Six decades after a banana-killing fungus all but wiped out plantations across Latin America, a new strain threatens to destroy global harvests.

A type of Fusarium wilt appeared this year in Australia’s main banana-growing state after spreading to Asia and Africa. While the fungus has been around since the 1990s and has yet to affect top exporter Ecuador, Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. called it a potential “big nightmare.” The United Nations says the disease threatens supply, and Latin American growers are taking steps to limit the risk. MORE

By BI: After listening to Shahram Hadian speak for over an hour about Islam, Alton Howell said, “It scared the living daylights out of me.” “I think that we better pay attention, the city of Seattle is full of Muslims.” MORE

The Russian Orthodox Church says it is severing ties with the main protestant churches of France and Scotland over the issue of same-sex unions.

The Moscow Patriarchate said on June 3 that “formal contacts” with the two institutions were pointless after France’s United Protestant Church last month voted to allow pastors to bless same-sex marriages and the Church of Scotland approved ordaining clergy in same-sex civil unions. Continue reading →

When we heard that Catholic University was having a design contest for the an altar and chair for Francis to use during his visit to the city of brotherly love, Philadelphia, we were interested.  When we found out the prize money was $6000 we became very interested. MORE

A remarkable survey of the worldwide Catholic Church finds that the Vatican is fading in Europe, once its population base, and running so short of priests for U.S. churches that they are being imported from Africa and Asia. MORE

When a student in Louisiana opens her textbook in biology class, she might not have the standard Miller and Levine Biology with a dragonfly on the cover, and she might not ever learn about evolution. For some Louisiana public school students, their science textbook is the Bible, and in biology class they read the Book of Genesis to learn the “creation point of view.” MORE

Many Christians are unaware of the meaning and significance that St. Michael’s name bears. Throughout the entire history of the Church, St. Michael has been viewed as a protector and guardian. Our current prayer to St. Michael, penned by Pope Leo XIII, states specifically, “Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.” But what about his name itself? MORE

The Department of Homeland Security will give $13 million dollars to add security to nonprofit organizations. If this year’s competition is like previous years, then over 90 percent of these grants will go to Jewish groups. Over the past decade, nearly all of the funds have gone to religious nonprofits with Jewish groups receiving the lion’s share, with over $110 million in grants. MORE

The Apostate Church not doing well in attendance.

A new report mapping the Catholic Church’s more than 1.2 billion souls — on track to reach 1.64 billion by 2050 — holds some surprises.

And not all bode well for the Church’s future as it faces major demographic and social shifts.

“Global Catholicism: Trends & Forecasts,” released by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University, looks at seven regions of the world. MORE

Welcome to the First Church of Cannabis Inc., approved by Indiana’s Secretary of State under its controversial Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Even bigger that state law approval, the church has even been granted tax-exempt status by the IRS. Tea Party conservatives evidently had a lot more trouble with their tax exemption applications. The stated intent of the upstart church is “to start a church based on love and understanding with compassion for all.”

Bill Levin is the self-described “Minister of Love and Grand Poobah” of the Church. The first church service is set for July 1, 2015. It is no coincidence that July 1 is the day the Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act takes effect. The church has a Facebook page with clever notes like “The Deity Dozen,” “Don’t be an asshole” and “Do not be a ‘troll’ on the Internet.” MORE

The National Post has reported the sad state of the American legal system – there is nothing left. As they said – the right to a fair trial just does not exist. We have reached that point in the evolution of government where the rule of law fades into the night. It is all about corruption any more and the courts support the system who pay their pension. This is the symbol of injustice, the fat judge being carried on the back of the people.

The United States has an election next week, but nowhere to be found is any discussion of the genuine national crisis in the criminal justice system. To put it dramatically, but not inaccurately, the right to a fair trial no longer exists in America, except by accident. The land of the free simply isn’t that for those who catch the eye of the police. And nobody seems to care. MORE

Last week came word Saint Louis University will remove a heroic-sized statue of Father Pierre-Jean De Smet S.J. from the front of Fusz Hall, where it has stood for 60 years.

The statue depicts De Smet holding aloft a crucifix as he ministers to two American Indians, one of whom is kneeling.

Historically, the statue is accurate. Father De Smet, “Blackrobe,” as he was known, was a 19th-century missionary to Indian tribes who converted thousands. A friend of Sitting Bull, he spent his last years in St. Louis. MORE

As two men are arrested for ‘manspreading’ on the New York metro, Joel Snape argues that we should all take a bit of responsibility rather than making anti-social behaviour illegal.

Bad news, tall men with a poor sense of boundaries: the NYPD have had enough of your nonsense. Yes, after op–eds in the New York Times (£), a popular crowdshaming Tumblr campaign and a series of public service ads from the Metropolitan Transport Authority, ‘manspreading’, or ‘sitting with your legs slightly too far apart’, as it used to be known, has apparently become a criminal offence. MORE