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LA STAMPA

Pope Benedict XVI Supports Teacher Accused Of Showing Graphic Images Of Apocalypse

An Italian religious studies teacher has been suspended for depicting the Apocalypse so vividly that it shocked an elementary school girl to tears. The teacher wrote to the Pope, who has sent her an encouraging response.

Pope Benedict XVI (Sergey Gabdurakhmanov)
Pope Benedict XVI (Sergey Gabdurakhmanov)

ROME - Pope Benedict XVI has offered his support and blessing to an Italian elementary school teacher who was suspended for showing graphic images of the apocalypse to her students, leaving some in tears.

Cristina Vai, a religious studies teacher at Bombicci school in Bologna, gave a lesson to her mostly six-year-old students on the struggle between good and evil , showing graphic images of violent fights between angels and the devil, and God's punishments.

The parents of a pupil complained with the school director that her daughter had been shocked by that lesson, and Vai was subsequently suspended. The veteran teacher called for help from the very top. "At the end of November, I wrote to the Pope, to tell him my situation and to thank him for his heroic battle against the current nihilist Zeitgeist," she said.

A few days ago, she received an answer. In a letter from Peter Brian Wells, Assessor of the General Affairs of Vatican Secretary of State, the Pope is quoted giving his blessing to the teacher, and expressing his support for a profession "executed with commitment and dedication." Benedict does not specifically cite the controversy, but thanks Vai for her "faithful gesture and for the sentiments that have inspired you. He prays for a constant generous commitment to shape a young generation of Christians."

Fabio Garagnani, a member of the Italian parliament, who has backed the teacher from the beginning of the matter, said that now she should be reinstated in her job. "I hope that this letter from the Pope will finally clear that the teacher is in in perfect accordance with Catholic orthodoxy." He said.

Read the original article in Italian

Photo - Sergey Gabdurakhmanov


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Society

Violence Against Women, The Patriarchy And Responsibility Of The Good Men Too

The femicide of Giulia Cecchettin has shaken Italy, and beyond. Argentine journalist Ignacio Pereyra looks at what lies behind femicides and why all men must take more responsibility.

A protester's sign referring to the alleged killer reads: Filippo isn't a monster, he's the healthy son of the patriarchy

Matteo Nardone/Pacific Press via ZUMA Press
Ignacio Pereyra

Updated Dec. 3, 2023 at 10:40 p.m.

-Essay-

ATHENS — Are you going to write about what happened in Italy?, Irene, my partner, asks me. I have no idea what she's talking about. She tells me: a case of femicide has shaken the country and has been causing a stir for two weeks.

As if the fact in itself were not enough, I ask what is different about this murder compared to the other 105 women murdered this year in Italy (or those that happen every day around the world).

For the latest news & views from every corner of the world, Worldcrunch Today is the only truly international newsletter. Sign up here .

We are talking about a country where the expression "fai l'uomo" (be a man) abounds, with a society so prone to drama and tragedy and so fond of crime stories as few others, where the expression "crime of passion" is still mistakenly overused.

In this context, the sister of the victim reacted in an unexpected way for a country where femicide is not a crime recognized in the penal code, contrary to what happens, for example, in almost all of Latin America.

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