FaithWorld

(Sergio Batista, head coach of the Argentine national soccer team, in Buenos Aires May 16, 2011/Enrique Marcarian)

Argentina’s national soccer team coach Sergio Batista has settled a 25-year-old debt that many fans felt had denied Argentina from clinching a major prize following their second World Cup title. Carlos Bilardo’s 1986 World Cup squad, training at high altitude in Argentina’s northwest for the Mexico finals, were reported then to have made a promise to the Virgin of Copacabana to return if they won the title — but they never went back.

Batista and assistant Jose Luis Brown, who both played in that title-winning team captained by Diego Maradona, headed last week to the Andean town of Tilcara to visit the Virgin’s shrine and make up for that supposed omission.

“Everyone talks about that promise but in reality it wasn’t as it’s told. So many things have been said since ’86 that with ‘Tata’ (Brown) we decided to return to Tilcara, visit the Virgin and give thanks, for our own calm,” he told reporters.

Batista, preparing for the Copa America in Argentina in July, said the tournament was “an excellent opportunity to get a title which is what fans are asking for but I’d change everything to win another World Cup.”

(A pocket Bible, June 29, 2008/Mike Segar )

A new edition of one the most popular English-language Bibles will offer substitutes for words such as “booty” and “holocaust” to better reflect modern understanding. Nearly 50 scholars from all faiths and a committee of Roman Catholic bishops have labored since 1994 over the first fresh edition of the New American Bible since 1970, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said on Wednesday.

The changes go beyond a few words being altered, and include freshly-written notes that should help readers better understand the Catholic Cchurch’s interpretation of biblical concepts, Sperry said.  The revisions more accurately reflect translations of ancient Hebrew and Greek versions of the Old Testament and the constant evolution of modern-day language.

For example, the word “holocaust,” which for most people refers to the World War Two genocide of Jews, was changed to “burnt offerings,” which clarifies the original, positive idea of making offerings to God. “Booty,” which has come to have a sexual connotation, was changed to “spoils of war;” and “cereal,” which many think of as breakfast food, became “grain” to reference loads of wheat.

(Photo: Chairs scattered in a courtyard after an attack on pilgrims in Tecalitlan December 10, 2010/Stringer)

Suspected drug cartel gunmen attacked each other during annual religious celebrations in a small Mexican town, killing 11 people and wounding 22 others, local authorities said on Saturday.

The rival gangs shot machine guns into the packed central square of Tecalitlan late Friday night and wreaked havoc on the festival in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe, one of Mexico’s most cherished national and religious symbols. The gunmen also lobbed a grenade into the crowd.

(Photo: Pilgrims going to the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City December 11, 2010/Felipe Courzo)

Tecalitlan is close to Apatzingan, where the worst violence flared in clashes to track down the drug lord. Jalisco state is famous for traditional mariachi music and locals were enjoying a concert as part of several days of events for the Virgin, who is said to have appeared to a Mexican peasant in the 16th century.