Biblical Pool of Siloam Uncovered in Jerusalem

LOS ANGELES TIMES, Aug. 9 — Workers repairing a sewage pipe in the old city of Jerusalem have discovered the biblical Pool of Siloam, a freshwater reservoir where the Gospel of John says Jesus cured a man blind from birth, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The pool was fed by the now-famous Hezekiah's Tunnel and is “a much grander affair” than archaeologists previously believed, with three tiers of stone stairs allowing easy access to the water, according to Hershel Shanks, editor of Biblical Archaeology Review, which reported the find.

The pool of Jesus’ time was built early in the first century B.C. and was destroyed by the future Roman emperor Titus about A.D. 70. The pool was discovered last fall by a repair team, supervised by Eli Shukron of the Israel Antiques Authority, which was excavating a damaged sewer line.

New Testament scholar James Charlesworth of the Princeton Theological Seminary told the Times, “We have found the Pool of Siloam … exactly where John said it was.”

Chapel to Enshrine Bombed Statue of Virgin Mary

KYOTO NEWS, Aug. 8 — A small chapel has been completed to enshrine a part of a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary that was destroyed in the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, to stand as a symbol for peace on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombing, according to a report on the Japan Today website.

The United States dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug 6 and 9, 1945, respectively.

The chapel within Urakami Cathedral opened to the public following an unveiling ceremony on Aug. 9, when the city held its annual memorial ceremony, following the one in Hiroshima Aug. 6.

‘Hotline of Hope’ Feeds Culture of Death

CHINA DAILY, Aug. 8 — An article in on the daily's website said a Harbin crisis pregnancy center said summer is “peak time” for teenagers to get an abortion.

Harbin Hope Psychology Consulting Center Director Zhang Dasheng said the center receives “about 20 calls a day for consultation.”

“The summer or winter vacation tends to be the peak time for the girls to have an abortion as they want to avoid being found out by their teachers and parents,” Zhang said. “These girls can go to the hospital for the abortion without registration as long as they have our referral letter. They get the green light all the way.”

The article's headline called the center a “Hotline of Hope for Pregnant Girls,” but the center officials made no mention of advising the young women to forgo an abortion in favor of having their babies, as if the option didn't exist.

Doctor Charged With Killing Unborn Baby

SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, Aug. 9 — A Sydney doctor accused of inducing a late-term abortion has become the first medical practitioner in New South Wales to be charged over an abortion since 1971, according to the Australian daily's website.

Dr. Suman Sood is also believed to be the state's first doctor to be charged with the manslaughter of an unborn baby. She allegedly gave a 20-year-old woman a drug to induce abortion, and then asked her to come back the next day. The woman gave birth early the next morning to a baby boy that lived for about three hours.

Sood faces one charge of manslaughter and one of administering a drug with intent to procure a miscarriage, according to the report.