Sylvia Poggioli http://kacu.org en No More Smuggling: Many Cured Italian Meats Coming To America http://kacu.org/post/no-more-smuggling-many-cured-italian-meats-coming-america American gourmets and lovers of Italian food products, your days as food smugglers are over.<p>No more stuffing your suitcases with delicacies bought in Italy, hoping the sniffer dogs at JFK or other American airports won't detect the banned-in-the-USA foodstuffs inside your luggage.<p>In the U.S., they're called cured meats, the French say <em>charcuterie</em> and in Italy, the word for cured-pork products is <em>salumi. Thu, 16 May 2013 21:02:00 +0000 Sylvia Poggioli 23515 at http://kacu.org No More Smuggling: Many Cured Italian Meats Coming To America Long Hidden, Vatican Painting Linked To Native Americans http://kacu.org/post/long-hidden-vatican-painting-linked-native-americans For close to 400 years, the painting was closed off to the world. Sun, 05 May 2013 09:27:00 +0000 Sylvia Poggioli 22996 at http://kacu.org Long Hidden, Vatican Painting Linked To Native Americans Suspended Coffee: Old Italian Custom Spreads Across Poorer EU http://kacu.org/post/suspended-coffee-old-italian-custom-spreads-across-poorer-eu Tough economic times and growing poverty in much of Europe are reviving a humble tradition that began some one-hundred years ago in the Italian city of Naples. Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:04:00 +0000 Sylvia Poggioli 22581 at http://kacu.org Suspended Coffee: Old Italian Custom Spreads Across Poorer EU With New Pope, Catholic Women Hope To Regain Church Leadership Roles http://kacu.org/post/new-pope-catholic-women-hope-regain-church-leadership-roles The newly elected pope's <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/03/19/174713672/for-pope-francis-a-simple-mass-and-a-call-to-protect-the-poor">focus on the poor </a>and the marginalized has instilled great faith among many Catholic women. Mon, 01 Apr 2013 21:17:00 +0000 Sylvia Poggioli 21655 at http://kacu.org With New Pope, Catholic Women Hope To Regain Church Leadership Roles Pope Francis Delivers First Easter Sunday Mass http://kacu.org/post/pope-francis-delivers-first-easter-sunday-mass Pope Francis celebrated his first Easter Sunday Mass praying for world peace and urging a diplomatic solution to the standoff on the Korean peninsula.<p>Only two weeks after his election, the first pope from the developing world continues to make his mark on the Catholic Church.<p>St. Sun, 31 Mar 2013 11:33:00 +0000 Sylvia Poggioli 21602 at http://kacu.org Pope Francis Delivers First Easter Sunday Mass Amanda Knox Faces Retrial After Italian Court Ruling http://kacu.org/post/amanda-knox-faces-retrial-after-italian-court-ruling In a surprise ruling, Italy's highest court ordered a retrial of American student Amanda Knox and her former boyfriend for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher. The ruling overturned the 2011 acquittal of the two defendants after they had spent four years in jail. Tue, 26 Mar 2013 13:54:00 +0000 Sylvia Poggioli 21402 at http://kacu.org Election Of Pope Francis Could Signal New Start For Church http://kacu.org/post/election-pope-francis-could-signal-new-start-church Transcript <p>RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST: <p>This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.<p>STEVE INSKEEP, HOST: <p>And I'm Steve Inskeep.<p>Not since the early centuries of the Roman Catholic Church has a pope come from outside Europe.<p>MONTAGNE: Pope Francis, the first pontiff ever to take that name, comes from Argentina. Thu, 14 Mar 2013 09:26:00 +0000 Sylvia Poggioli 20937 at http://kacu.org Sistine Chapel Conclave Prep Includes Ensuring Social Media Blackout http://kacu.org/post/sistine-chapel-conclave-prep-includes-ensuring-social-media-blackout Last-minute preparations are under way at the Vatican where the conclave to elect the new pope begins Tuesday.<p>The 115 cardinal electors will remain at the Sistine Chapel incommunicado from the rest of the world as they vote. In the era of social media, however, Vatican officials are taking every precaution to prevent cardinals from yielding to the temptation to tweet and text.<p>In one corner of the chapel, workers have already installed a century-old cast-iron stove, where the voting ballots are to be burned after being tallied. Sun, 10 Mar 2013 10:50:00 +0000 Sylvia Poggioli 20786 at http://kacu.org Sistine Chapel Conclave Prep Includes Ensuring Social Media Blackout Cardinals At Odds Over When To Begin Choosing Next Pope http://kacu.org/post/cardinals-odds-over-when-begin-choosing-next-pope The College of Cardinals is holding its first official meetings at the Vatican on Monday. The top agenda item is choosing which day to start the closed-door conclave that will elect the new pope. With no clear front-runner, the conclave outcome is unpredictable.<p>The papal resignation has put the cardinals in an unprecedented situation in modern history.<p>"The real mood is of shock and disappointment — this resignation desacralized the figure of the pope," says Massimo Franco, author of several books about the Vatican. Mon, 04 Mar 2013 12:56:00 +0000 Sylvia Poggioli 20514 at http://kacu.org 'The Real Jiminy Cricket': Unlikely Candidate Upends Italian Elections http://kacu.org/post/real-jiminy-cricket-unlikely-candidate-upends-italian-elections Italy's election campaign has been dominated by an upstart comedian-turned-politician whose Five Star Movement is soaring in the polls. The movement is not expected to win in the weekend vote, but its strong presence in Parliament could be destabilizing and reignite the eurozone crisis.<p>Beppe Grillo is a standup comedian and the country's most popular blogger; 63 years old, with a mane of grey curly hair, he's hyperactive and foul-mouthed. Fri, 22 Feb 2013 08:28:00 +0000 Sylvia Poggioli 20129 at http://kacu.org 'The Real Jiminy Cricket': Unlikely Candidate Upends Italian Elections Greece's Economic Crisis Reveals Fault Lines In The Media http://kacu.org/post/greeces-economic-crisis-reveals-fault-lines-media Three years of spiraling economic crisis in Greece have devastated every sector of the economy. The Greek media are among the hardest hit. Many newspapers and TV outlets have closed or are on the verge, and some 4,000 journalists have lost their jobs.<p>Many people believe the country's news media have failed to cover the crisis — and lost credibility along the way. Mon, 18 Feb 2013 19:58:00 +0000 Sylvia Poggioli 19960 at http://kacu.org Greece's Economic Crisis Reveals Fault Lines In The Media Pope Benedict XVI: A Champion Of Catholic Tradition http://kacu.org/post/pope-benedict-xvi-champion-catholic-tradition On April 19, 2005, when wisps of white smoke puffed from the chimney above the Sistine Chapel, the Roman Catholic Church had its first German pope since the 11th century.<p>Just one day before his election as Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger delivered a homily that, many analysts later said, became the platform of his papacy.<p>He denounced modern trends he said were undermining Catholicism and Western civilization.<p>"We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism, which does not recognize anything for certain and which has as its highest goal one's own ego and one's own desire Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:33:00 +0000 Sylvia Poggioli 19678 at http://kacu.org Pope Benedict XVI: A Champion Of Catholic Tradition Benedict XVI, Vatican's Traditionalist Enforcer, Steps Down http://kacu.org/post/benedict-xvi-vaticans-traditionalist-enforcer-steps-down The first German pope in a thousand years is a cold, distant intellectual who never served as a parish priest. Cardinal Ratzinger, the Vatican Enforcer, became Pope Benedict XVI. As successor to John Paul II, Benedict was never as beloved by the faithful but still attracted crowds matching those of his media-savvy predecessor. Mon, 11 Feb 2013 15:16:00 +0000 Sylvia Poggioli 19677 at http://kacu.org Knights Of Malta Celebrates 900th Anniversary At Vatican http://kacu.org/post/knights-malta-celebrates-900th-anniversary-vatican Pilgrims and tourists visiting the Vatican received a special treat Saturday, when some 4,000 members of the Knights of Malta marched in procession to the tomb of St. Peter.<p>The last of the great chivalrous orders is celebrating the 900<sup>th</sup> anniversary of its official recognition by Pope Paschal II. On Saturday, the Knights attended Mass in St. Peter's Basilica and received an audience with Pope Benedict XVI.<p>The <a href="http://www.orderofmalta.int/?lang=en">Knights of Malta</a> is also known as the Sovereign Military Order of St. Sat, 09 Feb 2013 15:53:00 +0000 Sylvia Poggioli 19630 at http://kacu.org Knights Of Malta Celebrates 900th Anniversary At Vatican Privatization Of Greek Assets Runs Behind Schedule http://kacu.org/post/privatization-greek-assets-runs-behind-schedule In exchange for multibillion-euro bailouts, Greece was required to sell state-owned assets. But the sweeping privatization process is behind schedule. Thu, 07 Feb 2013 08:39:00 +0000 Sylvia Poggioli 19523 at http://kacu.org Privatization Of Greek Assets Runs Behind Schedule