Sylvia Poggioli

Parvum Opus: Followers Flock To Pope's Latin Twitter Feed

Sylvia Poggioli — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 07:18:00 +0000

Against all Vatican expectations, the pope's Twitter account in Latin has gained more than 100,000 followers in six months and continues to grow.

Followers are not exclusively Roman Catholics or Latin scholars, but represent a wide variety of professions and religions from all over the world. Some go so far as to claim that the language of the ancient Romans is perfectly suited to 21st-century social media.

Pope Benedict XVI launched the first papal Twitter account last December in eight languages, including Arabic.

Italian University Spreads The 'Gelato Gospel'

Sylvia Poggioli — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:27:00 +0000

Italy has secured its place in the global diet with the likes of espresso, cappuccino, pasta and pizza.

The latest addition to the culinary lexicon is ... gelato, the Italian version of ice cream.

And despite tough economic times, gelato-making is a booming business.

At Anzola dell'Emilia, a short drive from the Italian city of Bologna, people from all over the world are lining up for courses in gelato-making.

This is the headquarters of Carpigiani, the world's biggest gelato machine.

Pope's Reference To 'Gay Lobby' Broaches Taboo Topic

Sylvia Poggioli — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:28:00 +0000

The Roman Catholic Church teaches that homosexual acts are a grave sin. But the existence of active gay prelates in the Vatican bureaucracy known as the Roman Curia has been considered a poorly held secret for centuries.

Robert Mickens, Vatican correspondent for the British Catholic weekly The Tablet, says the normal definition of a lobby as an organized group of people pushing a specific agenda does not apply here.

He prefers to call it a gay subculture.

"Many of these people in the Vatican that are gay and even acting out are extremely conservative," Mickens says.

At 500, Machiavelli's 'Prince' Still Inspires Love And Fear

Sylvia Poggioli — Mon, 27 May 2013 20:29:00 +0000

The name Niccolo Machiavelli is synonymous with political deceit, cynicism and the ruthless use of power.

Young People Cast Out Of Italy's Welfare System

Sylvia Poggioli — Tue, 21 May 2013 10:30:00 +0000

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We are also following a subtler story of economic devastation, even with all the news about unemployment in Europe, this next number is hard to absorb. In Italy, among younger people, the jobless rate us close to 40 percent. The government is focused on the middle-aged and the elderly leaving little room it seems for their kids

Here's NPR's Sylvia Poggioli.

(SOUNDBITE OF SCREAMING AND SHOOTING)

SYLVIA POGGIOLI, BYLINE: Shots rang out outside the prime minister's office the day Italy's new government was sworn in.

Pope Francis Puts The Poor Front And Center

Sylvia Poggioli — Mon, 20 May 2013 18:24:00 +0000

Over the past week, Pope Francis has launched a crescendo of attacks on the global financial system and what he calls a "cult of money" that does not help the poor.

The 2-month-old papacy of Francis — the Argentina-born Jorge Bergoglio — is shaping up as a papacy focused on the world's downtrodden.

No More Smuggling: Many Cured Italian Meats Coming To America

Sylvia Poggioli — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:51:00 +0000

American gourmets and lovers of Italian food products, your days as food smugglers are over.

No more stuffing your suitcases with delicacies bought in Italy, hoping the sniffer dogs at JFK or other American airports won't detect the banned-in-the-USA foodstuffs inside your luggage.

In the U.S., they're called cured meats, the French say charcuterie and in Italy, the word for cured-pork products is salumi.

Long Hidden, Vatican Painting Linked To Native Americans

Sylvia Poggioli — Sun, 05 May 2013 09:27:00 +0000
For close to 400 years, the painting was closed off to the world.

Suspended Coffee: Old Italian Custom Spreads Across Poorer EU

Sylvia Poggioli — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:04:00 +0000
Tough economic times and growing poverty in much of Europe are reviving a humble tradition that began some one-hundred years ago in the Italian city of Naples.

With New Pope, Catholic Women Hope To Regain Church Leadership Roles

Sylvia Poggioli — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 21:04:00 +0000
The newly elected pope's focus on the poor and the marginalized has instilled great faith among many Catholic women.