Browsing: Religion

A Brief History On October 5, 1926, a former self described “Satanic Priest” turned Dominican lay tertiary, died at the age of 85 and was entombed in glass, dressed in the regalia of a Knight Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Digging Deeper Born in Southern Italy in 1841 to a wealthy Catholic family, Bartolo Longo went to college to become a lawyer, and was radicalized as a nationalist against the Church, turning to Satanism and being ordained as a Satanic priest. By 1871, Longo had reverted to Catholicism and became a lay leader…

A Brief History On September 15, 1440, Gilles de Rais, a knight, baron, and lord of France that had been a military leader for the French during the Hundred Years’ War that had fought alongside French saint, Joan of Arc, was arrested by Catholic Church authorities for the suspected crime of being a serial killer of children. Digging Deeper Baron de Rais had earned the criticism of his family by squandering his inheritance on an extravagant lifestyle.  He continued to irritate authorities by assaulting a church official and seizing a castle, resulting in his arrest. Charged with heresy and sodomy,…

A Brief History On September 9, 337, almost four months after the death of Emperor Constantine the Great, his three sons inherited the throne as co-emperors, a situation that seems unworkable. Digging Deeper Constantine II, Constantius II, and Constans inherited a Roman Empire in which Constantine had ended the persecution of Christians and made Christianity a lawful Roman religion. Constantine also unified the Church and State as a single entity and disestablished the old pagan religion. Constantine made the city of Byzantium the “New Rome,” and renamed it Constantinople after himself. Despite his intent to divide the Empire among his…

A Brief History On August 27, 1915, a member of the clergy tried to assassinate another member of the clergy, a most un-Christian act indeed.  Bishop Patrick Heffron was shot twice by a priest in his own diocese, Father Laurence M. Lesches. Digging Deeper It seems the priest was unhappy that the bishop did not see fit to grant a parish to Fr. Lesches, allegedly due to the instability of Lesches.  Apparently, Bishop Heffron was right!  Luckily, the good bishop did not die until 1927, of natural causes.  The would-be assassin was committed to a mental institution for the rest…

A Brief History On August 16, 1933, antisemitism reared its ugly head in Toronto, Canada, famous for being a nice city.  Known as the “Christie Pits riot” after the playground in which it occurred; the incident was not unique in Toronto. Digging Deeper Toronto was a mostly White, British derived city with Jewish people making up the largest minority.  Previous riots had taken place in 1875 against Catholics and in 1918 against Greek immigrants. Not just anti-Jewish, the Anglo rioters also railed against Italians.  The setting had been a baseball game with a team of Jews and Italians against a…