The Francis Miracle

There is no other organization whose inner workings are more secretive than the Vatican - the spiritual and physical center - of the Catholic Church. Now, with a dynamic new leader in Pope Francis, all eyes are upon the church, as this immensely popular Pope seeks to bring the church back from the right to center, in what can almost be described as a populist stance, blurring the lines between politics, religion and culture. With topics including women, finance, scandal, and reform at the fore, never before have so many eyes been upon the church in what could be its defining moment for modern times. Now the most respected journalist covering the Vatican and the Catholic Church today, John L. Allen, reveals the inner workings of the Vatican to display the vast machinery, and the man at the helm in a way that no other writer can.The Boston Globe has stated that John L. Allen 'is basically the reporter that bishops and cardinals call to find out what's going on within the confines of the Vatican.'

There is no other organization whose inner workings are more secretive than the Vatican. Now, with a dynamic new leader in Pope Francis, all eyes are upon him as he seeks to bring the church back from the right to center, blurring the lines between politics, religion and culture. Allen reveals the inner workings of the Vatican to display the vast machinery of the Catholic Church, and an examination of the man at the helm.

Francis Moore entered Harvard Medical School in September of 1935, seven years before penicillin became available. During his remarkable career in surgery, research, and education, Moore has witnessed and contributed to some of the most important biomedical advances of the century, and his students now practice surgery worldwide. In this autobiography, he brings humor and warmth to the story of a lifetime at the forefront of medicine. In this fascinating book Moore describes his work in radioactive isotope research, burn therapy, breast cancer treatment, transplant science, and understanding the process of convalescence. Moore's colleagues have included such medical pioneers as George Thorn, David Hume, Thomas Starzl, John Gibbon, Steven Rosenberg, Harold Urey, and Nobel Prize winner Joseph Murray, and he recounts the setbacks and victories of their work. For example, he writes of the adventure he had with Charles Hufnagel in which 25 dogs, implanted with Hufnagel's experimental heart valves, made their escape into the Connecticut countryside and had to be recovered by dog control officers wielding stethoscopes. Yet Moore recalls with equal clarity the young mother who gave him a silver dollar for delivering her baby, the husband who begged that his ailing wife be allowed to die with dignity, and the desperately sick patients who made themselves available for experimental surgery and treatment. In one of his early operations he relieved "the pain, anguish, and threat to a wonderful small boy" by removing the boy's diseased appendix. He describes this capability as "a miracle and a privilege." The book includes a gripping account of the aftermath of the Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire in Boston in 1942, when Moore learned the horrific details of death by fire. He recounts both his experience with M.A.S.H. units and battalion aid stations in Korea and the sudden request from the U.S. State Department that resulted in his treating King Ibn Saud of Saudi Arabia. Moore's life story reflects his serious commitment to human well-being as well as his appreciation for the wonder of human life. Physicians, medical students, and all readers alike will find this book informative and inspirational. Francis Daniels Moore, M.D., is Moseley Professor of Surgery, Emeritus, Harvard Medical School and Surgeon-in-Chief, Emeritus, Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston.

He cured the sick, raised the dead, prophesied the future, walked on water, was a major influence on seven Popes and five kings, founded an order of hermits that eventually established nearly 500 monasteries, and was canonized just twelve years after his death at the age of ninety-one, yet in the English-speaking world hardly anyone has heard of St. Francis of Paola. To rectify this situation, the authors have collaborated to write the first work ever to appear in English on the incredible life of San Francesco di Paola.

Holy healings and countless cures: Miracles wrought daily through God's beloved saints in our lifetime

Which of us...has not dreamed of the miracle of a poetic prose, musical, without rhyme...supple...rugged...?--Baudelaire

In this book the author offers a critical analysis of David Hume's argument against miracles from his Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, "Of Miracles" is one of the most influential works written in defense of the position that belief in supernatural occurrences is not reasonable. Using Hume's work as a point of departure, the author addresses the two most important epistemological questions asked about miracles: Is it ever reasonable to ascribe a divine source to an anomalous event in order to identify it as miraculous? and What theoretically entails sufficient evidence that a miracle has actually taken place? Contemporary rehabilitations of Hume's argument, as put forth by Antony Flew, Alastair McKinnon, and Patrick Nowell-Smith, are evaluated. Contents: Defining the Miraculous; Hume's Argument, Part 1;Hume's Argument, Part 2;The Rationality of Belief and the Existence of God; Contemporary Rehabilitations of Hume's Argument; and Miracles and Evidence.