Romanian Bishop to Priests: Trim Down

Ananova reported that His Grace Calinic, Bishop of Arges, Romania, has ordered his priests to lose weight. The bishop fears his priests’ expanded waistlines reflect worldliness. He recommended a fast throughout Lent and extended prayer sessions to reduce weight. He said, “Oversized bellies only prove to people that priests have a good life and are not concentrating on their holy mission.”

British Law Change May Create ‘Designer Babies’

A new law in Britain is on the table that would allow the alteration of human embryos for research purposes, according to Reuters.

A draft bill for legislation to replace the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act of 1990 is being prepared to include wording that would allow for human embryo alteration.

Dr. Richard Nicholson, the editor of the Bulletin of Medical Ethics, said: “Every country that has legislated on this subject has banned it. Thus the British Government’s decision breaks ranks with the international community, and may lead to the perception that Britain is a haven for irresponsible and profit-driven scientists.”

Virgin Mary Reputedly Seen in Uganda

An alleged apparition of the Blessed Mother near the Nyapea Chapel in Uganda has drawn thousands of people from across Uganda as well as southern Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, AllAfrica reported.

Father Emile Onegwa, an elderly priest, said the vision of the Virgin first appeared to him inside the chapel on July 21, 2005, then again on Feb. 4, 2006. This year, he said, the vision has appeared around Jan. 9 on a pine tree a short distance from the old chapel, founded in 1933. An estimated 900,000 people have visited the site.