1+ week, 1+ day ago (272+ words) US$5 million museum features 360-degree projection rooms, Shroud of Turin replicas, interactive kiosks and a life-size sculpture of Christ An interactive museum dedicated to the Shroud of Turin, which some Christians claim was Jesus" burial cloth, opens its doors to the public this week at the Christ Cathedral campus in Southern California. "The Shroud of Turin: An Immersive Experience, a US$5 million exhibition in Garden Grove featuring 360-degree projection rooms, Shroud of Turin replicas, interactive kiosks, and a life-size sculpture of Christ, was conceived over three years and funded through private donations. The content was created primarily by Othonia, a Rome-based group dedicated to the examination of the shroud. The original " a cloth 4.4 metres (14 feet 5 inches) long and 1.1 metres wide " is kept in a bulletproof, climate-controlled case housed in the Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist in Turin, Italy. The…...

4+ week, 1+ day ago (199+ words) The incident happened as devotees surged at the Swamy Venkateswara shrine in Andhra Pradesh during the sacred Ekadashi festival A crowd surge at a popular Hindu temple in southern India left at least nine people dead and dozens injured, local authorities said on Saturday. The incident occurred at the Swamy Venkateswara Temple in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh state, where hundreds of devotees had gathered to mark one of Hinduism's sacred days " "Ekadashi, senior police officer K. V. Maheswra Reddy said. On this day, the devotees fast and offer prayers to Lord Vishnu, a key Hindu deity. An initial investigation suggests that an iron grille meant to maintain the queue of worshippers at the temple broke, leading to the uncontrolled crowd surge, Reddy said. Senior local government official Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar said more casualties were feared. "Initially, we had reports of…...

2+ week, 1+ day ago (213+ words) The move is part of the Catholic Church's reckoning with its role in helping suppress indigenous culture in the Americas The Vatican on Saturday returned 62 artefacts to indigenous peoples from Canada as part of the Catholic Church's reckoning with its role in helping suppress indigenous culture in the Americas. Pope Leo gave the artefacts, including an iconic Inuit kayak, and supporting documentation to a delegation of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops during an audience. According to a joint statement from the Vatican and Canadian church, the pieces were a gift and a "concrete sign of dialogue, respect and fraternity. The items were part of the Vatican Museum's ethnographic collection, known as the Anima Mundi museum. The collection has been a source of controversy for the Vatican amid the broader museum debate over the restitution of cultural goods taken from…...

3+ week, 4+ day ago (192+ words) Mazu has millions of worshippers on the mainland and in Taiwan, and has been promoted by Beijing as a "spiritual bond" between the two sides The goddess is revered as a protector of fishermen and sailors and has millions of worshippers in eastern and southeastern parts of the Chinese mainland as well as in Taiwan. Last Wednesday, the authorities in Meizhou, a city in the mainland province of Fujian where Mazu is believed to have been born, staged a celebration to mark the 1,038th anniversary of her deification. The event attracted more than 5,000 worshippers, including 600 from Taiwan, according to the island"s media. It was followed by a tourist festival and cultural forum dedicated to Mazu on Sunday that was attended by more than 800 academics, officials, overseas business leaders and cultural representatives. The authorities said the cult could serve as a…...

6+ day, 9+ min ago (201+ words) Woman wakes in coffin before cremation; organ donation attempt by her brother halted by missing death certificate A woman in Thailand shocked temple staff when she started moving in her coffin after being brought in for cremation. Wat Rat Prakhong Tham, a Buddhist temple in the province of Nonthaburi on the outskirts of Bangkok, posted a video on its Facebook page, showing a woman lying in a white coffin in the back of a pickup truck, slightly moving her arms and head, leaving temple staff bewildered. Pairat Soodthoop, the temple's general and financial affairs manager, said on Monday that the 65-year-old woman's brother drove her from the province of Phitsanulok to be cremated. He said they heard a faint knock coming from the coffin. "I was a bit surprised, so I asked them to open the coffin, and everyone was…...

4+ week, 4+ hour ago (209+ words) Pet lovers flock to country's only pagoda dedicated to canines, in search of protection, good fortune, health for their animals Young pet owners in China are taking their dogs to worship the Dog God, offering canine food and placing their leashes in incense ashes to pray for the health and safety of their pets. In Chizhou city, eastern China's Anhui province, the picturesque Jiuhua Mountain, one of China's four great Buddhist mountains, is home to a unique pagoda dedicated to the Dog God Diting. It is believed to be the only pagoda in the country that honours animals. Legend has it that the Earth Store Bodhisattva, who protects souls and controls disasters, raised a white dog that accompanied him on his spiritual journey. After achieving enlightenment at Jiuhua Mountain, the dog became the divine Diting, a mythical creature with the…...

3+ week, 8+ hour ago (182+ words) Paddleboarders battle to save terrified felines as they struggle to swim during "Buddhist" ritual; animal protection staff say many perished. A "life release" event saw 1,100 cats dumped near a protected water reservoir in China, causing many of the animals to panic, jump into the water and drown. On November 1, videos surfaced online showing a group of people wearing masks releasing large numbers of cats near the Yingzui Reservoir in Qingyuan, Guangdong province, southern China. "Life release" is a traditional Buddhist practice where animals such as fish, turtles or birds are released into the wild as a form of compassion and spiritual merit. However, the practice has become increasingly controversial in recent years due to ecological concerns. In the video, two large lorries filled with cat cages, reportedly holding more than 1,120 cats with a combined weight of 2,722 kilograms, were seen unloading…...