October 4 - Rick Warren's Saddleback Church Launching 3 Global Campuses in '12 Cities PEACE Plan' Movement
 Article: Miscellaneous

Saddleback Church, which has 10 campuses across Southern California, is undertaking for the very first time in its 33-year history the launch of campuses outside of the United States in an effort to "finish the Great Commission," according to founding Pastor Rick Warren. Warren and his megachurch will see fruits of their years-long work with the "12 Cities PEACE Plan" come to bear this month with the launch of three global campuses, one each in Hong Kong, Berlin and Buenos Aires. Saddleback Hong Kong is the first global congregation prepared for launch, and will officially open its doors this Sunday, Oct. 6. The following two Sundays will see Saddleback Berlin (Oct. 13) and Buenos Aires (Oct 20) follow suit. Eventually, over the next few years, these Saddleback church plants will be followed by sister congregations in Accra, Amman, Bangalore, Johannesburg, London, Manila, Mexico City, Moscow, and Tokyo.

"The ultimate goal is to finish the Great Commission by planting a body of Jesus (church), a Bible (portion of God's word) and a believer in the last unengaged people groups on Earth," Warren explained in a press release shared with The Christian Post. "Jesus said one day in heaven there will be people from every tribe and nation worshipping around God's throne. I intend to use all my influence in rallying the Global Church to do what Jesus commanded us 2000 years ago!"

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 October 9 - Interaction, dialogue needed to end religious violence, priest reflects
 Article:Ecumenical Movement - Other Religions Uniting With Roman Catholics

In a recent interview, theology professor Fr. Bryan Lobo urged that dialogue itself is not enough to end religious violence, and stressed the importance of coming together as a community to resolve tensions. "Today dialogue has become a repeated word, so I would like to call it 'interreligious interaction,'" the theologian explained in a Sept. 27 interview with EWTN News. "It's not just asking questions about each other's religions and concepts, but it's working with each other, helping each other for world peace and harmony to a better world."

"Interreligious dialogue is important but to stop terrorism and violence, that is different. It is a very complex issue," he noted, expressing that religious violence cannot be stopped by interreligious dialogue alone, because there are also "political issues involved," in the matter.

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 October 8 - Kazakhstan bishop urges greater devotion to Eucharist
 Article: Roman Catholic Church And The Last Days

Bishop Athanasius Schneider has recently published his second book on Eucharistic devotion in the hopes that it will foster greater reverence for the sacrament amongst the faithful of his diocese.

"It is necessary to give a good catechism on what the Eucharist is because we have to be aware of it. Jesus said to the Samaritan woman 'if you knew the gift of God,'" the bishop said in a Sept. 27 interview with EWTN News.


Bishop Schneider, whose most recent book "Corpus Christi - Holy Communion and the Renewal of the Church" was published earlier this year, is the auxiliary bishop of Kazakhstan in Central Asia - a country whose religious population is roughly seventy percent Muslim, and thirty percent Christian. During the interview, the bishop expressed the great need to be more reverent in the way that the Eucharist is treated, explaining that the aim of both of his books is to increase respect of the Sacrament, especially amongst the faithful in his diocese.

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 October 10 - Pope To Consecrate World to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Sunday
 Article: Roman Catholic Church And The Last Days

The image of Our Lady of Fatima, which is kept in the Portuguese Shrine, will be in Rome on Saturday the 12th and Sunday the 13th of October, for the consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Pope Francis will carry out the consecration on Sunday, during Marian Day, one of the highlights of the Year of Faith. An estimated 200,000 pilgrims are expected to attend the Mass in Saint Peter's Square, as well as hundreds of Movements and institutions.

The Marian Day will begin on Saturday with a pilgrimage to the tomb of the Apostle Peter, Eucharistic Adoration and Confessions in churches near Saint Peter's Basilica. Pope Francis and all those present will receive the image of the Virgin of Fatima at 5:00 pm in Saint Peter's Square. After the Holy Father's Marian catechesis, the image representing the Virgin Mary, as she appeared to the three little shepherds in Fatima, will be taken to the Roman Shrine of Divine Love, a favorite place of the Roman faithful, some 15 kilometers from the center of Rome

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 October 3 - 'Designer Babies:' Patented Process Could Lead to Selection of Genes for Specific Traits
 Article: Cloning And Genetic Engineering

A personal-genomics company in California has been awarded a broad U.S. patent for a technique that could be used in a fertility clinic to create babies with selected traits, as the frontiers of genetic enhancement continue to advance.

The patented process from 23andMe, whose main business is collecting DNA from customers and analyzing it to provide information about health and ancestry, could be employed to match the genetic profile of a would-be parent to that of donor sperm or eggs. 

In theory, this could lead to the advent of "designer babies," a controversial idea where genes would be selected to boost the chances of a child having certain physical attributes, such as a particular eye or hair color. The technique potentially could also be used to create healthier babies, by screening out donors with genes that are predisposed to disease, either on their own, or in combination with the recipient's genes. 

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