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T h e A p o l o g i s t ' s E y e
The Eyes Have It
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This Rock
Volume 13, Number 7
 September 2002 
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In 1929, a microscopic figure was discovered in the eyes of the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Since then, the mystery of her pupils has challenged science. The man who has expended the most energy in trying to cast light on this image is Peruvian scientist José Aste Tonsmann, an expert at IBM in the digital processing of images.
Twenty-two years ago, Aste decided to investigate the presence of other figures reflected in the Virgin's eyes and found twelve.
When the human eye focuses, the objects it is looking at are reflected in its retina. "According to whether the object is close or far, it will be reflected in a larger or smaller size in the ocular globe," Aste said. "This is what happened with the eyes of the Virgin of Guadalupe. The image reflected in her two retinas is that of the moment when the Virgin left her imprint on Juan Diego's tilma."
In order to analyze these retinal images, photographs were taken of the eyes and the photos digitized. They were read by a computer, which was used to enlarge them.
Who appears in the eyes? Aste: "There is a virtually naked servant; an elderly man-Bishop Friar Juan de Zumárraga; a youth-the interpreter; an Indian with a tilma-Juan Diego; a black woman-a slave; a bearded Spaniard; and, lastly, an Indian family including father, mother, three children, and two more adults who could be grandparents or uncles."
These figures cannot be the work of humans, said Aste, for three reasons: "In the first place, nobody could have painted such tiny silhouettes. They are not visible to the human eye except for one, that of the Spaniard. In the second place, the origin of the pigments of these figures is unknown. The same is true of the Virgin's image [on the tilda]." The third reason, he said, is that "the three figures are reproduced in both eyes. Moreover, their size varies from one eye to the other, according to how close the personage was to the Virgin's left or right eye."
There is evidence in history, said Aste, as to who the figures are. "The elderly man who appears in the Virgin's eyes looks very much like the paintings of that period of Bishop Zumárraga. As for the black slave, Zumárraga wrote in his will that he released her. We also know that she was called Maria-in the Indies Archives there is a record of the bishop's embarkation when he left for the New World."
Divorce Doesn't Make People Happier
Many people think that a person in a bad marriage has two choices: stay married and miserable or get a divorce and become happier. But the first scholarly study ever to test that assumption challenge conventional wisdom found no evidence that unhappily married adults who divorced ended up any happier than unhappily married people who stayed married.
Led by sociologist Linda Waite of the University of Chicago, the researchers also found that two-thirds of unhappily married spouses who stayed married reported that their marriages were happy five years later. The most unhappy marriages reported the most dramatic turnarounds: Among those who rated their marriages as "very unhappy," almost eight out of ten who avoided divorce were "happily" married five years later.
The study found that on average unhappily married adults who divorced were no happier than unhappily married adults who stayed married when rated on any of twelve separate measures of psychological well-being. Even unhappy spouses who had divorced and remarried were no happier on average than those who stayed married. "Staying married is not just for the childrens' sake. Some divorce is necessary, but results like these suggest the benefits of divorce have been oversold," said Waite.
The research used data collected by the National Survey of Family and Households, a nationally representative survey that interviewed 5,232 married adults about their personal and marital happiness. The full study is available on the Internet at www.americanvalues.org/html/r-unhappy.html.
Daughter as Political Pawn
Remember the eight-year-old girl whose father sued to have the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance declared unconstitutional? According to her mother, the girl has no problem with reciting the pledge.
"I was concerned that the American public would be led to believe that my daughter is an atheist or that she has been harmed by reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, including the words 'one nation under God,'" said the mother, Sandra Banning, in a statement reported by the Associated Press. "We are practicing Christians and are active in our church." Banning never married Michael Newdow, the third-grader's father who is the atheist behind the pledge lawsuit. She has full custody of their daughter.
Although ruling by the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is on hold pending appeals, a legal expert said the mother's revelation could undercut the legitimacy of the case. According to Rory Little, a Hastings College of the Law professor, courts only can hear cases in which there is an injured party; if there is no injury, there is no grounds for a case.
In his lawsuit, Newdow argued that his daughter was "injured" by being forced to listen to others recite the pledge at the Elk Grove Unified School District in Northern California. But, he admitted, "The main thrust of this case is not my daughter, it's me."
Prayer Can Dissolve All Nightmares
Here's one for parents to pass on to their children: Prayer that is pure can dissolve all fears and nightmares. So said John Paul II in his address during a July 12 audience held at the papal summer residence. He was commenting on the canticle of the three Hebrew youths-Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael-who were condemned to die in a burning furnace by the king of Babylon because of their faith. In the midst of this tragedy, the trio did not "hesitate to sing, to be joyful, and to praise." In response to their prayer the angel of the Lord came down "and made the inside of the furnace as though a dew-laden breeze were blowing through it," protecting the three youths from harm.
"Nightmares are dispersed like fog in the sun, fears are dissolved, suffering disappears when the whole human being becomes praise and trust, expectation and hope," the Pope said. "This is the force of prayer when it is pure, intense, total in its abandonment to God, provident and redeeming."
Haitian Double Whammy
Haitian Bishop Alix Verrier said the Catholic Church in Haiti is besieged on two sides: on the one hand by voodoo and on the other by Protestant groups coming from the United States.
The voodoo cult is still deeply rooted in the people and even has legal status equal to other religions, Bishop Verrier told the missionary agency Fides. Warning against the dangers posed by Protestant Fundamentalist groups from the U.S., the bishop said that they "come with substantial funds and open schools, and the Catholic Church lacks the means to compete with these schools."
For his part, Bishop Hubert Constant of Fort Liberte, president of the Haitian episcopal conference, said that people "who say that sects are harmless are blind." Voodoo is a religion that is derived from African polytheism and ancestor worship and is practiced chiefly in Haiti. The cult, which originated in West Africa, mixes religious fancies with Christian and indigenous elements. Its "sorcerers" or "priests" sacrifice small animals in order for their followers to be cured of illness, achieve personal success, and gain satisfaction by the right to revenge.
Religious Liberty Improving - Slightly
Although in countries such as Sudan and Yemen conversion to Catholicism can cost a person his life, religious tolerance and dialogue is nevertheless improving worldwide. This is according to the Aid to the Church in Need's 2002 Report, which was presented July 1 in Rome. Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is a Germany-based international aid organization of the Catholic Church.
There are extreme cases such as Sudan, Yemen, and particularly Saudi Arabia, where no form of worship other than Islam is permitted. Non-Muslim workers are considered second class; they are not even allowed to be buried in the area. Under the Communist regimes of China, Vietnam, Cuba, and North Korea, places of worship are tolerated only under the strict control of state structures. Due to the spread of Buddhist and Hindu fanaticism in countries such as India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, there is increasing violence against followers of minority religions. And civil war or ethnic confrontations in countries such as Colombia, Sudan, and Rwanda have resulted in missionaries being murdered and members of various religious communities being massacred.
Yet it is possible to speak of a slight improvement in religious liberty in the world. Luca Diotallevi, a professor at the University of Rome, highlighted four positive trends: increase of countries that adopt models of legislative protection for religious diversity, growth in the number of conversions, greater pluralism within religions, and increase in sensitivity and relations among different religions.
Women 'Bishops' May Further Splinter Anglicans
One-fifth of the Anglican clergy in Great Britain indicated that they might leave the Church of England if women were allowed to be designated bishops, a new survey finds.
It has been eight years since the Anglican church first allowed women to be designated as priests, and about half of the clergy and 60 percent of the laity support the idea of women bishops. However, 25 percent of clergy and 17 percent of laity believe that there "should not be any women bishops anywhere," the London Times reported. Indeed, 20 percent of clergy indicated that they might go so far as to leave the Anglican communion, with five percent saying they'd definitely leave.
The Times said that the extent of opposition to the notion of female bishops is surprising because many traditionalists have left already the over the issue of women's ordination. Since the first "priestly" ordinations of women in 1994, more than 400 male Anglican clergy have left the Anglican church. A traditionalist group called Cost of Conscience commissioned Christian Research, a leading research body, to conduct the survey.
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