Pope gets stuck in Vatican elevator

[goyacobol]

Former Pope Benedict, in a new book written with a conservative cardinal, defends priestly celibacy in the Catholic Church in what appears to be a strategically timed appeal to Pope Francis to not change the rules.

Too bad "priestly celibacy" does not always seem to apply to the pedophilic scandals with young children such as the following to name a few:

Legionaires founder sexually abused 60 boys, religious order's report says

U.S. bishop accused of sex abuse cover-up steps down

Australian prosecutors argue no grounds for ex-Vatican treasurer's final sex crimes appeal

Former New Mexico priest gets 30 years for child sexual abuse

Chile removes statute of limitations on child sex abuse amid Church crisis

New York Archdiocese names 120 priests accused of sex abuse

 

[Tuatha de Danaan]

Too bad "priestly celibacy" does not always seem to apply to the pedophilic scandals with young children such as the following to name a few:

Legionaires founder sexually abused 60 boys, religious order's report says

U.S. bishop accused of sex abuse cover-up steps down

Australian prosecutors argue no grounds for ex-Vatican treasurer's final sex crimes appeal

Former New Mexico priest gets 30 years for child sexual abuse

Chile removes statute of limitations on child sex abuse amid Church crisis

New York Archdiocese names 120 priests accused of sex abuse

This publication is a double edged sword. It kills two birds with one stone. It will make money AND divide followers. Same old tactic in a world of divisions and sub-divisions. Distraction from whats going on behind the noise.

 

[angelburst29]

In what some viewed as a strategically timed appeal to Francis not to approve the Amazon proposal, a book published last month by Church conservatives defended the tradition of priestly celibacy.

Pope Francis dismisses proposal to ordain married men as priests
Pope Francis dismisses proposal to ordain married men as priests

Pope Francis Giuseppe Ciccia/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images

February 12, 2020 - Vatican City: Pope Francis, in one of the most significant decisions of his papacy, on Wednesday dismissed a proposal to allow some married men to be ordained in the Amazon region to ease an acute scarcity of priests.

The recommendation, put forward by Latin American bishops last year, had alarmed conservatives in the deeply polarised 1.3 billion-member Roman Catholic Church, who feared it could lead to a change in the centuries-old commitment to celibacy among priests.

Francis delivered his response in an Apostolic Exhortation, three months after the proposal passed by 128 votes to 41 at a contentious Vatican assembly, or synod, of Roman Catholic bishops. Apostolic Exhortations are used to instruct and encourage the Catholic faithful but do not define Church doctrine.

Wednesday's 32-page document did not even mention the proposal, which was for older married deacons who are proven leaders of remote Catholic communities and have stable families to be ordained as priests. Conservatives balked, fearing that even a circumscribed change would be a slippery slope leading to a married priesthood throughout the Church. They branded a pre-synod working document as heretical.

From the Depths of Our Hearts was co-authored by Cardinal Robert Sarah and Former Pope Benedict, though Francis' predecessor subsequently disassociated himself from the project.

 

[angelburst29]

This publication is a double edged sword. It kills two birds with one stone. It will make money AND divide followers. Same old tactic in a world of divisions and sub-divisions. Distraction from whats going on behind the noise.

You called it ... right!

The battle for the Vatican - Controversial book co-authored by ex-pope has thrown Church into turmoil
The battle for the Vatican

ROME — When Benedict XVI resigned as pope in 2013, he vowed to spend his retirement in contemplation and prayer — and not to interfere with the papacy of this successor, Pope Francis. Benedict’s papal ring, symbol of his authority, was ceremoniously smashed with a silver hammer.

But far from remaining a silent partner, Benedict has continued to share his views, becoming a touchstone for conservative forces in the church pushing back against Francis’ reform-minded papacy.

Published last week, “From the Depths of Our Hearts: Priesthood, Celibacy and the Crisis of the Catholic Church” — co-authored with Cardinal Robert Sarah, the head of the Vatican’s liturgy office — has thrown the church into turmoil. Critics accuse Benedict of undermining Francis’ authority, sparking concerns about a Vatican with two popes.

As an ex-pope, Benedict occupies an almost unique position — he is the first pope to have resigned in over 600 years — and one that raises awkward questions about papal authority.

Many popes, whether progressive or conservative, have sought to overturn changes wrought by their predecessors. But before Francis’ reign, they have always had the reassurance that their predecessors were not going to answer back — at least not in this mortal realm.

Benedict’s continued earthly presence makes it possible for a living pope — God’s appointed representative on Earth — to have his views directly contradicted by someone who has, very recently, held the same post.


Vatican police make new raid in investigation of London property deal

Vatican police raided the home and office of a senior Catholic Church official on Tuesday, seizing documents and computers in the latest phase of an investigation into the purchase of luxury London real estate.

 

[Tuatha de Danaan]

God’s appointed representative on Earth —
This will only work, of course, if you believe he is God's representative. !!!!!!!!!


Critics accuse Benedict of undermining Francis’ authority, sparking concerns about a Vatican with two popes.
It's the same old ploy which is so ingrained. They just can't resist. Divide and conquer, or put another way.......controlled opposition, and, they make money to boot.

Thanks Angelburst , If I didn't have to pay for the book I'd be tempted to read it's religious dogma

 

[angelburst29]

The Flemish head of a well-known beer and cheese-making abbey has become the first-ever Trappist monk to be ordained as a bishop by the Catholic Church.

First-ever consecration of Flemish Trappist monk draws thousands to Ghent
First-ever consecration of Flemish Trappist monk draws thousands to Ghent

The former head of the Orval Abbey, known for its eponymous beer and cheese, became the first Trappist monk in Belgium's history to be ordained as a bishop. © Belga

Monday, 24 February 2020 - Lode Van Hecke, 69, was appointed to become bishop of Ghent’s Saint Bavo Cathedral on Sunday, during a religious ceremony attended by Queen Paola and representatives of Belgium’s Muslim and Jewish communities.

“Many were surprised —although happily— but still surprised, when Pope Francis appointed a monk bishop of Ghent,” Archbishop Jozef De Kesel said during his address, De Standaard reports.

Ghent residents flocked to the cathedral, filling up most of its seats in order to witness the historic consecration, which marked Van Hecke’s departure from his position as the abbot of the Orval Abbey, known for its production of an eponymous beer and cheese.

At one point during the event, the newly ordained bishop dropped to the ground, laying there for a few moments as his fellow clergyman led the ceremony.

The event drew so many attendants that a large screen was put up in an adjacent building to allow those who could not make it into the cathedral to follow the ceremony, HLN reports.

Pope moves slain Salvadoran priest, icon for poor, closer to sainthood
A Jesuit priest who was murdered at the threshold of the Salvadoran civil war and who in death became a icon for human rights in rural Latin America was moved a step closer to sainthood by Pope Francis on Saturday.

Pope appears to give thumbs down to Trump's Mideast peace plan

Pope Francis on Sunday warned against "inequitable solutions" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, saying they would only be a prelude to new crises, in an apparent reference to U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East peace proposal.

No 'smoking gun' in wartime archives of Pius XII on Holocaust, Vatican says

The Vatican will on March 2 open up its archives on the wartime pontificate of Pius XII to allow scholars to probe accusations that he turned a blind eye to the Holocaust, but they will find he helped Jews behind the scenes, Holy See officials say.

Bishop Sergio Pagano, prefect of the Vatican’s Apostolic Archives, said documents from the World War Two period contain millions of pages divided into 121 sections divided by topics.

The consulting area in the archives offices can accommodate 60 scholars at a time and all the space has been booked for the rest of the year, Pagano said. The scholars include some from the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.

 

[angelburst29]

A Vatican with two popes. With that thought in mind, "What would happen if Pope Francis became seriously ill and couldn't perform his duties or had a sudden heart attack and died ... would a new Pope be selected or would the former (still living) Pope Benedict resume the position?"

Vatican says pope 'slightly unwell', dismisses speculation

The Vatican moved on Friday to dismiss speculation that Pope Francis was anything more than "slightly unwell" as the 83-year-old Roman Catholic leader canceled official audiences for the second day.

Pope 'slightly indisposed', cancels one event, Vatican says
Pope Francis is slightly indisposed and has canceled an event at a Rome basilica but is carrying out the rest of his schedule in his residence, the Vatican said on Thursday.

Vatican joins IBM, Microsoft to call for facial recognition regulation
The Vatican joined forces with tech giants Microsoft and IBM on Friday to promote the ethical development of artificial intelligence (AI) and call for regulation of intrusive technologies such as facial recognition.

Vatican closes Italy's catacombs due to coronavirus

The Vatican has closed all of Italy's ancient catacombs normally open to the public because of the country's coronavirus outbreak.

 

[angelburst29]

ONE ... is a lonely ... number!

Pope holds dramatic solitary service for relief from coronavirus

Pope Francis said the coronavirus had put everyone "in the same boat" as he held a dramatic, solitary prayer service in St. Peter's Square on Friday, urging the world to see the crisis as a test of solidarity and a reminder of basic values.

German cathedral dusts off relics of St Corona, patron of epidemics

Germany's Aachen Cathedral has dug out the relics of little-known Saint Corona, patron saint of resisting epidemics, from its treasure chamber and is polishing up her elaborate shrine to go on show once the coronavirus pandemic has passed.

Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre closes amid coronavirus fears

Jerusalem's Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered in Christian tradition as the site of Jesus's crucifixion and burial, was closed on Wednesday as a precaution against the coronavirus.

Praying outside Church of the Holy Sepulchre, but unable to enter

Two weeks before Easter, a group of Roman Catholic priests gathered before the locked doors of the ancient Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem on Friday chanting in prayer.

Locked-down French Catholics mark holy mass via YouTube

Coronavirus restrictions meant Catholic priest Guillaume Le Floc’h officiated at Wednesday evening's mass in front of empty pews, so to make sure his flock could celebrate the holy feast of Annunciation, he had the service livestreamed on YouTube.

Pope, world's Christians join in prayer to end coronavirus

Pope Francis and Christians worldwide recited "The Lord's Prayer" on Wednesday to ask God to stop the coronavirus pandemic which has infected nearly half a million people, disrupted countless lives and shut down churches and other public venues.

 

[angelburst29]

Even Rome's, St. Peter's Basilica is getting the Coronavirus disinfectant treatment.

Almighty cleanup: St. Peter's in Rome gets coronavirus scrub-down

St. Peter's Basilica.

About a dozen, covered head-to-toe in protective gear, sprayed, sprinkled and swept as they disinfected the largest church in Christendom in preparation for its full reopening, expected soon.

Standing at the base of the massive columns, they resembled white ants as they cleaned the floor, with a surface of more than 15,000 square metres (160,000 square feet), as well as railings and statues close to floor level.

Doctor Andrea Arcangeli, deputy director of the Vatican’s Health and Hygiene department, said the cleaning materials included chlorine, ozone, alcohol and silver salts.

“Clearly these substances must be used correctly because we don’t want them to damage precious surfaces and works of art,” he told the official Vatican News website.

Probably the most coronavirus-safe artwork in the basilica has been Michelangelo’s Pieta. Since 1972, the Renaissance master’s statue has been sealed behind bullet-proof glass, put up after a man attacked it with a sledgehammer.

Technically, St. Peter’s has remained open during the Italian lockdown which began in early March, although only for private prayer. Only a few people have entered because of increased security.

On Monday, Pope Francis, who was last known to be in the basilica more than a month ago on Easter Sunday, is due to say a private Mass in a side chapel where St. John Paul II is buried to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the late pope’s birth.

The Vatican has not yet announced when the pope will say a Mass from the main altar before the public. His services since early March have been held in an empty church and streamed live on the internet or on television.

Public masses will resume in churches in Italy on Monday under strict conditions outlined in a protocol signed last week by Italy’s bishops conference and the government.

The Vatican has said that when St. Peter’s is open for Masses again, thermal scanners will be used to check the temperatures of those going inside. It is still not clear when the basilica will be re-opened for tourists.

Polish archbishop refers child abuse negligence case to Vatican

May 16, 2020 - The Polish Catholic Church's most senior archbishop notified the Vatican on Saturday of a Polish bishop accused of shielding priests known to have sexually abused children.

The referral, unprecedented in the deeply religious country, will test procedures introduced by the Vatican last year to hold to account bishops accused of turning a blind eye to child sex abuse. The Vatican is now expected to assign an investigator to the case.

“I ask priests, nuns, parents and educators to not be led by the false logic of shielding the Church, effectively hiding sexual abusers,” Poland’s Primate Wojciech Polak said in a statement published on Saturday.

“There is no place among the clergy to sexually abuse minors. We do not allow for the hiding of these crimes.”

The case came to prominence after a film by brothers Tomasz and Marek Sekielski, released on Saturday, showed how bishop Edward Janiak, based in the city of Kalisz, failed to take action against priests who were known to have abused children.

In Janiak’s defence, the Kalisz curia said the parents of one of the alleged victims portrayed in the film did not follow the right procedure.

“The recording in the film doesn’t show the whole conversation. It doesn’t show the part where we say that the parents should’ve expressed their concerns to the prosecutor immediately,” it said in a statement.

The Sekielski brothers released another film last year that suggested that known paedophiles were deliberately shifted between parishes. The film has over 23 million views on YouTube.

Victims of sexual abuse have long called for measures to make it easier to report alleged cover-ups by the Church.

Poland’s Catholic Church, an institution with close ties to the ruling nationalist Law and Justice party, has faced accusations in the past of shielding priests who abuse children.

Poland faces tension between liberals who feel the Church wields too much power and conservatives who see the Catholic faith as a key element of national identity that must be protected.

Polish paedophile film mars centenary celebrations for late pope Jean-Paul II
WARSAW (AFP) - A Polish documentary on child abuse by Catholic clerics put a damper on Saturday (May 16) on centenary celebrations of the venerated late pope John-Paul II's birth.

After the film Hide and Seek was seen by almost 80,000 people on YouTube, Polish archbishop Wojciech Polak called on the Vatican to "launch proceedings" into the cases in question.

It is the second documentary by Tomasz Sekielski on child abuse within the church, and focuses in detail on two brothers who are alleged victims of a priest who was protected by a bishop.

"The film Hide And Seek, which I have just seen, shows that protection standards for children and adolescents in the Church were not respected," Polak said in a video broadcast by the Catholic news agency KAI.

The archbishop added that he had asked the Vatican to launch proceedings under the auspices of an Apostolic Letter issued by Pope Francis in March 2019 on the protection of minors and vulnerable persons.

In May 2019, Sekielski released Tell No One, a similar documentary that has been viewed almost 23.5 million times on YouTube and sparked a national discussion of sex abuse by Catholic clergy.

The issue then faded, however, and neither film explores a lack of action by Saint Jean-Paul II, who was pope from 1978 to 2005 and who is widely venerated in his native Poland.

Sekielski has already said, however, that he will release a third documentary on the "role of Jean-Paul II in the dissimulation of crimes committed by priests."

Poland has scheduled church services, events and online concerts to celebrate the birth of Jean-Paul II, born Karol Wojtyla on May 18, 1920 in Wadowice, southern Poland.

Sarajevo protests Mass for slain Nazi allies with march for their victims

May 16, 2020 - Thousands marched through Sarajevo on Saturday to commemorate victims of the Ustasa regime, a puppet state founded by Croat fascists and allied to Nazi Germany, and to oppose a Catholic Mass held in the city for Ustasa and their families, slain at the end of World War Two.

The Mass is part of annual commemorations that Croatia introduced three decades ago for the tens of thousands of Croatian and Bosnian Ustasa members and their supporters, who were reportedly killed by the partisans of Yugoslav communist leader Josip Broz Tito at the end of the war.

The commemorations usually take place in the Austrian village of Bleiburg, on the border with Slovenia, but this year Austrian authorities cancelled the planned open air Mass due to bans on large gatherings and travel restrictions because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Croatian and Bosnian Bishops’ Conferences then announced they would hold the Mass in Sarajevo instead, in a move which outraged anti-fascist and Jewish groups who said it would honour a regime that killed more than 10,000 Sarajevans, most of them Jews.

Saturday’s protest in Sarajevo stretched from the site in the city where Ustasa militias hanged 55 local anti-fascists in spring 1945 to the central memorial for the city’s World War Two liberators, Tito’s partisans.

People blocked the traffic and sang anti-fascist songs, notably Bella Ciao, the anthem of Italian anti-fascists.

“My two grandfathers, their brothers and my grandmother were all killed by these fascists who have been honoured today,” said retired electro-technician Cedomir Jaksic, 63.

“It is not normal that a city such as Sarajevo, which was terrorised so much in both World War Two and the last war (in the 1990s), allows something like this to happen,” he added.

Billboards with photographs of the hanged anti-fascists were displayed at both sites. A red banner reading “I am an anti-fascist too” was displayed across Sarajevo’s main street.

After the defeat of the Nazis, Ustasa supporters fled the Balkans and reached Bleiburg, before being sent back and meeting their deaths.

The Croatian parliament has sponsored the Bleiburg event as a commemoration of “victims of the communist regime”. But in recent years it has turned into a rally used by Croatian far-right groups trying to rehabilitate the Ustasa regime.

PROTECTED MASS
Police sealed off the area around Sarajevo’s Catholic Cathedral, where Bosnian Archbishop Cardinal Vinko Puljic said Mass to a congregation of few dozen Croat dignitaries and priests.

In his sermon Puljic asked for more information on how the people had died and where they were buried, as well as for respect and forgiveness for all victims of World War Two. Smaller memorials were also held in Zagreb and Bleiburg.

The members of the Bosnian tripartite presidency condemned the Mass, as did the U.S and Israeli embassies in Bosnia.

The speaker of the Croatian parliament, Gordan Jandrokovic, said during a brief commemoration in Zagreb that they aimed to commemorate innocent victims and did not plan to rehabilitate the Ustasa.

Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, said the Mass “risks becoming a glorification of those who supported the Nazi-allied fascist Ustasa regime, complicit in the death of hundreds of thousands of human beings”.

Slideshow (15 Images)
Sarajevo protests Mass for slain Nazi allies with march for their victims

 

[angelburst29]

Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI has returned to the Vatican after a four-day visit to his ailing elder brother in their native Germany.

https://www.usnews.com/news/world/a...turning-to-vatican-after-visiting-ill-brother

Retired Pope Benedict XVI smiles at Germany’s Munich Airport before his departure to Rome June 22, 2020. Pope Benedict, who is 93, traveled to Germany to see his ailing older brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, who is 96. (CNS photo/Sven Hoppe, pool via Reuters)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — June 22, 2020 - Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI returned to the Vatican on Monday after a four-day visit to his ailing elder brother in their native Germany.

Benedict, a Bavarian native, flew from Munich to Rome aboard an Italian air force plane. He was seen off by Bavaria's governor, Markus Soeder, who said it was a moment “of happiness and melancholy,” news agency dpa reported.

Benedict returned to his home in the Vatican gardens in the early afternoon, said Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni. It was his first trip outside Italy in over seven years.

The 93-year-old retired pontiff arrived in Germany on Thursday to be with his 96-year-old brother, the Rev. Georg Ratzinger.

On Saturday, he greeted old neighbors and prayed at his parents' grave. He stayed at a seminary during his trip, visiting his brother twice a day.

Benedict has lived at a monastery on the Vatican grounds since shortly after his 2013 retirement, a decision that stunned the world. Elected to the papacy in 2005 to succeed St. John Paul II, the former Joseph Ratzinger was the first pontiff in 600 years to resign the post.
He was succeeded by current Pope Francis.

Retired pope returns to Vatican after visiting his brother in Germany (4 photos)

Ex-pope Benedict XVI goes home to Bavaria to visit ailing brother | DW | 18.06.2020

The Ratzinger brothers (pictured here in 2004, with future Pope Benedict XVI on the right) reportedly share a strong bond.

The German-born retired pope, Josef Ratzinger, left his Vatican home on Thursday and flew to Germany to visit his older brother, 96-year-old Georg Ratzinger, in the Bavarian city of Regensburg. Georg, also a priest, is reported to be in poor health.

"It is perhaps the last time that the two brothers, Georg and Joseph Ratzinger, will see each other in this world," Regensburg diocese spokesman Clemens Neck said.

The former pope landed in Munich accompanied by his personal secretary, a doctor, a nurse, and the deputy commander of the gendarmerie corps which serves as the Vatican's security force. He then traveled to Regensburg to meet his brother.

The Thursday trip is believed to be Josef Ratzinger's first visit to Germany since 2011, while he still served as Pope Benedict XVI. The retired pontiff is now 93 and also believed to be in frail health. No public appearances have been planned.

"I wish Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI a good stay in Germany and the necessary peace to privately look after his brother," Georg Bätzing, the head of the German Bishops' Conference, said in a statement.

"We are happy that he … came back to his home country even though the occasion is a sad one," the bishop said.

It was not immediately known how long the retired pope would stay in Germany, with Vatican saying only he would remain in Regensburg "as long as necessary."

Trouble for retired choirmaster

The two brothers are known for their close bond and their shared love of classical music. While his brother climbed the church hierarchy, Georg Ratzinger built a career as the head of the respected boys' choir in Regensburg. He served as the choir master for the famous Regensburger Domspatzen ("cathedral sparrows") between 1964 and 1994.

His three-decade career recently came under intense scrutiny after hundreds of boys reported suffering physical and sexual abuse. Georg admitted slapping students across the face after taking charge of the choir, but said corporal punishment was considered normal at the time. He has denied any knowledge of sexual abuse and also said he was happy once corporal punishment was outlawed in 1980.

However, this was disputed by investigator Ulrich Weber in a 2017 report that found at least 547 boys were abused by their priests and teachers, and that 67 of them suffered sexual assault, including rape. Weber said Ratzinger "looked the other way" and failed to act against the abuse "despite his knowledge."

 

[angelburst29]

Georg Ratzinger, the brother of former Pope Benedict who nurtured a very close relationship over decades to his sibling, has died at the age of 96 in the German town of Regensburg on Wednesday, the local archdiocese said.

Former Pope Benedict's brother Georg dies at 96
July 1, 2020 - Benedict was not present when his brother died because he had returned to Rome earlier, the archdiocese’s spokesman Clemens Neck said. “He died at his house in Regensburg today, surrounded by people close to him.”

Georg and Benedict entered a seminary where they both trained to be priests at the same time in January 1946, after both serving in the army before Nazi Germany’s defeat at the end of World War Two.

Even following Benedict’s elevation to the papacy in 2005, they remained in close touch, with Georg telling the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that his brother would regularly phone him on a private phone whose number only the Pontiff knew.


Retired pope’s elder brother, Georg Ratzinger, dies at 96
The Regensburg diocese in Bavaria, where Ratzinger lived, said in a statement on his website that he died Tuesday. His death came just over a week after Benedict made a four-day visit to Regensburg to be with his ailing brother.

Ordained on the same day as his brother, Ratzinger proved to be a talented musician and went on oversee the recording of numerous masterpieces and concert tours around the world by the Regensburger Domspatzen, a storied choir that traces its history back to the 10th century. But his reputation was tarnished as he apologized for using corporal punishment to discipline boys amid a wider investigation into sexual and physical abuse in the Church.

 

[Tauriel]

I don't know where to put this video...
I'm unsure whether the translation is correct. If yes, this would be a huge thing. Maybe some italian speaking forum member can chime in on this.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=238773170747184

 

[Color]

Maybe some italian speaking forum member can chime in on this.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=238773170747184

I don't speak Italian but I learned Latin for 4 years and words, part of sentences I could understand don't match with translation at all. Lets wait for someone with better understanding for conclusion.

 

[Tauriel]

Lets wait for someone with better understanding for conclusion.

I thought the same. Had 6 years of Latin as well and an Italian friend of mine just confirmed that what he said had nothing to do with the translation
Well, sorry for the noise

 

[Ocean]

Away with the manger?​

THE VATICAN'S CREEPY NATIVITY SCENE

Well, definitely not your traditional Nativity display!

The Vatican's 'nativity' scene for 2020 is very revealing. Right off the bat we have:

- the Angel Gabriel represented as a Djed pillar, the spine of Osiris in the ancient mystery religions
- Mary wearing a cloak that looks a lot like something the Mothers of Darkness would wear
- the infant Christ concealed beneath a red cloak
- an executioner
- an astronaut figure with strong Giger overtones and an eight-pointed star of Ishtar giving birth to something
- the shepherds playing pan flutes

Evil