BEIRUT: The United Nations warned Tuesday that Lebanon could be dragged into the bloody conflict in Syria, as rival Lebanese politicians struggled to agree on a new electoral law for the June 9 elections.   Beirut MP Ammar Houri said his Future Movement has been engaged in talks with the Progressive Socialist Party in […]

VATICAN CITY  — From 2002 to 2007, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi wrote a daily column in the Italian Catholic daily Avvenire.

The column, called "Mattutino" or "morning prayer," offered a short thought for the day, and was often accompanied by a quote drawn from an array of authors. It ranged from the Psalms to obscure contemporary poets, from Christian writers to contemporary novelists and philosophers.

It was through the "Mattutinos" that most Italian Catholics first came to know Ravasi, then the director of an historic library in Milan, and discovered his blend of encyclopedic interests and knack for finding a spiritual "opening" even in the most un-Christian writers.

The fame as a moderate liberal he enjoyed within some Catholic circles could have scuppered his chances for a Vatican career, but Pope Benedict XVI came to appreciate Ravasi.

In 2007, he appointed him head of the Vatican department for culture, with the task of reopening the dialogue between the Catholic Church and contemporary secularized culture.

Pope Benedict used last night’s Ash Wednesday mass to deliver a withering and extraordinary blast at the warring factions in the Vatican’s upper-echelons, whose power struggles many believe influenced the Pontiff’s historic decision to stand down.

Earlier on Wednesday, during the general audience, the Pontiff had alluded to the need for church figures to avoid the temptations of power and privilege.

But yesterday evening his warning was clearer. “We must reflect on how the face of the Church is marred by sins against unity and division of the ecclesiastical body. We must overcome individualism and rivalry,” he told great and the good of the curia assembled in St Peter’s Basilica. “The true disciple does not serve himself or the public, but the Lord.

“Many are ready to get on their high horse over scandals and injustices – obviously committed by others – but few seem able to act according to the real wishes of their own hearts and consciences.”

Pundit Gerard O’Connell of the Vatican Insider said: “This was a very, very, clear and strongly worded speech. It was an appeal for an end to the personal rivalries and of people competing to put themselves in high profile positions. I think Benedict is passing messages to the cardinals and to those who will succeed him.”

Wall Street Oasis

I’ve always considered myself entrepreneurial at heart. Even since I’ve started my work in IB (investment banking), I have continued to work on developing a few "back pocket" ideas that I’m excited about. Indeed, ever since I can remember, I have wanted to start my own business, not because I hope to be the next Zuckerberg, but because I believe the ability to dictate your own work is more rewarding than any other employment experience out there. It remains my ultimate career goal, and with any luck, I will make it happen some day.

That said, I have to say that the rising fad of "start-ups" in what has been – arguably – a VC bubble has started to trigger my inner skeptic. Don’t get me wrong: I think it’s great that we are increasingly encouraging young people to take career risks and try to create value through entrepreneurship. But I couldn’t help but be suspicious that there were a fair number of people getting the short end of the "start-up" stick, if for no reason other than the fact that the few friends I had that went to work for early- to mid-stage start-ups left their corporate jobs filled with enthusiasm and are now silently trying to break their way back into what we all know collectively as the machine of corporate America.

  After working six years on the script, securing the funding and finally being able to make “The Attack,” Lebanese Director Ziad Doueiri has found his controversial film under attack. After having been selected at the Telluride Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival, and having won the Special Jury Award at the San Sebastian Film […]