The Falklands war was in full swing and John Paul II was in London as the first pope ever to set foot on English soil.

Even as he snubbed Margaret Thatcher and prayed for peace in implicit criticism of Britain ”” whose troops were battling Catholic Argentines ”” the pontiff received a rapturous welcome and was described in glowing terms by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

His successor, Benedict XVI, can expect a far cooler ”” if not at times downright hostile ”” reception in his upcoming state visit.

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The process that will end in the Anglican Church splitting up has begun with the Canterbury – the headquarters of the church – disengaging itself from Africa, Asia and Australia.

African Anglicans are reportedly taking a lead role by mobilising their colleagues in Asia, South America and Australia to come together under the Global South umbrella.

Sources at the August 23-29 2nd All Africa Bishops Conference in Entebbe, Uganda told The EastAfrican that key consultations on the schism were held at the sidelines of the main meeting and would be concluded after engaging members from Asia, South America and Australia[…]

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German pride did not die after the country’s defeat in World War II. Instead, like Sleeping Beauty in the Brothers Grimm version of the folk tale, it only fell into a deep slumber. The country has now awakened, ready to celebrate its economic ingenuity, its cultural treasures and the unsullied stretches of its history.

As Germany embarks on this journey of self-discovery, the question is whether it will leave behind a European project which was built in no small measure on the nation’s postwar guilt and on its pocketbook.

“Maybe it’s our time again,” said Catherine Mendle, 25, a school social worker strolling the grounds and halls of the square glass and concrete Chancellery building on a recent afternoon as part of a government open house. A military band played in the background, and Mrs. Merkel signed autographs for curious visitors.

“We have this extreme helper syndrome, to try to make the world love us again, and it’s completely overdone,” Ms. Mendle said. Germany, she said, had been reduced to simple stereotypes ”” Oktoberfest, auto factories, the Holocaust. Its rich traditions in music and literature, and its enduring emphasis on social welfare and a strong commitment to the environment, deserve more respect abroad and at home, Ms. Mendle said.

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Why do you remain dedicated to your faith when so many Christians object to your personal life?

“I stay sympathetic to those people by reminding myself that they are only following what we’ve taught them for countless centuries. For them, it must feel like we’re changing the rules in the middle of the game.

“The truth is that the church has changed its mind about a lot of things. It wasn’t that long ago that we were using Scripture to justify slavery and the subjugation of women. Now we’re living in a time when the church is asking, ‘Have we got it wrong about this issue as well, and is God leading us to another place?’ And I would say, ‘Yes, that is what we’re seeing.’ ”

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“It would be a very boring magazine if it was only full of pieces that I agree with.”

–Catherine Pepinster, editor of The Tablet, in a profile in today’s Independent.

Almost 70% of British Catholics expect the Pope’s visit to help the Catholic Church in the UK, a poll commissioned by the BBC suggests.

But the survey suggests they are less keen about some of his teaching.

Half of those questioned felt priests should no longer have to be celibate.

And 52% of the 500 Catholics surveyed ahead of the Pope’s visit on Thursday said the sex abuse scandal had shaken their faith in the Church’s leadership.

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My hopes as an Anglican bishop are twofold. Pope Benedict is a formidable philosopher and theologian. He has spent much of his ministry analysing the ebb-tide of faith in modern Europe. This is also a matter Archbishop Rowan Williams has devoted much attention to.

Instead of slogans on buses pressing an atheist cause, or the reverse, I hope the visit will promote real dialogue between those of faith, those in doubt and those who deny.

Secondly, Pope Benedict will meet his bishops and the Church of England bishops at Lambeth Palace. Anglican and Catholic bishops regularly meet but doing so with the Bishop of Rome will, I believe, reinforce and further encourage our common mission. Differences will remain but what we have in common far outweighs them.

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When you stop and think about it, the entire thing is nothing short of preposterous. The pastor of a 50-person church in a small city in Florida sets the world on edge with his threat of burning Korans, and the whole thing gets so out of hand that Defense Secretary Robert Gates gives the man a call.

Think about that for a minute. The man running the military for the world’s most powerful country has to take time out of his day to make a phone call to an extremist pastor who has been called “delusional” by a Protestant church official in charge of monitoring cults in Germany, where Jones also once had a church. Gates isn’t the only powerful figure who has had to take time to address this small-time religious leader who has hit big-time media celebrity status. General Petraeus, the man running a war in Afghanistan, had to take time to warn of the consequences. And of course, President Obama has weighed in on the matter, too…..

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She lived a double life. At the border crossing, she was Agent Garnica, a veteran law enforcement officer. In the shadows, she was “La Estrella,” the star, a brassy looker who helped drug cartels make a mockery of the U.S. border.

Martha Garnica devised secret codes, passed stacks of cash through car windows and sketched out a map for smugglers to safely haul drugs and undocumented workers across the border. For that she was richly rewarded; she lived in a spacious house with a built-in pool, owned two Hummers and vacationed in Europe.

For years, until an intricate sting operation brought her down in late 2009, Garnica embodied the seldom-discussed role of the United States in the trafficking trade….

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So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

–Matthew 5:23-24

Wow-what a fifth set. Congratulations to Novak Djokovic. Read it all.

There is no single better way to honor the memory of those we’ve lost than to be as free as you can”“celebrate it, revel in it. There is no single greater threat to our enemies.

It is for this that I will gladly lay down my life, and for the very same reason that we cannot lose this long war.

Every moment I spend away from American I understand better just how amazing it is. Not just the land or the people, but the ideas it is founded upon.

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There are just over 40 of them and each is very fine. There is a slideshow option if you prefer to go that route–KSH.

It has now been nine years since al Qaeda attacked the United States. It has been nine years in which the primary focus of the United States has been on the Islamic world. In addition to a massive investment in homeland security, the United States has engaged in two multi-year, multi-divisional wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, inserted forces in other countries in smaller operations and conducted a global covert campaign against al Qaeda and other radical jihadist groups.

In order to understand the last nine years you must understand the first 24 hours of the war ”” and recall your own feelings in those 24 hours. First, the attack was a shock, its audaciousness frightening. Second, we did not know what was coming next. The attack had destroyed the right to complacent assumptions. Were there other cells standing by in the United States? Did they have capabilities even more substantial than what they showed on Sept. 11? Could they be detected and stopped? Any American not frightened on Sept. 12 was not in touch with reality. Many who are now claiming that the United States overreacted are forgetting their own sense of panic. We are all calm and collected nine years after.

At the root of all of this was a profound lack of understanding of al Qaeda, particularly its capabilities and intentions….

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Representatives of many faiths gathered today at the Islamic Center in Amherst to offer support to Muslims at a time when many speakers acknowledged the religion is under attack. Dr. Khalid J. Qazi, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council of Western New York, led the ceremony for about 50 people.

Qazi recounted an emotional meeting he and other Muslim leaders held with former President George W. Bush in the White House soon after the attacks.

“When he hugged me and I told him I was from New York, honest to God, he cried and I cried,” he said, adding that the encounter emphasized the sentiment of the time that “we are all in this together.”

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“If you just rely on the military””we’ve seen the result,” explains Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, the senior presidential adviser for peace and reconciliation. “There is no purely military solution in Afghanistan.”

American military commanders say they back Mr. Karzai’s effort to court members of the Taliban, comparing it to the successful strategy in Iraq to win over Sunni Arab insurgents.

But key leaders of Afghanistan’s three largest ethnic minorities told The Wall Street Journal that they oppose Mr. Karzai’s outreach to the Taliban, which they said could pave the way for the fundamentalist group’s return to power and reignite civil war.

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