow.
In 2007 she published a book of her poetry, "Song for Eurydice". Frolova also participates in creation of animated movies. She performed romance "Don't wake her up at dawn..." on words by Afanasy Fet in "My Love" by Aleksandr Petrov and composed music for animated version of "The Legend of Lady Godiva"
Poetry.
Elena composed many songs on her own poetry, one of the most popular being "A Straw". Many of her poems and songs have strong spiritual and Christian components, such as her "Journey into Eden", a song dedicated to Francis of Assisi, and "Disciple Day".


Wubong

Wu Bong, born Jacob Perl, was a Zen master in the Kwan Um School of Zen. Perl was the head teacher of the European Kwan Um School of Zen. The first student of Seungsahn in the United States, he had previously practiced Zen in the Sōtō tradition at the San Francisco Zen Center under Shunryū Suzuki. He also spent one year studying the Nyingma school of Tibetan Buddhism at the Tibetan Nyingmapa Meditation Center in Berkeley, California under Tarthang Tulku.
Born in Poland, he and Seungsahn established the first Zen center ever to exist in his home country in 1978. In 1983 Perl was made a "Ji Do Poep Sa Nim" in the Kwan Um School—granting him some teaching responsibilities—and in 1993 he received dharma transmission from Seungsahn, making him an independent Zen master. Perl's wife, Grazyna Perl (Bonyo), is also a Zen master in the Kwan Um School of Zen. The pair moved to Paris in 1995 and established the Paris Zen Center.
In 2009, Wubong became a bhikṣu. He died while leading a zen retreat in Paris on April 17, 2013.


Gavin Hamilton (archbishop of St Andrews)

Gavin Hamilton was an early modern Scottish prelate, coadjutor of the Archdiocese of St. Andrews, and Archbishop of St. Andrews.
Gavin was the son of James Hamilton of Raploch. He had been Abbot of Kilwinning. In 1555, he was appointed as the coadjutor, i.e. successor, of Archbishop John Hamilton of St Andrews. Archbishop John Hamilton died on 7 April 1571; Gavin's name is mentioned in the record of a parliament held at Edinburgh on 13 June, as "Gawan Hamilton, archbishop of St. Andrews". Although there is no record of his formal appointment, the parliament notice appears to tell us that Gavin indeed ruled as bishop for a few months. Gavin died in a skirmish a few days after this parliament.


Robert Hodgson (Archdeacon of Stafford)

 The Ven. Robert Hodgson (b Hoxne 11 July 1844 - d Lichfield 29 January 1917) was Archdeacon of Stafford from 1898 to 1910.
Hodgson was educated at Eton and Oriel College, Oxford and ordained in 1869.
After a curacy in Stoke-upon-Trent he held incumbencies at West Bromwich, Walsall and Handsworth. In 1907 he became a residentiary canon at Lichfield Cathedral.


William Brodrick (writer)

William Brodrick (born 31.01.1960) is a British novelist, famous in particular for his first novel "The Sixth Lamentation", which was selected for the Richard and Judy Book Club. He also won the Crime Writers' Association Gold Dagger award in 2009 for his novel "A Whispered Name".
Brodrick joined the order of the Augustinians after obtaining his A-levels and then, following the Order's advice, attended Heythrop College, University of London where he read philosophy and theology. He subsequently left the Order and completed the Common Professional Examination (Law) course in Manchester. After passing his Bar Finals, Brodrick moved to Newcastle upon Tyne where he practised as a barrister for ten years.
In his tenth year of practice, Brodrick had a change of vocation and wrote his first novel, "The Sixth Lamentation", in his spare time. The international success of this first stride into the world of writing allowed Brodrick to leave his chambers and move to Normandy, France where he became a novelist full-time. He wrote six novels in the "Father Anselm" series and, subsequently, three under the pen name John Fairfax ("Summary Justice", "Blind Defence" and "Forced Confessions"). He still lives in the Normandy village he originally moved to with his wife and three children.
Works.
Father Anselm series.
Benson and de Vere series (as John Fairfax)


Eduardo Alas Alfaro

Eduardo Alas Alfaro (2 July 1930 – 27 February 2020) was a Salvadoran Roman Catholic bishop.
Alas Alfaro was born in El Salvador and was ordained to the priesthood in 1960. He served as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Chalatenango, El Salvador, from 1987 to 2007. He died on 27 February 2020.


Juan Antonio Diaz de Salcedo

Juan Antonio Diaz de Salcedo, O.F.M. (died 1603) was a Roman Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Nicaragua (1597–1603)
and Bishop of Santiago de Cuba (1580–1597).
Biography.
Juan Antonio Diaz de Salcedo was born in Burgos, Spain and ordained a priest in the Order of Friars Minor.
On 14 March 1580, he was appointed during the papacy of Pope Gregory XIII as Bishop of Santiago de Cuba. On 28 July 1597, he was appointed during the papacy of Pope Clement VIII as Bishop of Nicaragua. He served as Bishop of Nicaragua until his death in 1603.


Paul Achkar

Paul Achkar (born February 3, 1893 in Damascus, Syria - died on 23 April 1982) was the first Archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Latakia in Lebanon.
Life.
Paul Achkar was on August 15, 1921 ordained priest. He was appointed Archbishop of Latakia on 20 September 1961. His election was on November 11, 1961, and was confirmed by the Holy See. On 17 December 1961 he was consecrated by the Patriarch of Antioch Maximos IV Sayegh, SMSP and his co-consecrators were Archbishop Athanasios Toutoungi of Aleppo and Archbishop Joseph Tawil, Auxiliary Bishop of Antioch. Achkar was from 1962 to 1965 a participant in the four sessions of the Second Vatican Council. As co-consecrator he assisted in the episcopal ordinations of Bishop Justin Najmy, BA (Patriarchal Exarch of the United States), Nicolas Naaman, SMSP (Archbishop of Bosra and Hauran) and Joseph Raya (Archbishop of Akka). From 1974 to 1975 he was a part-time Patriarchal Vicar of Jerusalem. Following the provisions of age he became on 18 August 1981 at the age of 88 years, Archbishop emeritus, and until his death on 23 April 1982 Archbishop Emeritus of Latakia. His successor was Michel Yatim.


Yahya Efendi

Yahya Efendi or Molla Shaykhzadeh (born 1494, Trabzon - d. 1570, Istanbul), Ottoman Islamic scholar, sufi, and poet buried in Beshiktash, Istanbul.
He served as a teacher of religious sciences during the reign of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent. Yahya Efendi had close ties with the palace, and consulted the Sultan throughout his life. After retirement, he built a dergah, numerous buildings and charitable trusts in Beshiktash, and planted trees in the area.
Four Patron Saints of the Bosphorus.
Along with Aziz Mahmud Hudayi, Telli Baba, and Prophet Joshua, the four are considered to be the Four Patron Saints of the Bosphorus.


Santa Maria in Palmis

Santa Maria in Palmis (; ), also known as Chiesa del Domine Quo Vadis, is a small church southeast of Rome, central Italy. It is located about some 800 m from Porta San Sebastiano, where the Via Ardeatina branches off the Appian Way, on the site where, according to the apocryphal "Acts of Peter", Saint Peter met Jesus while the former was fleeing persecution in Rome. According to the tradition, Peter asked Jesus, "Lord, where are you going?" (). Jesus answered, "I am going to Rome to be crucified again" ().
History.
There has been a sanctuary on the spot since the ninth century, but the current church is from 1637. The current façade was added in the 17th century.
It has been supposed that the sanctuary might have been even more ancient, perhaps a Christian adaptation of some already existing temple: the church is in fact located just in front of the sacred "campus" dedicated to Rediculus, the Roman "God of the Return". This "campus" hosted a sanctuary for the cult of the deity that received devotion by travellers before their departure, especially by those who were going to face long and dangerous journeys to far places like Egypt, Greece or the East. Those travellers who returned also stopped to thank the god for the happy outcome of their journey.
The presence of the Apostle Peter in this area, where he is supposed to have lived, appears to be confirmed in an epigraph in the Catacombs of Saint Sebastian that reads "Domus Petri" (). An epigram by Pope Damasus I (366–384) in honor of Peter and Paul reads: "You that are looking for the names of Peter and Paul, you must know that the saints have lived here."
The two footprints on a marble slab at the center of the church — nowadays a copy of the original, which is kept in the nearby Basilica of San Sebastiano fuori le mura — are popularly held to be a miraculous sign left by Jesus. It is to these footprints that the official name of the church alludes: "palmis" refers to the soles of Jesus' feet. It is likely that these footprints are actually the draft of an ancient Roman "ex voto", a tribute paid to the gods for the good outcome of a journey.
There was an inscription above the front door on the church's façade which used to say: "Stop your walking, traveller, and enter this sacred temple in which you will find the footprint of our Lord Jesus Christ when He met with St. Peter who escaped from the prison. An alms for the wax and the oil is recommended in order to free some spirits from Purgatory." Pope Gregory XVI found the advertising tone of this inscription so inappropriate that he ordered its removal in 1845.
There is also a modern column with a bust of Henryk Sienkiewicz, the Polish author of the famous historical fiction novel "Quo Vadis: A Narrative of the Time of Nero" (1886). It is said that Sienkiewicz was inspired to write his novel while sitting in this church.
The church is currently administered by priests of the Congregation of Saint Michael the Archangel.


Saint Telemachus

Saint Telemachus (also Almachus or Almachius) was a monk who, according to the Church historian Theodoret, tried to stop a gladiatorial fight in a Roman amphitheatre, and was stoned to death by the crowd. The Christian Emperor Honorius, however, was impressed by the monk's martyrdom and it spurred him to issue a historic ban on gladiatorial fights. Frederick George Holweck gives the year of his death as 391. The last known gladiatorial fight in Rome was on 1 January 404 AD.
Background.
He is described as being an ascetic who came to Rome from the East. The story is found in the writings of Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrrhus, Syria.
Although the site of Telemachus' martyrdom is often given as being the Colosseum in Rome, Theodoret does not actually specify where it happened, saying merely that it happened in "the stadium".
Later retellings of the story have differed from Theodoret's in a number of details. Foxe's Book of Martyrs claims that Telemachus was first stabbed to death by a gladiator, but that the sight of his death "turned the hearts of the people". In the version of the story told by Ronald Reagan in 1984, the entire crowd left in silence.
There is also an alternate form of the story, in which Telemachus stood up in the amphitheatre and told the assembly to stop worshipping idols and offering sacrifices to the gods. Upon hearing this statement, the prefect of the city is said by this source to have ordered the gladiators to kill Telemachus, and they promptly did so.


Olusegun Adeyemi

Olusegun Adeyemi is an Anglican archbishop in Nigeria he is Bishop of Kwara, one of seven in the Anglican Province of Kwara, he is one of 14 archbishops within the Church of Nigeria. Adeyemi was elected Archbishop of the Anglican Province of Kwara in 2017.
He retired in 2019.


Henri-Charles Lambrecht

Henri-Charles-Camille Lambrecht (1848–1889) was 23rd bishop of Ghent between 1888–1889.
Born in a small town near Oudenaarde, Lambrecht was educated in the local school. After his studies in St. Joseph Minor Seminary and the Major Seminary of Ghent, he became Doctor of Sacred Theology at the Catholic University of Leuven, where he also taught. He was appointed to a canonry of St Bavo's Cathedral, Ghent, and served as Vicar General in 1880–1886, when he became coadjutor bishop to Henricus Franciscus Bracq.
Episcopate.
Lambrecht became bishop elect after Bracq's death, and was consecrated by Pierre-Lambert Goossens. He died in Denderleeuw, only after one year episcopate. He became ill during episcopal visit, and was buried in his birthplace Welden. He was also Titular Bishop of Geras from 1886 until 1889.
Lambrecht was succeeded by Antoon Stillemans, from Sint-Niklaas.


Francis Bridger

The Very Reverend Francis William Bridger (born 1951) is the current Dean of Brechin in the Scottish Episcopal Church.
He was educated at Pembroke College, Oxford and ordained in 1979. After a curacy in Islington he was a lecturer at St John's College, Nottingham from 1982 until 1990; vicar of Woodthorpe from 1990 until 1999; principal of Trinity College, Bristol from 1999 until 2005; professor at the Fuller Theological Seminary in the United States from 2005; and rector of Broughty Ferry from 2012.


Julio Ojeda Pascual

Julio Ojeda Pascual (April 12, 1932 – April 28, 2013) was the Roman Catholic bishop of the Vicariate Apostolic of San Ramón, Peru.
Ordained to the priesthood in 1957, Ojeda Pascual was named bishop in 1987 and resigned in 2003.


Rees David

Rees David was an 18th-century Welsh schoolmaster, and early Arminian Baptist. Very little is really known about him. One of his schools was in or near Newcastle Emlyn (he was one of the signatories of a letter sent to Rhydwilym church from Llandysul in 1725), but when, in 1729 he adopted Arminian views, he moved his school to Hengoed, Glamorganshire. Later(about 1730), however he unfortunately became upset with doctrinal disputes at Hengoed, David refused to compromise, and turning his back both on Hengoed and on the Baptist denomination, instead made his living as an inn-keeper in Brecknock.
According to his good friend Joshua Thomas, He died in Brecon ‘several years after 1746’.


Shakeel Ahmad Bhat

Shakeel Ahmad Bhat (born around 1978) is a Kashmiri activist. He has been in photographs on the front pages of many newspapers and has become a cult figure on the Internet. He has been featured in newspapers such as the "Times of India", "Middle East Times", France 24, and "The Sunday Mail" He has been nicknamed Islamic Rage Boy by several bloggers.
Biography.
He was born into a Sufi family in Jammu and Kashmir, India. He claims that, around 1990, during a raid on his home, Indian police allegedly threw his sister Shareefa out of an upstairs window; she apparently broke her spine and died four years later.
He lives in Kashmir, India, where he is often seen participating in demonstrations. Due to his angry look, he is often photographed by journalists. He took part in protests against the Indian Army, Israel, Pope Benedict, Salman Rushdie, and the Muhammed cartoons. He was captured and spent three years in prison. He claims that he has been detained almost 300 times since 1997.
In popular culture.
He was featured in numerous blogs and articles by Christopher Hitchens, Kathleen Parker, Michelle Malkin, and others. On various blogs, he was photoshopped as Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler or as an opera singer. His picture has also been printed on T-shirts, posters, mouse-pads, and beer mugs.


John Cotterell

John Cotterell DCL (died 1572) was an English clergyman and academic at the University of Oxford, who was one of the founding fellows of Jesus College, Oxford.
Life and career.
Cotterell, who was from Wiltshire, England, originally, was a Fellow of New College, Oxford, from 1524 to 1542, obtaining his BCL degree in 1532. He obtained his DCL in 1543. He was Rector of Winford, Somerset from 1524 until his death in 1572 and held other ecclesiastical positions: vicar of Adderbury, Oxfordshire (1542); rector of Everleigh, Wiltshire (1546); rector of Burton Bradstock, Dorset (1550); rector of Tidcombe, Tiverton, Devon (1562). He was Archdeacon of Dorset 1550–71, and Archdeacon of Wells 1554–72. He was appointed Prebendary of Bristol in 1545, of Wells in 1554 (until 1572) and of Lincoln in 1555 (until 1560).
Aside from his church duties, Cotterell was also involved with the University of Oxford. He was Principal of White Hall and Laurence Hall (1537–43). In 1571, Cotterell was named in the charter granted by Queen Elizabeth I as one of the eight founding fellows of Jesus College, Oxford.


Godwin Awoke

Godwin Awoke is an Anglican bishop in Nigeria: he has been Bishop of Ngbo since 2018.


William Joseph Chaminade

Guillaume-Joseph Chaminade, (Périgueux, 8 April 1761 – Bordeaux, 22 January 1850) was a French Catholic priest who survived persecution during the French Revolution and later founded the Society of Mary, usually called the Marianists, in 1817. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 3 September 2000 his feast day is celebrated on 22 January.
The Marianist Family's other three branches — the Religious Sisters known as the Daughters of Mary Immaculate, the married and single men and women of the Marianist Lay Communities, and the consecrated laywomen of the Alliance Mariale — also look to Chaminade as a founder or inspiration.
Early life.
Chaminade was born in 1761 in Périgueux to Catherine Bethon and Blaise Chaminade, in the former province of Périgord, now the Department of Dordogne. He was the 14th child of deeply religious parents. Three of his brothers became priests. Feeling called to serve in this way as well, he entered a minor seminary in Mussidan at the age of ten. He was ordained a priest in 1785 for the local diocese.
The Revolutionary era.
In 1790, after the start of the French Revolution, Chaminade moved to Bordeaux. There he became an enemy of the state by defying the Civil Constitution of the Clergy, which would have required him to take an oath affirming the Revolution's secular values and disclaiming the authority of the Roman Catholic Church. He secretly continued to work as a priest, risking a possible death penalty. One of his allies in this work was the Marie-Thérèse Charlotte de Lamourous, whom he later assisted in founding Bordeaux's "Miséricorde" (House of Mercy) for "fallen women".
In 1795, when the national government sought to work with the non-juring clergy, Chaminade accepted responsibility for supervising the reconciliation of the clergy of Bordeaux who had taken the Constitutional Oath but wanted to make peace with the Catholic Church; about fifty such priests completed their reconciliation with his help. After the Coup of 18 Fructidor by the French Directory in 1797, he fled the country and found refuge for three years in Zaragoza, Spain
While living there, he would regularly visit the Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar out of his strong devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. As a result of his prayer he developed a vision for restoring the Catholic faith to France. To this end, he decided to build an organization of both lay and religious Order members, taking the Virgin Mary as the model of a perfect disciple of Jesus.
Founder.
When he returned to Bordeaux in November 1800, he re-established the Marian Sodality, which he hoped would promote the desecularization of France by offering "the spectacle of a people of saints". He saw the development of the young lay movement as the prime focus of his mission. In this he was opposed by the traditionalist forces in the Church, both clergy and lay, who saw the re-creation of the privileges and institutions of the pre-Revolutionary Church as the true goal of their restoration of the faith in France. In 1824 Chaminade published a reply to that line of thinking in which he stated, "The levers that move the moral world somehow need a new fulcrum."
The sodality spread to other cities, and the Holy See recognized his efforts by appointing him Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Bazas and later, in 1801, naming him an "Apostolic Missionary" to the region, confirming its trust in him.
Some sodalitists wanted to make a more complete commitment to the Church, so Chaminade, along with the Adèle de Batz de Trenquelléon, founded the Institute of the Daughters of Mary Immaculate in Agen in 1816. A year later, he founded the Society of Mary at Bordeaux. Both religious institutes devoted themselves to teaching. Chaminade sought to establish a network of schools to train Catholic teachers, but this effort was checked by the 1830 Revolution. However, both of Chaminade's religious institutes continued to grow: the Daughters of Mary founded schools in south-western France to educate rural women and the Society of Mary expanded in France and spread to Switzerland (1839) and the United States of America (1849).
Death.
The last ten years of Chaminade's life were filled with problems of health, finances and obstacles to his vision in the administration of the Society. He was replaced in January 1846 as Superior General by a General Chapter, which he considered illegitimate, called by members of the General Council of the Society, with the approval of the Holy See. Partially paralyzed, he thereafter was left in virtual isolation by the government of the Society.
Chaminade died in Bordeaux in 1850, surrounded by members of the Society he had founded. His tomb is located in the city.
Veneration.
The process of inquiry for the cause of Chaminade's canonization was opened in 1909, with testimony taken in until 1912 in France and Spain, where he had lived. The cause was submitted to Rome by the Marianists in 1918. Study on the matter continued until 1973, when Chaminade was declared Venerable by Pope Paul VI.
Miracle worker.
Argentina.
In 1995 the healing from lung cancer of Elena Otera, a resident of Buenos Aires, was studied as a possible miracle to be attributed to the intercession of Chaminade. After a positive conclusion in the local inquiry conducted by the Marianist Postulator of the cause, the matter was referred to the Vatican for investigation. The medical boards consulted by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints finally declared her healing as "scientifically inexplicable" in January 1999. A review of the cause then took place by the theologians and bishops of the Congregation. They voted unanimously in favor of declaring a miracle that following October. This was approved by Pope John Paul II, who beatified Chaminade in 2000.
United States.
Rachel Baumgartner, then a high school student in St. Louis, Missouri, in the United States, was diagnosed in December 1998 with Askin's tumor, a kind of sarcoma. She underwent emergency surgery to have the tumor removed, followed by chemotherapy and radiation. She was a member of the Parish of Our Lady of the Pillar, founded and staffed by the Marianists, and was chosen to attend the ceremony for Chaminade's beatification in Rome in 2000. Early the next year the tumor was found to have re-appeared in her bone marrow, for which she underwent a stem cell transplant, which had a severe negative impact on her health. The tumor was found to have re-developed between her heart, lung and spine in November 2002.
Baumgartner was advised that no one had ever survived when this occurred after such a transplant, and that she had only a few weeks to live. After a year and a half, however, the tumor (which was the size of a small Nerf football) stopped growing and had not damaged the organs around it. In 2004 a noted surgeon removed the tumor, finding that it had died with almost no treatment, which was medically unexplainable. Baumgartner, now married and named Rachel Lozano, attributed this to the intercession of Chaminade. The Marianist pastor of the parish referred this matter to the Superior General of the Society of Mary, who in turn requested that the local bishop, the Archbishop of St. Louis, conduct a formal inquiry. The investigation was concluded in July 2010 and forwarded by the Archdiocese and the Marianists to Rome for judgment.


Daniel ben Judah

Daniel ben Judah was a Jewish liturgical poet, who lived at Rome in the middle of the fourteenth century CE. He was the grandfather of Daniel ben Samuel ha-Rofe, rabbi at Tivoli.
According to Luzzatto, Daniel ben Judah was the author of the well-known hymn "Yigdal Elohim Hai" containing the thirteen articles of belief of Maimonides. This poem, which forms part of the morning prayer among the Ashkenazim, and is sung by the Sephardim on the eve of Sabbaths and holy days, is included in the Romaniot ritual for Saturday evening.


Rolland Busch

Rolland Busch, (26 October 1920 – 19 July 1985), also known as Rollie Busch, was an Australian theologian and Presbyterian and Uniting Church minister. He was the foundation principal of the Trinity Theological College in Brisbane from when it was formed in 1977 until 1985. He was president of the Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia from 1982 to 1985. He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1978 Queens Birthday Honours and appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1984.
Early life.
Busch was born in an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, on 26 October 1920. His father (Arthur Emil Busch) was a German migrant pork butcher, his mother Harriet (Nee Beck) had been born in Queensland. Busch grew up in Toowoomba, and got a job as a telegram boy at age 15 to help support the family during the Great Depression. His immediate family remained in Toowoomba for the rest of their lives.
Military service.
Busch enlisted in the Militia in 1938 and the Second Australian Imperial Force in 1942 having been promoted to sergeant. He took part in the Battle of Milne Bay and was commissioned as a Lieutenant on 2 July 1943. He served in a signals platoon, headquarters, and movement control in New Guinea Force and was promoted to Captain before returning to Australia in March 1945 as a railway transport officer, transferring to the Reserve of Officers on 1 May 1946.
Busch was also a chaplain in the Citizen Military Forces from 1954 until he was placed on the retired list in 1981, having reached Chaplain-General in 1968 with the Australian Defence Force ranking as major general.
Study and academia.
Busch lectured Philosophy at University of Queensland whilst also studying as an external student at Melbourne College of Divinity then at the Presbyterian Theological Hall within Emmanuel College at UQ. He was ordained on 16 February 1954. He also spent a year studying at Union Theological Seminary, New York in 1958. Busch was professor of New Testament studies in the Presbyterian Theological Hall from 1961 and in the Congregational, Methodist and Presbyterian Joint Faculty of Theology from 1968. He was also principal of Emmanuel College from 1962 to 1978. He convened the Queensland Presbyterian department of Christian education from 1960 to 1963 and the board of local mission from 1970 to 1974.
His qualifications included:
Ministry.
When he was ordained, Busch was inducted into pastoral charge of St Giles's church at Yeerongpilly in Brisbane. He was state moderator of the Presbyterian church in 1972-3 and after union of the Queensland Synod of the Uniting Church 1977–1979. He was President of the National Assembly of the Uniting Church for a three-year term from 1982. He served as chairman of the Brisbane College of Theology in 1985.
Aboriginal Rights.
Busch was a firm believer in Aboriginal Rights and in the right of self-determination for many Aboriginal settlements. His criticism was voiced against the Queensland government's denial of self-determination to the Aboriginal inhabitants of Aumkun and Mornington Island , pitting him against Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen on several occasions. The Uniting Church has continued their support of Aboriginal Rights in Australia.
Family.
On 14 August 1948 at St John's Church of England, Penshurst, Sydney, he married Evelyn Mavis Smith, a nurse whom he had met in New Guinea during the war. They had two children (Rhonda and Ian). Both Ian and Rhonda's Husband (Ray) have served on the boards of the UCA Queensland Synod and Wesley Hospital.


Pedro Marieluz Garces

Pedro Marieluz Garcés (or Peter Marielux) (born in 1780 in Tarma/Peru, died on 23 September 1825 in Callao/Peru) was a Roman Catholic priest who died as a martyr of the Seal of the Confessional.
As a young man, Pedro Marieluz Garcés entered the order of the Camillians and was ordained a priest in 1805.
Later he became a military chaplain with the troops of the Spanish Royal Governor, Ramón Rodil. During the siege of the fortress Real Felipe in the city of Callao after the Battle of Ayacucho, there was a conspiracy made against Rodil by some of the Royal soldiers. The plot was discovered and Rodil sentenced the conspirators to death. They were allowed to confess to Marieluz before being shot. After the execution of the plotters, Rodil is said to have doubted whether he had convicted all members of the plot and, thinking that the executed ones would have revealed everything in confession to Marieluz, he tried to force the confessor to disclose to him what he had heard in the confessions by threatening him to be shot likewise, if he would not obey. But Marieluz remained steadfast and was executed on the evening of 23 September 1825, becoming a martyr in the eyes of the Catholic Church.


David Hollatz (writer)

David Hollatz (died 14 June 1771) (the younger) was a German Lutheran ministerm grandson of the dogmatician David Hollatz. He was preacher at Güntersberg, near Zachan, in Pomerania from 1730 till his death. After a controversy between Hollatz and Siegmund Jakob Baumgarten of Halle orthodox Lutherans looked upon him with disfavor. He steadily receded more and more from the church doctrines and adopted the views of the Moravians, among whom he found greater sympathy.
Works.
He wrote devotional books which were much read and translated (e.g., "Gebahnte Pilgerstrasse nach dem Berge Zion", Basel, 1866; "Evangelische Gnadenordnungen", Basel, 1894; Eng. transl., "The Order of Evangelical Grace in the Economy of Salvation", London, 1838; "Verherrlichung Christi in seinem theueren and unschätzbaren Blute", Basel 1894). His "Sämtliche erbauliche Schriften" were published in two parts at Görlitz, 1772-1773, and Frankfort, 1782.