But we have no [Marian] apparitions cautioning the Church against, say, accepting the delusion of an Earth-centered Universe, or warning it of complicity with Nazi Germany — two matters of considerable moral as well as historical import....Not a single saint criticized the practice of torturing and burning “witches” and heretics. Why not? Were they unaware of what was going on? Could they not grasp its evil? And why is [the Virgin] Mary always admonishing the poor peasant to inform the authorities? Why doesn’t she admonish the authorities herself? Or the King? Or the Pope?

~ Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan Apparitions Catholic Church Catholicism Church Marian Apparitions Mary Prophecies Roman Catholic Church Saints Science Science And Religion Science Vs Religion Virgin Mary Visions Witch Witch Burnings

Those places where sadness and misery abound are favoured settings for stories of ghosts and apparitions. Calcutta has countless such stories hidden in its darkness, stories that nobody wants to admit they believe but which nevertheless survive in the memory of generations as the only chronicle of the past. It is as if the people who inhabit the streets, inspired by some mysterious wisdom, relalise that the true history of Calcutta has always been written in the invisible tales of its spirits and unspoken curses.

~ Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Carlos Ruiz Zafón Apparitions Calcutta Chronicle Of The Past Darkness Generations Ghosts Memory Misery Sadness Spirits Stories Survive Tales True History Unspoken Curses Written