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In Matthew chapter 16 verse 18 Jesus said to Peter, You are the rock on which I will build my church. The early christian church was socialist, and Acts 5 describes a couple called Ananias and Saphire who sold their property in order to give to the church, but kept back part of the money. According to the text, they were confronted by Peter, died instantly after lying about the full proceeds from the sale and great fear seized the whole church so no one else dare join them.

Paul came to leadership. He was a pharisee and the son of a pharisee though his mother was unknown. In the biblical text, during the greek empire there was a policy of intermarriage and he is believed to have had greek connections, but was a roman citizen by birth, a status giving him unique rights and protections. He is documented to have persecuted the early church before joining it and becoming leader.

The roman emperor became christian following a battle for leadership between emperor Constantine the great and his rival Maxentius. According to the story, preceding the battle, Constantine thought he could see the letter P intersecting an X, generally believed to mean Peter died, on each of his soldiers’ shields. He decided that he would become christian if he won. He did and the church became suzerain

According to a report, the u.s has struck more than 30 vessels culminating in more than 110 deaths as part of what they allege to be a war on venezuelan drug trafficking. Reportedly, according to the u.s. military, the latest strike on Wednesday killed 5 people. According to a source, a drone strike carried out by the cia on Monday caused a major explosion, and if confirmed it would be the first strike inside Venezuela.

Reportedly, for three months the u.s. have been hitting vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific and have designated the venezuelan government as a terrorist organisation, doubling the reward for information leading to Nicolas Maduro the venezuelan president’s capture, though he has said he is open to talks. According to reports, Venezuela have a drug problem but Mr Maduro has accused the u.s. of using their war on drugs to depose him and access Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.

Mary, the mother of Jesus was 3 years old when her parents presented her to the temple to be raised and educated for her future role, which was probably to be a wife to an essene, as Joseph was.

According to tradition, she lived in the care of the temple, studying scripture until at the age of 12 Joseph was chosen to be her husband. They got betrothed, and according to christian tradition she may have been around 14-16 when she conceived Jesus.

The essenes were a monastic sect, though some lived in the community as Joseph did. They were known for their strict purity and devotion to scripture. Some were scribes, and most scholars believe that the dead sea scrolls were written by essenes.

Joseph was a widower with children when he took Mary to his house.
Essenes were expected to be betrothed for atleast 3 years in order to get to know the woman well and ensure she was of the right character. Mary became pregnant before they got married, and according to the gospel of James, officers led them to the court to be questioned. Joseph said he had been pure towards Mary, Mary said she had known no man and the priests let them go, but they were probably judged by the community. According to christianity, the holy spirit impregnated Mary, but in Matthew chapter 1 and Luke chapter 3 the genealogy of Jesus has Joseph as his father.

Mary is revered in the catholic, eastern orthodox and oriental orthodox churches and highly respected in the anglican church. A feminist idea is that the focus on Mary as a perpetual virgin mother has been used to limit women’s roles within the church by presenting an impossible standard of womanhood, though priests may uphold Mary as a virgin in order to encourage women and girls to be pure.

Whether or not there was an immaculate conception may be a controversial topic but what matters is what Jesus came to do. In Luke 4 18:19 Jesus said, “The spirit of the Lord is upon me and has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor…..”

According to a report, an emergency session of the u.n. security council was called to discuss the the u.s. seizure of oil tankers off the coast of Venezuela which the Venezuelan ambassador to the u.n. said was worse than piracy. Reportedly, the u.s. have also been carrying out strikes on 20 of what they claim to be drug smuggling boats, and the russian ambassador to the u.n. has accused them of illegally destroying civilian vessels. According to the report, Venezuela’s envoy to the u.n. accused the u.s. of operating outside international law saying Washington doesn’t have jurisdiction in the Carribean.

Reportedly, on 16 December the u.s. president ordered a naval blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela and has sent 15,000 troops and a range of aircraft carriers and warships to the area, the stated aim, to stop the flow of cocaine and fentanyl to the u.s. According to the report, Venezuela’s envoy to the u.n. asked, What does the Venezuelan oil industry have to do with drugs?

According to reports, the u.s. president has been in touch with big oil companies, saying they may keep or sell oil they seized from tankers off the coast of Venezuela as well as the vessels themselves. Reportedly, they have seized two oil tankers this month including one on Saturday and have continued to pursue a third that is already under sanctions for links to iranian oil. According to a report, the u.s. have come under increasing scrutiny from congress for carrying out strikes on what they allege to be Venezuelan drug smuggling boats, killing around 100 people though they haven’t provided any evidence that they were carrying drugs. Reportedly, the u.s. president who has accused Venezuela’s president of drug trafficking said he intends to do the same thing on land.

According to a report, 2025 has been the worst year for executions in Saudi Arabia as part of a zero tolerance policy on protests, freedom of expression and drug related crimes. Reportedly, this year, 2 pakistani nationals who were convicted of drug related crimes were executed, as was a journalist, two men who were children at the time of their alleged protest related crimes and five women. According to the report, most were guilty of non lethal drug related offences, 96 of which were linked to hashish.

Reportedly, more than half of those executed were foreign nationals but two Saudi arabians were put to death for protesting against the government’s treatment of the shia muslum minority. According to the report, the uk based campaign group Reprieve who have clients on death row said torture and forced confessions were a regular occurrence. Reportedly, the Saudi authorities do not reveal the method of execution.

According to a report, protestors roused by the death of an activist and vocal critic of India set the offices of a Bangladesh newspaper alight that was known to be pro-indian. Reportedly, Sharif Osman Hadi who was involved in pro democracy anti government protests in July 2024 which ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was shot in Dhaka on Friday September 12 and died of his injuries on Thursday, his death has led to anti-government protests and anti-indian sentiment. According to the report, Ms Hasini resigned in August 2024 and has since lived in India in self imposed exile.

Reportedly, India and Bangladesh share a common history in the british indian empire. In 1950 India became a democratic secular republic with all citizens being treated equally regardless of religion according to the constitution. The 1947 partition created Pakistan with east Pakistan gaining independence in 1971 and becoming Bangladesh, a predominantly sunni muslim republic. According to the report, while muslim by birth, Ms Hasina was an advocate for democracy and secularism.

Reportedly, Bangladesh is scheduled to hold elections in February, the first since Sheikh Hasina’s ousting and Sharif Hadi had planned to be a candidate. According to the report, several people have been detained over the shooting. Reportedly, the interim government declared a day of mourning on Saturday, and tens of thousands of people attended the area surrounding Parliament house where the burial took place.

According to a report, in 2019 the u.s. imposed sanctions on Venezuelan oil and as of November crude exports have fallen from 1.1 million barrels to around 920 barrels per day. Reportedly, as called ghost ships are used by Venezuela and other sanctioned countries such as Russia and Iran in order to continue to sell oil but sanctions are in place to discourage other countries from buying oil from sanctioned countries.

According to the report, the u.s. president has ordered a total and complete blockade of all sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving Venezuela, and
on Tuesday the u.s. president said that Venezuela was completely surrounded by the largest armada ever assembled in the history of south America, and warned that it would only get bigger and be like nothing they’d ever seen before. Reportedly, the move has been denounced by Venezuela who have accused the u.s. of stealing their resources.

On 21 August 1879 15 villagers saw a ghostly image on the gable wall of a church in Knock, Co Mayo, Ireland. The apparition which lasted 2 hours comprised of three figures. Mary, the mother of Jesus who was crowned, her husband Joseph, and John the evangelist who was holding a book. To their left was a lamb on an alter with a cross surrounded by angels. The presence of the lamb and the cross is unique among the other nine known visions of Mary and supposedly signifies Jesus figuratively as a lamb to the slaughter.

A villager must have identified the third figure as John the evangalist because this was passed around among the people who saw the vision. Tradition identifies John the evangelist as the apostle John and credits him with writing the gospel of John and the book of revelation though this has been disputed by some scholars. The presence of the book however may represent authorship.

The gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are similar in content being historical and biographical in character, while the gospel of John contains 90% unique material and is considered to be more theological and spiritual. John was the only apostle to escape martyrdom but he is believed to have been exiled for his faith to the Greek island of Patmos around the year 95 ordinary time where he wrote the book of revelation (though some scholars say the author could have been John the presbyter, an early minister).

According to the gospel of John, following Jesus’s death he entered the tomb to find the body had disappeared. According to christian tradition Jesus rose from the dead but it is possible that his body was taken from the borrowed tomb by his friends and buried elsewhere.

The book of revelation contains letters to early christian churches in the asian part of modern day Turkey, urging them to maintain faith and resist compromise. Scholars have viewed revelation as a message warning early christians not to assimilate into roman culture, and the presence of John holding a book could be similarly interpreted with regard to a british united Ireland.

The village at Knock contains a shrine and pilgrimage centre that offers a peaceful and contemplative place. There are 5 churches in the shrine and beautiful art work depicts the vision.

According to a report, the u.s. have recently deployed air and naval forces, including a nuclear powered submarine, spy planes and 15,000 troops to the Carribean and have seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. Reportedly, many experts and the venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro accuse them of seeking regime change.

The u.s. presence in the area may be connected to the fact that Venezuela own the world’s largest oil reserves, though reportedly, u.s. sanctions beginning in 2015 have led to oil resources being syphoned off, loans from China and economic collapse.