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Apostolic Prefect

An apostolic prefect or prefect apostolic is a priest who heads what is known as an apostolic prefecture, a 'pre-diocesan' missionary jurisdiction where the Catholic Church is not yet sufficiently developed to have it made a diocese. Although it usually has an (embryonal) see, sometimes even a cathedral it is often not called after such city but rather after a natural and/or administrative (in many cases colonial) geographical area: region(s), sometimes a country or even larger. If a prefecture grows and flourishes, it may be elevated to an apostolic vicariate, headed by a titular bishop, in the hope that with time the region will generate enough Catholics and stability for its Catholic institutions, to warrant being established as a diocese. Both these stages remain missionary, hence exempt, i.e. directly subject to the Holy See (notably the Roman Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples), normally not part of an ecclesiastical province. The full sequence of development is: independent mission, apostolic prefecture, apostolic vicariate, apostolic diocese; however steps may be skipped at the papal discretion, so the next steps may be bishopric or even archbishopric. The apostolic prefecture and the apostolic vicariate are to be distinguished from the territorial abbacy (formerly called an "abbey nullius").

1.1K
10 Oct 2022

Topic Review

Proto-Min Language

Proto-Min is a comparative reconstruction of the common ancestor of the Min group of varieties of Chinese. Min varieties developed in the relative isolation of the Chinese province of Fujian and eastern Guangdong, and have since spread to Taiwan, southeast Asia and other parts of the world. They contain reflexes of distinctions not found in Middle Chinese or most other modern varieties, and thus provide additional data for the reconstruction of Old Chinese. Jerry Norman reconstructed the sound system of proto-Min from popular vocabulary in a range of Min varieties, including new data on varieties from inland Fujian. The system has a six-way manner contrast in stops and affricates, compared with the three-way contrast in Middle Chinese and modern Wu varieties and the two-way contrast in most modern Chinese varieties. A two-way contrast in sonorants is also reconstructed, compared with the single series of Middle Chinese and all modern varieties. Evidence from early loans into other languages suggests that the additional contrasts may reflect consonant clusters or minor syllables.

660
10 Oct 2022

Topic Review

The Tirukkural (திருக்குறள், literally Sacred Verses), or shortly the Kural, is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets of seven words each, or Kurals. The text is divided into three books, each with aphoristic teachings on virtue (aram, dharma), wealth (porul, artha) and love (inbam, kama). Considered one of the greatest works on ethics and morality, it is known for its universality and secular nature. Its authorship is traditionally attributed to Valluvar, also known in full as Thiruvalluvar. The text has been dated variously from 300 BCE to 5th century CE. The traditional accounts describe it as the last work of the third Sangam, but linguistic analysis suggests a later date of 450 to 500 CE and that it was composed after the Sangam period. The Kural is traditionally praised with epithets and alternate titles such as "the Tamil Veda" and "the divine book." It emphasizes non-violence and moral vegetarianism as virtues for an individual.[a] In addition, it highlights truthfulness, self-restraint, gratitude, hospitality, kindness, goodness of wife, duty, giving, and so forth, besides covering a wide range of social and political topics such as king, ministers, taxes, justice, forts, war, greatness of army and soldier's honor, death sentence for the wicked, agriculture, education, abstinence from alcohol and intoxicants. It also includes chapters on friendship, love, sexual union, and domestic life. The Kural has been widely admired by scholars and influential leaders across the ethical, social, political, economical, religious, philosophical, and spiritual spheres over its history. These include Ilango Adigal, Kambar, Leo Tolstoy, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer, Constantius Joseph Beschi, Karl Graul, George Uglow Pope, Alexander Piatigorsky, and Yu Hsi. The text has been translated into at least 40 Indian and non-Indian languages. The Kural is considered a masterpiece and one of the most important texts of the Tamil Literature. The Tamil people and the government of Tamil Nadu have long celebrated and upheld the text with reverence.

1.5K
10 Oct 2022

Topic Review

School of Economic Science

Coordinates: 51°31′00″N 0°09′05″W / 51.516775°N 0.151407°W / 51.516775; -0.151407 The School of Economic Science (SES), also operating under the names School of Philosophy and the School of Practical Philosophy, is a worldwide organisation based in London. It offers non-academic courses for adults, ranging from an introductory series called Practical Philosophy to more advanced classes. Its teachings are principally influenced by Advaita Vedanta, an orthodox philosophical system of Hinduism. It has a guru, Sri Vasudevananda Saraswati, who used the title Shankaracharya until 2017. The organization has been the subject of controversy, especially in connection with historical child abuse and the mistreatment of women; it has also been described as a cult, sect or new religious movement. The SES advertises introductory courses in "Practical Philosophy", "Economics with Justice" and other courses including Sanskrit language. The Practical Philosophy course involves a meditative process known as "The Exercise" and discussion of universal themes drawing on the work of European and Indian philosophers such as Plato, Marsilio Ficino, Swami Vivekananda and Adi Shankara, as well as Advaita. Those who continue involvement beyond 4 years mainly study Advaita; they are encouraged to take up meditation and to undertake voluntary work to help with the running of SES, and to attend residential programmes. SES members have founded schools for the education of children in a number of countries. SES is registered as a charity in the UK; worldwide operations register as non-profit organisations in their own countries. SES was founded in London by Labour MP Andrew MacLaren. His successor and son, SES leader Leon MacLaren (1910-1994), a barrister introduced programs on Advaita Vedanta. According to the SES financial report for 2017, it had a total of 3173 enrollments in the UK at the close of that year. As of 2012 it had a total of around 20,000 in up to 80 branches worldwide. Operating under various names, there are branches in America, Canada, Venezuela, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Trinidad, Belgium, Cyprus, Greece, Holland, Malta, Spain, Ireland, Hungary, Germany, Israel and Argentina. The head of all of these branches is the SES 'Senior Tutor', MacLaren's successor, Donald Lambie, who is also a barrister. SES course fees are kept low to encourage recruitment; thanks to donations and wills, the organization has substantial properties worldwide, including several mansions.

1.6K
10 Oct 2022

Topic Review

The United Nations has declared 2020 as the International Year of Plant Health. 2020 has been designated as Year of the Nurse and Midwife by the World Health Organization. 2020 has been heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to global social and economic disruption including a major economic recession. Template:Sts -->

3.3K
10 Oct 2022

Topic Review

Flying Spaghetti Monster

The Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM) is the deity of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or Pastafarianism. Pastafarianism (a portmanteau of pasta and Rastafarianism) is a social movement that promotes a light-hearted view of religion and opposes the teaching of intelligent design and creationism in public schools. According to adherents, Pastafarianism is a "real, legitimate religion, as much as any other". In New Zealand, Pastafarian representatives are authorized to officiate weddings. However, in the United States, a federal judge has ruled that the "Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster" is not a real religion. In August 2018 the Dutch Council of State also ruled that Pastafarianism is not a religion. The "Flying Spaghetti Monster" was first described in a satirical open letter written by Bobby Henderson in 2005 to protest the Kansas State Board of Education decision to permit teaching intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in public school science classes. In the letter, Henderson demanded equal time in science classrooms for "Flying Spaghetti Monsterism", alongside intelligent design and evolution. After Henderson published the letter on his website, the Flying Spaghetti Monster rapidly became an Internet phenomenon and a symbol of opposition to the teaching of intelligent design in public schools. Pastafarian tenets (generally satires of creationism) are presented both on Henderson's Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster website, where he is described as "prophet", and in The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, written by Henderson in 2006. The central belief is that an invisible and undetectable Flying Spaghetti Monster created the universe. Pirates are revered as the original Pastafarians. Henderson asserts that a decline in the number of pirates over the years is the cause of global warming. The FSM community congregates at Henderson's website to share ideas about the Flying Spaghetti Monster and crafts representing images of it. Because of its popularity and exposure, the Flying Spaghetti Monster is often used as a contemporary version of Russell's teapot—an argument that the philosophic burden of proof lies upon those who make unfalsifiable claims, not on those who reject them. Pastafarianism has received praise from the scientific community and criticism from proponents of intelligent design. Pastafarians have engaged in disputes with creationists, including in Polk County, Florida, where they played a role in dissuading the local school board from adopting new rules on teaching evolution.

67.0K
10 Oct 2022

Topic Review

Proto-Hmong–Mien

Proto-Hmong–Mien (Chinese: 原始苗瑶语) is the reconstructed ancestor of the Hmong–Mien languages. The date of proto-Hmong-Mien has been estimated to be about 2500 BP by Sagart, Blench, and Sanchez-Mazas. It has been estimated to about 4243 BP by the Automated Similarity Judgment Program (ASJP), however, ASJP is not widely accepted among historical linguists as an adequate method to establish or evaluate relationships between language families. Lower-level reconstructions include Proto-Hmongic and Proto-Mienic.

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10 Oct 2022

Topic Review

Ousia (/ˈuːziə, ˈuːsiə, ˈuːʒə, ˈuːʃə/; Ancient Greek:) is an important philosophical and theological term, originally used in ancient Greek philosophy, then later in Christian theology. It was used by various ancient Greek philosophers, like Plato and Aristotle, as a primary designation for philosophical concepts of essence or substance. In contemporary philosophy, it is analogous to English concepts of being and ontic. In Christian theology, the concept of θεία ουσία (divine essence) is one of the most important doctrinal concepts, central to the development of trinitarian doctrine. The Ancient Greek term ousia was translated in Latin as essentia or substantia, and hence in English as essence or substance.

1.7K
10 Oct 2022

Topic Review

Mitteleuropa (pronounced [ˈmɪtl̩ʔɔʏˌroːpa]), meaning Middle Europe, is one of the German terms for Central Europe. The term has acquired diverse cultural, political and historical connotations. The Prussian vision of Mitteleuropa was a pan-Germanist state-centric imperium, an idea that was later adopted in a modified form by National Socialist geopoliticians.

1.5K
10 Oct 2022

Topic Review

Andalusian Arabic

Andalusian Arabic, also known as Andalusi Arabic, was a variety or varieties of Arabic spoken in Al-Andalus, the regions of the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal) under Muslim rule (and for some time after) from the 9th century to the 17th century. It became an extinct language in Iberia after the expulsion of the former Hispanic Muslims, which took place over a century after the Granada War by the Catholic Monarchs of Spain. Once widely spoken in Iberia, the expulsions and persecutions of Arabic speakers caused an abrupt end to the language's use on the peninsula. Its use continued to some degree in North Africa after the expulsion, although Andalusi speakers were rapidly assimilated by the Maghrebi communities to which they fled.

1.6K
10 Oct 2022

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