Radical proposals to reunite Anglicans with the Roman Catholic Church under the leadership of the Pope are to be published this year, The Times has learnt.

The proposals have been agreed by senior bishops of both churches.

In a 42-page statement prepared by an international commission of both churches, Anglicans and Roman Catholics are urged to explore how they might reunite under the Pope.

The statement, leaked to The Times, is being considered by the Vatican, where Catholic bishops are preparing a formal response.

The document leaked to The Times is the commission's first statement, Growing Together in Unity and Mission. The report acknowledges the "imperfect communion" between the two churches but says that there is enough common ground to make its "call for action" about the Pope and other issues.

In one significant passage the report notes: "The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the ministry of the Bishop of Rome [the Pope] as universal primate is in accordance with Christ's will for the Church and an essential element of maintaining it in unity and truth." Anglicans rejected the Bishop of Rome as universal primate in the 16th century. Today, however, some Anglicans are beginning to see the potential value of a ministry of universal primacy, which would be exercised by the Bishop of Rome, as a sign and focus of unity within a reunited Church.

In another paragraph the report goes even further: "We urge Anglicans and Roman Catholics to explore together how the ministry of the Bishop of Rome might be offered and received in order to assist our Communions to grow towards full, ecclesial communion."

Iran is abuzzz in expectation of the imminent arrival of the Muslim messiah - known as the 12th Imam or Mahdi.

This "Savior" will come soon, together with Jesus Christ, whi will be his "lieutenant," according to a radio series that just came to an end in Iran.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been foretelling the Mahdi's coming and vowing that his arrival will spell the end of Israel and the United States.

According to reports, Ahmadinejad understands that mayhem and global chaos will precede this coming.

Fears have been expressed that the Iranian's frenetic pursuit of nuclear power could be in readiness to tip the region into a maelstrom.

Concurrent to the rise of secularism and cultural deformation in the 1960s was an outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit within the Catholic Church giving birth to what is known as the Charismatic Renewal. The movement within the Church is often associated with many of the extraordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit such as praying in tongues, prophecy and healing. Although the renewal is characterized with the inclusion of these gifts, it does not necessarily define the movement.

Due to the fact that those who experience the gifts are not in full control, people must constantly discern the gifts. It must always "flow from God's love. Love must be the motivating thing," said Riggins. Another important factor is that it must not ever be contrary to the teachings of the Church. The Holy Spirit will never oppose its Church, nor will the gifts of the Holy Spirit ever divide the Church. "The Holy Spirit is a spirit of unity," said Riggins. Also included in the discernment process is looking at the fruits, which the gifts bear. Among peace and joy, the movement should bring one to a deeper relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist, a greater devotion to the Blessed Mother and a more profound love for the Church and the Holy Father.

Let's look at a new phenomenon you may know very little about. It is the remarkable rise of Eucharistic Adoration in Catholic parishes and institutions in every part of the world. Why is it happening? And what is it?

"The Catholic Church," says the Catechism, "offers to the - Eucharist - adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts - exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession" (No. 1378).

But why do we do this? "In the - Eucharist, the body and blood, - soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really and substantially contained. This presence is called real, by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence - but because it is presence in the fullest sense - it is substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present" (Catechism, no. 1374).
 

You are in the real presence of Christ every time you step into a Catholic church with the lighted lamp or candle indicating that the Blessed Sacrament is in the tabernacle. At any such time one can be with Christ in adoration. The term Eucharistic Adoration, however, is usually applied to the Exposition of the Sacrament to view. Christ is as fully present in the closed tabernacle as he is in the monstrance during Exposition. It is conducive to devotion for us to be able also to look upon him in the host in which "the whole Christ is truly, really and substantially contained."

WASHINGTON (AP) - The first animal to crawl onto land from the ocean probably looked a bit like today's salamander, and researchers have wondered how it was able to switch from swimming to walking.

Now, European scientists have built a robot with a primitive electric nervous system that they say mimics that change in motion.

The robot doesn't look much like a salamander - it's nearly a yard long and made of nine bright yellow plastic segments each containing a battery and microcontroller - but it does seem to move like one.

The point was to understand how a spinal cord developed to direct a swimming motion that could handle the different coordination needed between a body and its limbs for walking, according to the team led by Auke Jan Ijspeert of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Lausanne, Switzerland.

So they first designed a basic nervous system modeled on that of the lamprey, a long, primitive eel-like fish. Then that design was modified to show how it could evolve into a nervous system that also could control walking.

Offer an odd assortment of drums to 21 enthusiastic novices, and meditative tranquillity would seem an unlikely possibility.

The quiet path to inner peace looks more like a parade route.

With the skill of a seasoned grand marshal, Cory Blake takes the discordant pieces and leads the group into an amazingly alluring beat.

Listen for a few minutes and you understand why shamans use drums to lure themselves into trances.

"It's a contemplative tradition," Blake says of the drum circle he's leading. "It speaks directly to the intelligence of the body."

It also speaks to the simplicity of a good beat -- and the way something as simple as a hand brushed against the skin of a conga drum can transcend denominational and cultural boundaries.

This group enjoying the nuances of ancient African music amid just a touch of New Age quirkiness is pure middle class. The sounds resonate in the comfy confines of the parish hall at the Church of the Holy Comforter, home to an Episcopal congregation in Richmond's West End.

"A drum circle really is what it says it is," says Regena Stith. "It's a gathering of people in a circle with drums."

It's all congas and bongos and frame drums. Most are played with hands, though a few require the pound of a mallet. When the mood's right, Blake accentuates the sounds with the subtle infusion of an African kalimba, an Australian didgeridoo or an agogo bell. The tings, twangs and occasional chant give the evening the full world-music experience.

"It's really a very ancient form of expression," Stith says of the drum circle she started. "You move out of your head."

Drum circles have been used to instill a sense of community in groups for decades. There are workshops, seminars and organized retreats throughout the country. You can spend thousands of dollars in a weekend learning to lead a formal gathering and buying your own drums. Or you can drop a dollar or two into a basket, borrow a drum and play along at a place such as Holy Comforter.

"There's an interesting meditative quality," church member Bruce MacAlister says of the drum circle. Once the music starts spreading through the room, "you don't have a chance to have your head full of other stuff."

"It's a lot of people coalescing around an idea," said his wife, Kathy.

The idea, Blake says, is learning to find yourself in the music. "People talk about altered states. I think the one we walk around in is altered. I think wonder is the original state."