Mel Gibson inspiration beatified
The week's news at a glance.
Rome
The pope this week beatified a 19th-century nun who had detailed visions of Jews and Romans beating and denigrating Christ in his final hours. The writings of Sister Anna Katharina Emmerick helped inspire Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of the Christ. Also beatified was Austria-Hungary’s last emperor, Charles I, who, the pope said, “worked for peace.” Modern Austrian newspapers criticized that choice, noting that Charles’ troops used poison gas in World War I, and that the only miracle attributed to the king was the healing of a woman’s varicose veins. Beatification is a key step on the way to sainthood.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Book reviews: ‘Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America’ and ‘How to End a Story: Collected Diaries, 1978–1998’
Feature A political ‘witch hunt’ and Helen Garner’s journal entries
By The Week US Published
-
The backlash against ChatGPT's Studio Ghibli filter
The Explainer The studio's charming style has become part of a nebulous social media trend
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Why are student loan borrowers falling behind on payments?
Today's Big Question Delinquencies surge as the Trump administration upends the program
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published