Enough is enough
Chicago Tribune (registration site)
Pope Benedict XVI called Sunday for an end to all wars, describing them as "useless slaughters" that bring hell to Earth. Pope Benedict, speaking from the small mountain town where he has been vacationing, recalled that 90 years ago his predecessor Pope Benedict XV urged a similar end to the first World War, then ravaging this part of northern Italy. "While this inhuman conflict raged, the pope had the courage to affirm that it was a 'useless slaughter,'" he said. "These words -- 'useless slaughter' -- contained a fuller prophetic value that can be applied to so many other conflicts that have cut off countless human lives."

Wanted: Tridentine vestments
Reuters
The decree this month by Pope Benedict allowing wider use of the Tridentine Mass has spawned a veritable cottage industry in helping priests learn how to celebrate the centuries-old rite. A website, helpline, DVDs and a training course at Oxford are among resources springing up for priests who want to celebrate the old-style Mass but aren't sure which vestments to wear, or where to get them, when to genuflect, how deep to bow or how to clasp their hands in prayer.

Give till it feels good
Christian Science Monitor
For the past five years, Stephen Post has been funding research projects that test how altruism, compassion, and giving affect people's lives and well-being. As head of the Institute for Research on Unlimited Love at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, he has sponsored more than 50 studies by scientists from 54 major universities. In a wide range of disciplines from public health and human development to neuroscience, sociology and evolutionary biology, the studies have demonstrated that love and caring expressed in doing good for others lead people to have healthier, happier and even longer lives. "Giving is the most potent force on the planet ... and will protect you your whole life," says Post, a bioethicist who has taught in the medical school at Case Western for 19 years.