USA: Elizabeth Warnock Fernea, Anthropologist Who Studied the Lives of Middle Eastern Women, Has Died

Elizabeth Warnock Fernea

Elizabeth Warnock Fernea was an author who spent two years in an Iraqi harem and studied the roles of Muslim women in the Middle East.

(London Daily Telegraph)

Elizabeth Warnock Fernea, who died on December 2 aged 81, lived in an Iraqi harem for two years and subsequently devoted her life to studying the roles of women in the Muslim Middle East and north Africa….

Italy: Right Wingers Object to Mosque in Nativity Scene

Priest puts mosque in Nativity scene
Italy’s Right-wing Northern League have reacted with fury after it emerged that a Roman Catholic priest added a model mosque to his church’s nativity scene.

Nick Pisa (London Daily Telegraph)

Father Bonzani explains his reasoning:

… Father Bonzani said that his nativity scene was designed to send a message of inter-faith harmony. “I included the mosque as a sign that we should have more dialogue with the Muslim faith. I do not have any regrets. At the end of the day the most important thing to focus on here is the Holy Family. I have only one had one complaint from within the parish and that’s it.”

Father Bonzani added that another reason for including the mosque was that it accurately represented today’s Bethlehem. “Someone asked me why I had put one in and I said I wanted it to be a modern Bethlehem….”