The Pope's Piano is a collection of three short fiction stories. The first two tales, "Violin Master" and "The Pope's Piano," have central music themes. Several cats are side characters in the last two stories. All three are best described as religious mysteries where strange, magical things happen that are best attributed to the workings of God. The third story, "The Kitten with the Bent Ear," describes a college professor leading class discussions on important and difficult topics that affect our daily lives, like the death penalty, expensive medical procedures, abortion, immigration, and end-of-life medical decisions. Interspersed with the class discussion is the story of the professor's cats, including one with several deformities. In "The Kitten with the Bent Ear," the harsh and pragmatic decisions animals in the wild take is contrasted to what are man's options. This story will allow each of us to see all sides of controversial issues and help you solidify your thinking as to what are practical and just solutions. The trilogy may bring the reader closer to God and let you enjoy the mysteries of life. With love and belief, anything is possible, even miracles.

The story of the friendship between a Jewish-American conductor and Pope John Paul II This book offers the inspirational story of an unlikely friendship and the two men who collaborated in an extraordinary way to begin to help heal centuries-old wounds. For two decades Sir Gilbert Levine and Pope John Paul II collaborated on symbolic acts of reconciliation: a series of internationally broadcast concerts designed to bring together people from all religious backgrounds under the auspices of the Vatican. These concerts broke new ground and demonstrated the Vatican's desire for rapprochement and even atonement in its relationships with Jews around the world. And it resulted in Sir Gilbert recovering his own Jewish faith in a deeper and more meaningful way. Details the extraordinary collaboration between a world-renowned musical maestro and an innovative Pope Shows how music can act as a bridge between people of different faiths A moving, inspirational, and personal story that appeals to music lovers and to people of all faith traditions This is a compelling tale of faith, friendship, and the healing power of music to bring people together.

The Pope walks out of the Vatican and into the rest of the world. He quickly becomes more famous than he ever was, and sightings of the Pope are reported across the globe including The Last Ranchman bar in Manyberries, a village in the lower righthand corner of Alberta. As the Pope sits alone, looking like a broken-down cowboy in a neon JESUS SAVES T-shirt and dunking fries in beer, the barroom regulars debate if he’s really the pontiff. With 97.3 percent of Manyberries’ population of 75 in agreement that the man in the bar is the Pope, the expected boost in tourism fails to materialize. Instead there is a series of strange events—infidelity, murder, spontaneous human combustion—until the pontiff is found on top of the town’s grain elevator with arms outstretched as if he’s gathering in the world. At the “end of Civilization itself,” as the locals call Manyberries, almost anything can—and does—happen. “Block” Broderick Crawford III tells this surreal tale of a handful of quirky residents whose lives are turned upside down—or right side up?—by the Pope’s presence. Block shares his own story alongside the town’s and its motley crew of characters and historic figures—from the inventor of the “sex box,” Wilhelm Reich, to Ordinarius Professor, Kaspar Heisenberg, father of the father of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Although Block is heartbroken by his sometime girlfriend Genevieve La Guadeloupe—who is found lying on top of the Pope in a field during a summer snowstorm—and ponders the foibles of human existence, he continues to search for meaning in an increasingly irrational world. Absurdist yet hopeful, The Pope Moves to Manyberries is a spirited satire that will appeal to the guileless and jaded alike.

In this poignant memoir, Daryl Verville gives an honest and harrowing victim-impact statement told through powerful letters to the Pope. His father was sexually and physically abused for years in the residential school system implemented by the Roman Catholic Church and the Canadian Government. His father became a violently abusive patriarch and Verville paints a vivid picture of the impact of his father’s deeply imprinted trauma on his family. He explores the Vatican's complicity in the diverse crimes of physical, emotional and sexual abuse committed by the clergy, the corruption in these scandals and the generational consequences of the abuse. Epistle to the Pope provides a unique and intimate perspective, telling the inspiring story of Verville’s early spiritual ascent followed by a dramatic moral decline culminating in two drug overdoses and near-death experiences, how he re-emerged from the hell, and how he ultimately achieved profound redemption.

Be sure to check out the for more information. It wasn't always the case that Msgr. Georg Ratzinger lived in the shadow of his younger brother, Joseph. Georg was an accomplished musician, who for over 30 years directed the Regensburger Domspatzchor, the world-famous boys choir of the Regensburg cathedral. Brother Joseph was a brilliant young professor, but mostly known in German academic circles. Now Georg writes about the close friendship that has united these two brothers for more than 80 years. This book is a unique window on an extraordinary family that lived through the difficult period of National Socialism in Germany. Those interested in knowing more about the early life of Benedict XVI will not be disappointed. They will also learn of the admirable character and inspiring example of the parents, and see how the Catholic faith can shape not just a family, but an entire culture-in this case, that of Bavaria. Georg's reminiscences are detailed, intimate, and warm. And while they begin with the earliest years of the Ratzinger family, they continue right up to the present day. This is not simply a book to satisfy curiosity about a "celebrity", though it certainly does that. It's a beautiful portrait of Catholic family life and, in the most literal sense, of enduring fraternal charity. Georg has a talent for telling a story, and the co-author fills in some of the larger historical background. The many photographs, both in black and white and in color, round out a thoroughly enjoyable and inspirational book. Illustrated with 47 photographs.

The Stranger in Medieval Society was first published in 1998. Minnesota Archive Editions uses digital technology to make long-unavailable books once again accessible, and are published unaltered from the original University of Minnesota Press editions. The Stranger in Medieval Society examines the presence of outsiders in medieval Europe. Whether welcome or unwelcome, voluntary or involuntary, strangers appear in every society; they leave their own communities, venture into new environments, confront differences, and often spark changes. The first collection in medieval studies to concentrate on the notion of the stranger, these essays show how outsiders influenced the culture of Europe in the Middle Ages. Among the topics explored are Edward III and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as historical and literary instances of chivalric skill and courage; political conflict in the late French epic Renaut de Montauban; and a group of people who were doubly strangers-some thirty thousand Jews, who after being expelled from France in 1306 returned under an experimental agreement a few years later. Contributors: William Calin, U of Florida; Susan Crane, Rutgers; Maria Dobozy, U of Utah; Edward R. Haymes, Cleveland State U; William Chester Jordan, Princeton U; Derek Pearsall, Harvard U; William D. Phillips Jr., U of Minnesota; Kathryn L. Reyerson, U of Minnesota; and Janet L. Solberg, Kalamazoo College. F. R. P. Akehurst is professor of French in the Department of French and Italian at the University of Minnesota. Stephanie Cain Van D'Elden is director of graduate studies for the program in Germanic philology at the University of Minnesota. This is volume 12 in the Medieval Cultures Series