A prayer rug or prayer mat is a piece of fabric, sometimes a pile carpet, used by Muslims, some Christians, especially in Orthodox Christianity and some Baha'i during prayer.

In Islam, a prayer mat is placed between the ground and the worshipper for cleanliness during the various positions of Islamic prayer. These involve prostration and sitting on the ground. A Muslim must perform  (ablution) before prayer, and must pray in a clean place.

Prayer rugs are also used by some Oriental Orthodox Christians for Christian prayer involving prostrations in the name of the Trinity, as well as during the recitation of the Alleluia and Kyrie eleison. Its purpose is to maintain a cleanly space to pray to God and shoes must be removed when using the prayer rug. Among Russian Orthodox Christians, particularly Old Ritualists, a special prayer rug known as the Podruchnik is used to keep one's face and hands clean during prostrations, as these parts of the body are used to make the sign of the cross.

Many new prayer mats are manufactured by weavers in a factory. The design of a prayer mat is based on the village it came from and its weaver. These rugs are usually decorated with many beautiful geometric patterns and shapes. They are sometimes even decorated with images. These images are usually important Islamic landmarks, such as the Kaaba, but they are never animate objects. This is because the drawing of animate objects on Islamic prayer mats is forbidden.

For Muslims, when praying, a niche, representing the mihrab of a mosque, at the top of the mat must be pointed to the Islamic center for prayer, Mecca. All Muslims are required to know the qibla or direction towards Mecca from their home or where they are while traveling. Oriental Orthodox Christians position their prayer rugs so that they face east, the direction of prayer towards which they offer prayer.

History and use

In the Baha'i Faith
In the Baha'i Faith, prayer rugs or prayer mats are not required, though may sometimes be used as a way to fulfill the instruction written in the Baha'i mother-book The Most Holy Book mentioning to "prostrate yourselves on any surface that is clean".

In Christianity

Prayer rugs are used in some traditions of Oriental Orthodox Christianity and Western Orthodox Christianity, to provide a clean space for believers to offer Christian prayers to God.

During the seven fixed prayer times of Oriental Orthodox Christians, believers incorporate prostrations in the praying of the canonical hours that are performed facing east, with Copts "prostrating three times in the name of the Trinity; at the end of each Psalm[...] while saying the 'Alleluia'; and multiple times during the more than forty Kyrie eleisons" (cf. Agpeya). Indian Orthodox Christians prostrate thrice during the Qauma prayer, at the words "Crucified for us, Have mercy on us!", thrice during the recitation of the Nicene Creed at the words "And was incarnate of the Holy Spirit...", "And was crucified for us...", and "And on the third day rose again...", as well as thrice during the Prayer of the Cherubim while praying the words "Blessed is the glory of the Lord, from His place forever!" (cf. Shehimo). These prayer rugs are often blessed by Christian clergy in the church before ever being used; in this way, when a Christian prays at home, it is as if they are praying in their local church. Additionally, carpets cover the floors of parishes in denominations such as the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church on which Christians prostrate in prayer. Among Russian Orthodox Old Ritualists, a special prayer rug known as the Podruchnik is used to keep one's face and hands clean during prostrations, as these parts of the body are used to make the sign of the cross. In the Middle East and South Asia, where Christian missionaries are engaged in evangelism, some converts to Christianity use prayer rugs for prayer and worship in order to preserve their Eastern cultural context. In modern times, among most adherents of Western Christianity, kneelers placed in pews (for corporate worship) or in prie-dieus (for private worship) are customary; historically however, prayer rugs were used by some Christian monks to pray the canonical hours in places such as Syria, Northumbria, and Ireland well before the arrival of Islam.

The Armenian Apostolic Church, an Oriental Orthodox Christian denomination, has a long tradition of prayer rugs with Christian symbols woven in them; these have been found in places as far as Shirvan. One of the oldest is the Saint Hrip'sime Rug, which was woven in 1202 A.D. and originates in the village of Banants, located in what is now Gandja.

In Islam

In Islamic world there are two basic types of prayer rug, one designed with a single  and meant for individual worship, the other with multiple niches and intended for a place of public prayer such as a mosque. This second type is known as .

A prayer rug is characterized by a niche at one end, representing the mihrab in every mosque, a directional point to direct the worshipper towards Mecca. Many rugs also show one or more mosque lamps, a reference to the Verse of Light in the Qur'an. Specific mosques are sometimes shown; some of the most popular examples include the mosques in Mecca, Medina, and especially Jerusalem. After the advent of Islam, Muslims often depicted the Kaaba in order to distinguish themselves from Christian carpets. Decorations not only play a role in imagery but serve the worshipper as aids to memory. Some of the examples include a comb and pitcher, which is a reminder for Muslims to wash their hands and for men to comb their hair before performing prayer. Another important use for decorations is to aid newly converted Muslims by stitching decorative hands on the prayer mat where the hands should be placed when performing prayer.

In Islam, the prayer rug has a very strong symbolic meaning and traditionally taken care of in a holy manner. It is disrespectful for one to place a prayer mat in a dirty location (as Muslims have to be clean to show their respect to God) or throw it around in a disrespectful manner.

Prayer rugs are usually made in the towns or villages of the communities who use them and are often named after the origins of those who deal and collect them. The exact pattern will vary greatly by original weavers and the different materials used. Some may have patterns, dyes and materials that are traditional/native to the region in which they were made. Prayer rugs' patterns generally have a niche at the top, which is turned to face Mecca. During prayer the supplicant kneels at the base of the rug and places their hands at either side of the niche at the top of the rug, their forehead touching the niche. Typical prayer rug sizes are approximately  to , enough to kneel above the fringe on one end and bend down and place the head on the other.

Some countries produce textiles with prayer rug patterns for export. Many modern prayer rugs are strictly commercial pieces made in large numbers to sell on an international market or tourist trade.

Islamic rugs in Lutheran Churches

The Saxon Lutheran Churches, parish storerooms and museums of Transylvania safeguard about four hundred Anatolian rugs, dating from the late-15th to early 18th century. They form the richest and best-preserved corpus of prayer-format rugs of Ottoman period outside Turkey.

Transylvania, like the other Romanian principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, never came under direct Turkish occupation. Until 1699 it had the status of an autonomous Principality, maintaining the Christian religion and own administration but paying tribute to the Ottoman Porte. By contrast, following the Battle of Mohacs in 1526, part of Hungary was designated a Pashalik and was under Turkish occupation for over a century and a half.

Rugs came into the ownership of the Reformed Churches, mainly as pious donations from parishioners, benefactors or guilds. In the 16th century, with the coming of the Reformation, the number of figurative images inside the churches was drastically reduced. Frescoes were white-washed or destroyed, and the many sumptuous winged altar-pieces were removed maintaining exclusively the main altar piece. The recently-converted parishioners thus perceived the church as a large, cold and empty space, which required at least some decoration. Traces of the mural decoration were found during modern restorations in some Protestant Churches as for instance at Malâncrav.

In this situation the Oriental rugs, created in a world that was spiritually different from Christianity, found their place in the Reformed churches which were to become their main custodians. The removal from the commercial circuit and the fact that they were used to decorate the walls, the pews and the balconies but not on the floor was crucial for their conservation over the years.

After the Siege of Vienna of 1682 the Ottomans suffered several defeats by hand of the Habsburg army. In 1687 the rulers of Transylvania recognized the suzerainty of the Habsburg emperor Leopold I. Generally the end of the Turkish rule in Transylvania is associated with the Peace Treaty of 1699, but in fact this happened more than a decade earlier. The last decades of the 17th century marked a decline of the rug trade between Transylvania and Turkey which affected the carpet production in Anatolia. Shortly after the turn of the century the commercial rugs based on Lotto, Bird or Transylvanian patterns ceased to be woven.

Interactive prayer mats
Interactive prayer mats, also known as smart prayer mats or digital prayer rugs, are a recent development in the field of prayer rugs. These mats are designed to enhance the spiritual experience of Muslims during prayer by incorporating technology into the traditional practice of prayer, and for educational purposes.

Name variations

See also

 Eagle rug
 Islamic art
 Oriental carpets in Renaissance painting
 Persian embroidery
 Podruchnik, a cushion for worshipper's hands among Russian Old Believer Christians
 Tradition of removing shoes in the home and houses of worship
 Turbah, a piece of clay commonly used in Shia Islam as a place of prostration

References

Bibliography

Further reading
"prayer rug." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 23 Oct. 2008 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/474169/prayer-rug.
Faid, Abbo Muhammed Samir. "Islam" All Experts. 16 Mar 2005. <https://web.archive.org/web/20100224195249/http://www.liu.edu/CWIS/CWP/library/workshop/citmla.htm>

External links

Importance of the Prayer Rug by Bishop Brian J Kennedy, OSB - Holy Trinity Celtic Orthodox Church

Prayer
Salah
Rugs and carpets
Kneeling
Christian prayer
Oriental Orthodoxy

Prayer rug


The EEA Joint Committee is an institution of the European Economic Area (EEA). It is composed of representatives of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and the European Union. Its main function is to approve the application of European Union directives and regulations in the three EEA states which are not EU members. Once approved by the Committee these modify the EEA Agreement and thus force the three EEA states to implement them. Its decisions are taken by consensus.

References

External links
 Official site, with links to Decisions

European Economic Area
Joint committees
EEA

EEA Joint Committee


The Sri Lanka National Pharmaceuticals Policy was established in the 1970s following the submission of a report by Dr S.A. Wickremasinghe and Prof. Seneka Bibile. It aimed at ensuring that people get good quality drugs at the lowest possible price and that doctors would prescribe the minimum required drugs to treat the patient's illness. It was a pioneer in the field of rational National pharmaceuticals policy.

Background
At the time, pharmaceutical companies were making considerable money by selling drugs under their trade names, giving out biased information about the branded drugs as against those named generically. Doctors often prescribed branded drugs, which were far more expensive than generic drugs, which have the same efficacy.

The United Front Government of 1970 appointed the Wickremasinghe-Bibile commission of inquiry into this issue and it recommended the establishment a national policy and of a state body to regularize the trade.

In the 1970s Sri Lanka demonstrated that a state buying agency linked to a national formulary was a viable and powerful instrument for reducing drug costs without compromising quality, for saving foreign exchange, for rationalizing drug usage and for supplying essential drugs at reasonable prices to the whole community. This was made possible by the formulation and implementation of an integrated national pharmaceutical policy.

A unique phenomenon about Sri Lanka's pharmaceuticals policy was that the entire programme was conceived, formulated, developed and implemented by Sri Lankan nationals without any form of external aid or assistance.

National formulary
A careful selection of drugs is an essential prerequisite of a national pharmaceutical policy. In Sri Lanka, the Ministry of Health requested Prof. Seneka Bibile to look into his matter and he prepared the Ceylon Hospital Formulary (CHF) of about 630 drugs under their generic names. Subsequently the Ministry of Health established a National Formulary Committee (NFC), consisting of representatives from the public and private health sectors and the University Medical Schools, led by Bibile. It published Formulary Notes for doctors, keeping them updated on developments.

State buying agency
Accordingly, in 1971 the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation of Sri Lanka (SPC) was established with Bibile as Chairman. The SPC channeled all imports and production of pharmaceuticals, calling for worldwide bulk tenders which were limited to the approved drugs listed in the CHF. The public and private health sectors had to obtain all their requirements from the SPC.

Hence the stranglehold of the Multinational corporations on the drug trade was successfully broken and they were made to compete with each other and with generic drug producers, enabling the country to obtain drugs much cheaper. Branded drugs were replaced by generic drugs in the prescription and sale of medicines.

In 1972 it imported 52 drugs at a third of their previous prices. In 1973, the SPC itself bought the raw material necessary for 14 private processing laboratories established in the island. Some drug prices dropped by half or two-thirds. The SPC bought from an Indian company the raw material necessary for a widely used tranquilizer at a much lower price than that charged by a Swiss multinational.

Drug information
It is essential that correct information on drugs and therapeutics be given to all medical personnel. The promotional material provided by the drugs manufacturers tends to be distorted in favour of their own products and adds to the costs of supplying drugs.

In Sri Lanka, drug information was provided from official sources. The Prescriber, a quarterly publication edited by the NFC, was published by the SPC and distributed to all medical personnel. The extravagant promotional practices of drugs manufacturers were stopped to remove the dangers and costs inherent in process.

International experience
The Sri Lanka experience became a model for the rest of the world. The policy was supported by the World Health Organization and other United Nations agencies with enormous benefit to Third World countries. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Secretariat examined the Sri Lankan experience, concluding that an analysis of the Sri Lankan model could give other developing countries an insight into ways of formulating, developing and implementing integrated national pharmaceutical policies. With Bibile's assistance, it published "Case Studies in the Transfer of Technology: Pharmaceutical Policies in Sri Lanka".  This document has proved to be a very valuable guideline for developing countries intending to initiate pharmaceutical reforms. Translated into other languages, it may be found with health planners of almost every Third World country.

Reaction of pharmaceutical companies
The first response from the multi-national corporations came in May 1973. Executives of the major pharmaceutical companies in the United States met Sri Lanka's ambassador in Washington, D.C. and handed him a letter addressed to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from the President of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturer's Association (PMA) of the US. The letter concluded with a statement that the PMA believed that the proposed actions would have most serious effects not only on the pharmaceutical industry and on all private industry in Sri Lanka but potentially for the health of its citizens.

The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations (IFPMA) issued a statement to UNCTAD strongly criticizing the UNCTAD report on the Sri Lankan pharmaceutical policies.

Post-1977 policy
This policy was watered down by the multi-national-friendly United National Party Government of 1977. There was continued government control of the types of drugs imported, but permission was given to the private sector to import multiple brands. The SPC was never dissolved and continued to supply affordable drugs, continuing to be responsible for centralized procurement for the government health sector.

In 1987 the Pharmaceuticals Manufacturing Corporation was established to import raw materials and manufacture generic drugs. This has effectively withstood very strong pressures for privatization.

The earlier centrally controlled system enabled effective monitoring. However, at present, because of decentralization of drug supply, while standard treatment guidelines are available, there is no effective monitoring system for prescription practices is in place; there is little quality assessment and no incentive for rational use.

In 2005 the United People's Freedom Alliance Government promised to establish a National Medicinal Drugs Policy (NMPD) that would enable Sri Lankans significantly to cut down on drug expenses and get quality drugs at affordable prices while saving billions of rupees in foreign exchange for the country. Implementation of the NMDP could reduce the number of drugs imported, prescribed and sold in Sri Lanka to about 350 varieties.

References
Dr. K Balasubramaniam , 'The neglected solution', Daily News, 30 September 2002.

Dr. K. Balasubramanium, 'Drugs: David and Goliath', Daily Mirror, 8 November 2002.

 Include Medicinal Drugs Policy in Polls Manifesto

Dr. Nihal Jayathilaka, Improving access to affordable essential drugs: the experience of Sri Lanka

Prof. Tissa Vitarana, The Sri Lankan who challenged global giants

Bibile, S, and Lall, S, 'The Political Economy of Controlling Transnationals: The Pharmaceutical Industry in Sri Lanka (1972-76)', World Development, August 1977.

See also
 National pharmaceuticals policy
 Medicare Part D
 Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act
 Prescription drug prices in the United States
 Seneka Bibile
 State Pharmaceuticals Corporation of Sri Lanka

External links
Health Action International Asia-Pacific
Ministry of Health, Draft National Medicinal Drugs Policy for Sri Lanka

Healthcare in Sri Lanka
Pharmaceuticals policy
Pharmaceuticals Policy
Health care reform


Masang Mayoso is a remote village in Tonkolili District in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. The population of the village is almost entirely inhabited by the Temne people and their language also called Temne is by far the most widely spoken language in the village. Masang Mayoso is one of only few places in Sierra Leone where the majority of the people do not understand or speak the Krio language (the most widely spoken language in Sierra Leone).

The village is the birthplace of Foday Sankoh, former leader and founder of the  Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a rebel group that fought a failed ten-year civil war against the government of Sierra Leone, starting in 1991 and ending in 2002. It later developed into a political party, which existed until 2007.

Villages in Sierra Leone
Northern Province, Sierra Leone

Masang Mayoso


Baudouin (; 7 September 1930 – 31 July 1993) was King of the Belgians from 17 July 1951 until his death in 1993. He was the last Belgian king to be sovereign of the Congo.

Baudouin was the elder son of King Leopold III (1901–1983) and his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden (1905–1935). Because he and his wife, Queen Fabiola, had no children, at Baudouin's death the crown passed to his younger brother, King Albert II.

Childhood and accession

Prince Baudouin was born on 7 September 1930 in the Château du Stuyvenberg, near Laeken, Brussels, the elder son and second child of Prince Leopold, then Duke of Brabant, and his first wife, Princess Astrid of Sweden. In 1934, Baudouin's grandfather King Albert I of Belgium was killed in a rock climbing accident; Leopold became king and the three-year-old Baudouin became Duke of Brabant as heir apparent to the throne. Baudouin's mother died in 1935 in an automobile accident, when Baudouin was nearly five.  Later, in 1941, his father remarried to Mary Lilian Baels (later became Princess of Réthy). This marriage produced three more children: Prince Alexandre, Princess Marie-Christine (who is also Baudouin's goddaughter) and Princess Marie-Esméralda. Baudouin and his siblings had a close relationship with their stepmother and they called her "Mother". His education began at the age of seven, his tutors taught him half his lessons in French and half in Dutch. He frequently accompanied his father to parades and ceremonies and became well known to the public.

Despite maintaining strict neutrality during the opening months of the Second World War, on 10 May 1940, Belgium was invaded by Nazi Germany. Baudouin, his elder sister Princess Josephine-Charlotte and his younger brother Prince Albert, were immediately sent to France for safety and then to Spain. The Belgian Army, assisted by the French and British, conducted a defensive campaign lasting 18 days, but Leopold, who had taken personal command, surrendered unconditionally on 28 May. Although the Belgian government escaped to form a Belgian government in exile, Leopold elected to remain in Belgium, and was placed under house arrest at the Palace of Laeken, from where he attempted to reach an understanding with the Germans, especially in respect of Belgian prisoners of war who were being held in Germany. The children returned to Laeken from Spain on 6 August.

Leopold had established a royal Scout group at the palace for his sons, whose members were drawn from the various Belgian Scout associations. In April 1943, the wearing of uniforms was banned by the occupation forces and although Leopold was told that the royal group was exempt, insisted that the ban should apply to them too. However, Baudouin was about to be invested as a Scout and persuaded his father to delay the ban for one day so that the ceremony could take place.

Immediately following the Normandy landings in June 1944, the king, his new wife Princess Lilian, and the royal children, were deported to Hirschstein in Germany and then to Strobl in Austria from where they were released in May 1945 by the United States 106th Cavalry Regiment. However, the royal family were prevented from returning to Belgium by the "Royal Question" over whether Leopold had collaborated with the Nazis; the surrender in 1940, his refusal to join the government-in-exile, his fruitless visit to Adolf Hitler at the Berghof in November 1940 and his unconstitutional marriage to Lilian whose father was believed to be pro-Nazi. Until a political solution could be found, the king's brother, Prince Charles became regent and the royal family lived at the Château du Reposoir in Pregny-Chambésy, Switzerland. Baudouin continued his education at a secondary school in Geneva and visited the United States in 1948. In a referendum in March 1950, the public narrowly voted for the king to return and he was recalled on 4 June 1950. However, parliamentary dissent and public protests forced Leopold to delegate his powers to Baudouin on 11 August 1950, and finally to abdicate in favour of Baudouin, who took the oath of office as King of the Belgians on 17 July 1951.

Marriage

On 15 December 1960, Baudouin was married in Brussels to Doña Fabiola de Mora y Aragón. Fabiola was a Spanish noblewoman who was working as a nurse. The couple announced their engagement on 16 September 1960 at the Castle of Laeken.

Fabiola began undertaking official engagements immediately, accompanying the king to lay a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Brussels on 26 September 1960, and remained an active Queen Consort and Queen Dowager for the rest of her life, involved in social causes particularly those related to mental health, children's issues and women's issues.

The king and queen had no children; all of the queen's five pregnancies ended in miscarriage.

Notable events

During Baudouin's reign the colony of Belgian Congo became independent. During the parade following the last ceremonial inspection of the Force Publique, the royal sabre of the king was momentarily stolen by Ambroise Boimbo. The photograph, taken by Robert Lebeck, was widely published in world newspapers, with some seeing the act as a humiliation for the king. The next day the king attended the official reception; he gave a speech that received a blistering response by Congolese Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba.

As the head of state of Belgium, Baudouin, along with French President Charles de Gaulle, were the two prominent world leaders at the state funerals of two American presidents, John F. Kennedy in November 1963 and his predecessor Dwight D. Eisenhower in March 1969. At Kennedy's funeral, Baudouin was accompanied by Paul-Henri Spaak, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and former three-time Prime Minister of Belgium. At Eisenhower's funeral, his next visit to the United States, he was accompanied by Prime Minister Gaston Eyskens.

In 1976, on the 25th anniversary of Baudouin's accession, the King Baudouin Foundation was formed, with the aim of improving the living conditions of the Belgian people.

He was the 1,176th Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece in Spain, which was bestowed upon him in 1960, the 927th Knight of the Order of the Garter, bestowed upon him in 1963, and also the last living knight of the Papal Supreme Order of Christ.

Religious influences
Baudouin was a devout Roman Catholic.  Through the influence of Leo Cardinal Suenens, Baudouin participated in the growing Renewal Movement and regularly went on pilgrimages to the French shrine of Paray-le-Monial.

In 1990, when a law submitted by Roger Lallemand and Lucienne Herman-Michielsens that liberalized Belgium's abortion laws was approved by Parliament, he refused to give Royal Assent to the bill.  This was unprecedented; although Baudouin was de jure Belgium's chief executive, Royal Assent has long been a formality (as is the case in most constitutional and popular monarchies). However, due to his religious convictions—the Catholic Church opposes all forms of abortion—Baudouin asked the Government to declare him temporarily unable to reign so that he could avoid signing the measure into law. The Government under Wilfried Martens complied with his request on 4 April 1990. According to the provisions of the Belgian Constitution, in the event the king is temporarily unable to reign, the Government as a whole assumes the role of head of state. All members of the Government signed the bill, and the next day (5 April 1990) the Government declared that Baudouin was capable of reigning again.

Baudouin and the death of Patrice Lumumba

In 1960, Baudouin declared the Belgian colony of Congo independent. During the declaration of independence, Baudouin delivered a highly contested speech in which he celebrated the acts of the first Belgian owner of the Congo, King Leopold II, whom he described as "a genius". In the same event on the day of that independent status, the first democratically elected prime minister of Congo, Patrice Lumumba, responded in a speech that was hypercritical of the Belgian regime. Lumumba cited the killings of many Congolese, as well as the insults, humiliation and the slavery they experienced.

Lumumba's speech infuriated Baudouin and generated extreme conflicts between the two men. After the independence of Congo, the natural resource-rich Katanga Province orchestrated a secession that received substantial military and financial support from the Belgian government, as well as from Belgian companies with business interests in Katanga. King Baudouin strengthened his relationships with the Katangese politician Moise Tshombé, whom he made a Knight in the Belgian Order of Leopold. In the meantime, Belgium's government, as well as the CIA, supported or organized plots to assassinate Lumumba.

In early December 1960, Lumumba and two colleagues, Maurice Mpolo and Joseph Okito, political colleagues who had planned to assist him in setting up a new government, were imprisoned in military barracks located about  from Leopoldville. They were underfed and mistreated, per Mobutu Sese Seko's orders. Lumumba registered his objections, writing directly to Indian and U.N. diplomat Rajeshwar Dayal, "in a word, we are living amid absolutely impossible conditions; moreover, they are against the law". Dayal later headed the United Nations Operation in the Congo, which aimed to deescalate the hostilities in that country. Lumumba and his associates were released in mid-January 1961. Within hours, they were again captured, transported, beaten, then executed and buried in a shallow grave by Congolese soldiers under Belgian command. Belgian police officer Gerard Soete quickly exhumed, dismembered Lumumba's body, and dissolved the corpse in acid. Dayal would later become India's foreign secretary. Lumumba's assassination shocked Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru who called it "an international crime of the first magnitude."

In 2001, a parliamentary investigation set up by the Belgian government concluded that King Baudouin, amongst others, was informed of the assassination scheme developed by the subsequent dictator Joseph Mobutu Sese Seko and the Katangese rebel Moise Tshombé. Both men had conspired with a Belgian colonel, Guy Weber, to "neutralize Lumumba, if possible physically." The king was informed of the plot, but did nothing to oppose the murder. His lack of intervention was described as "incriminating" by the parliamentary investigation, although there was no conclusory evidence found that the king ordered the specifics of the plans.

Death, succession, and legacy

Baudouin reigned for 42 years. He died of heart failure on 31 July 1993 in the Villa Astrida in Motril, in the south of Spain. Although in March 1992 the king had been operated on for a mitral valve prolapse in Paris, his death still came unexpectedly, and sent much of Belgium into a period of deep mourning. His death notably stopped the 1993 24 Hours of Spa sportscar race, which had reached the 15-hour mark when the news broke.

Within hours the Royal Palace gates and enclosure were covered with flowers that people brought spontaneously. A viewing of the body was held at the Royal Palace in central Brussels; 500,000 people (5% of the population) came to pay their respects. Many waited in line up to 14 hours in sweltering heat to see their King one last time. All European monarchs attended the funeral service, including Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms (the only foreign state funeral ever attended by her in person as monarch), as did Emperor Akihito of Japan. Non-royal guests at the funeral included more than 20 presidents and leaders, such as UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, European Commission President Jacques Delors, French President François Mitterrand, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, German President Richard von Weizsacker, Polish President Lech Walesa, Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic, Italian President Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, Canadian Governor General Ray Hnatyshyn and former American President Gerald Ford.

King Baudouin was interred in the royal vault at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken, Brussels, Belgium. He was succeeded by his younger brother, who became King Albert II.

A statue of him in Brussels was vandalised in June 2020, following George Floyd protests in Belgium.

Honours

Belgian distinctions

  Grand Cordon in the Order of Leopold
  Grand Cross in the Order of the African Star
  Grand Cross in the Royal Order of the Lion
  Grand Cross in the Order of the Crown
  Grand Cross in the Order of Leopold II

Other European distinctions

  Grand Star in the Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria
  Bavarian Order of Merit (West Germany)
  Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Grand Cross Special Class (West Germany)
  Knight in the Order of the Elephant (Denmark)
  Grand Cross in the Order of the White Rose of Finland
  Grand Cross in the Legion of Honour (France)
  Grand Cross in the Order of the Redeemer (Greece)
  Grand Cross in the Order of the Falcon (Iceland)
  Knight Grand Cross in the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (Italy)
  Knight in the Order of the Golden Lion of Nassau (Luxembourg)
  Grand Cross in the Order of Saint-Charles (Monaco)
  Grand Cross in the Order of the Netherlands Lion (Netherlands)
  Grand Cross in the Order of St. Olav (Norway)
  Grand Collar in the Order of Prince Henry (Portugal)
  Grand Cross in the Military Order of Aviz (Portugal)
  Grand Cross in the Order of Santiago (Portugal)
  Grand Cross in the Military Order of Christ (Portugal)
  Sash of the Three Orders (Portugal)
  First Class in the Order of the Star of the Socialist Republic of Romania
  Grand Cross in the Order of San Marino
  Knight in the Order of the Golden Fleece (Spain)
  Grand Collar in the Order of Charles III (Spain)
  Knight of the Collar in the Order of Isabella the Catholic (Spain)
  Knight in the Order of the Seraphim (Sweden)
  Stranger Knight Companion of the Order of the Garter (UK)
  Badge of Honour of the Order of the Yugoslavian Great Star (Yugoslavia)

Latin-American distinctions

  Grand Cross in the Order of the Liberator General San Martín (Argentina)
  Grand Cross in the Order of the Southern Cross (Brazil)
  Collar of the Order of Merit (Chile)
  Extraordinary Grand Cross in the Order of Boyacá (Colombia)
  Collar in the Order of the Aztec Eagle (Mexico)
  Grand Cross of the Order of Rubén Dario (Nicaragua)
  Grand Cross with Diamonds of the Order of the Sun of Peru
  Collar in the Order of the Liberator (Venezuela)

African distinctions

  Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Karyenda (Burundi)
  Grand Cross in the Order of Merit (Cameroon)
  Grand Cross in the Order of Central African Merit
  Grand Cross in the Order of the Green Crescent of Comoros
  Grand Cordon in the National Order of the Leopard (Congo)
  Collar in the Order of the Seal of Solomon (Ethiopia)
  Grand Cross of the Order of the Equatorial Star (Gabon)
  Crand Cross of the National Order of the Ivory Coast
  Grand Cross of the Order of the Pioneers of Liberia
  Grand Cordon of the Order of the Throne (Morocco)
  Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger
  Grand Cross in the National Order (Rwanda)
  Crand Cross of the National Order of Senegal
  Grand Cross in the Order of the Independence (Tunesia)
  Grand Cross in the Nationale Order (Opper-Volta)

Asian and Middle-East distinctions

  Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Cambodia
  Badge of honour of the Bintang Republik Indonesia Adipurna
  Grand Cross in the Order of Pahlavi (Iran)
  25th Centennial Anniversary Medal Ribbon (Iran)
  Colar in the Order of the Chrysanthemum (Japan)
  Grand Cross in the Grand Order of Mugunghwa (South-Korea)
  Grand Cross in the Order of Merit (Lebanon)
  Colar in the Order of Kink Abdul Aziz (Saudi Arabia)
  Knight-Grand Cross in the Order of the Royal House of Chakri (Thailand)
  Knight Grand Cordon in the Order of Chula Chom Klao (Thailand)

Religious distinctions
The Catholic and very pious Baudouin had been awarded some special honours associated with that faith.
  Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
  Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre (Spain)
  Collar of the Supreme Order of Christ (Vatican City)
  Collar of the Supreme Order of the Most Holy Annunciation (House of Savoy)

Ancestry

See also
 Kings of Belgium family tree
 Crown Council of Belgium
 Royal Trust
 Herman Liebaers (Marshal of the Royal Household)
 André Molitor (private secretary)
 Jacques van Ypersele de Strihou (private secretary)
 Pierre-Yves Monette (advisor)
 King Baudouin Ice Shelf, Antarctica
 List of covers of Time magazine (1950s)

Notes

References

Sources

Bibliography

Other languages
 A. Molitor, La fonction royale en Belgique, Brussels, 1979
 J.Stengers, De koningen der Belgen. Van Leopold I tot Albert II, Leuven, 1997.
 Kardinaal Suenens, Koning Boudewijn. Het getuigenis van een leven, Leuven, 1995.
 Kerstrede 18 December 1975, (ed.V.Neels), Wij Boudewijn, Koning der Belgen. Het politiek, sociaal en moreel testament van een nobel vorst, deel II, Gent, 1996.
 H. le Paige (dir.), Questions royales, Réflexions à propos de la mort d'un roi et sur la médiatisation de l'évènement, Brussels, 1994.

External links
 Official biography from the Belgian Royal Family website

 Archive Baudouin of Belgium, Royal museum for central Africa

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1930 births
1993 deaths
20th-century Belgian monarchs
People from Laeken
Belgian Congo
Belgian anti-communists
Belgian monarchs
Belgian expatriates in Switzerland
Dukes of Brabant
Princes of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha
House of Belgium
Alumni of Institut Le Rosey
Belgian Roman Catholics
Belgian people of Swedish descent
Burials at the Church of Our Lady of Laeken
20th-century Roman Catholics

Grand Crosses of the Royal Order of the Lion
Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium)
Recipients of the Grand Cross of the Order of Leopold II

Grand Collars of the Order of Prince Henry
Grand Crosses Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
Knights of the Golden Fleece of Spain
Extra Knights Companion of the Garter
Recipients of the Order of the Netherlands Lion
Baudouin of Belgium
3
Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
Recipients of the Grand Star of the Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria
Knights Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic
Collars of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
Knights of the Holy Sepulchre
Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Takovo
House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (Belgium)
Sons of kings

Baudouin of Belgium


RZ Gruis is a nova-like binary system in the constellation Grus composed of a white dwarf and an F-type main-sequence star. It is generally of apparent magnitude of 12.3 with occasional dimming to 13.4. Its components are thought to orbit each other roughly every 8.5 to 10 hours (much longer than most nova-like variables, which have periods of around 3 to 4 hours). It belongs to the UX Ursae Majoris subgroup of cataclysmic variable star systems, where material from the donor star is drawn to the white dwarf where it forms an accretion disc that remains bright and outshines the two component stars. The system is around 1,434 light-years away from Earth; or as much as 1,770 light years based on a Gaia parallax.

Originally named and discovered to be variable in 1949, RZ Gruis was discovered to be a cataclysmic variable after its spectrum was investigated in 1980. Considered initially to be a hot, blue B-type star, it was found to have Balmer emission lines of the hydrogen atom. If it were indeed a B-type main-sequence star (and hence lie at a remote 35,000 light-years' distance), it would lie well out of the galactic plane. The investigators proposed that the emission lines have arisen from an accretion disc around a white dwarf rather than from the star itself. The system is poorly known, though the donor star has been calculated to be of spectral type F5V. These stars have spectra very similar to novae that have returned to quiescence after outbursts, yet they have not been observed to have erupted themselves. The American Association of Variable Star Observers recommends watching this class of star for future events such as possible nova eruptions.

References

Grus (constellation)
Binary stars
Nova-like variables
Cataclysmic variable stars
Gruis, RZ

RZ Gruis


Alan Lake Chidsey (March 13, 1904 – October 1981) was an American secondary educator.

Chidsey was born in Easton, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Union College in 1925 and continued his education at Harvard University. In 1934 he married Ellis Cochran Brown from Greenwich, Connecticut. They had two children, Peter Chidsey and Ellen Chidsey Hays.

A professional educator and school administrator, before World War II, Chidsey served as headmaster of the Pawling School (today called Trinity-Pawling School) in Pawling, New York and as principal of the now-defunct Arizona Desert School in the Catalina Mountains near Tucson, Arizona. Military service interrupted his career as a teacher and school administrator.

In 1942, he was inducted as a lieutenant in the United States Army. Rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel by 1945, Chidsey served in a variety of administrative positions in Washington, D.C., and developed educational materials for the wartime Army.

After World War II, Chidsey briefly served as assistant dean of students of the University of Chicago, with supervision over undergraduate activities. In 1946 a group of prominent Houstonians invited Chidsey to their city to discuss the establishment of a coeducational private school.  He was asked to spearhead efforts which led to the establishment of St. John's School, located in the River Oaks neighborhood of Houston. Though St. John's opened with 344 students and a small campus linked to St. John the Divine Church, it grew into a large, independent school with a sizeable campus scattered over several city blocks in central Houston. Chidsey served as headmaster of St. John's from its founding until May 1966, when he was succeeded by Elwood Kimball Salls.  Chidsey shaped the school in its formative years. He even supplied the school's seal, which was a near-exact replication of the Trinity-Pawling seal.

Chidsey was also the author of several books, including historical works on Rustam, Odysseus, and Romulus; Heinz, a satire of service in World War II; and My Animal Friends, a book of poems about animals with lessons for people.

References
The Northumberland County Historical Society Bulletin (1945), pp. 237–238
Union College Academic Register 2005–2006, p. 192
History of St. John's School

1904 births
1981 deaths
20th-century American poets
20th-century American educators
United States Army personnel of World War II
Harvard University alumni
Writers from Easton, Pennsylvania
Union College (New York) alumni
University of Chicago faculty
20th-century American non-fiction writers
United States Army colonels
Military personnel from Pennsylvania

Alan Lake Chidsey


The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a novel written by Stephen Chbosky (this sounds like: "Stiven Shebosky") and released in 1999. Each chapter of the book is a letter written by the main character, a boy of 15 called Charlie, to an unnamed friend. When you read the book, this gives the feeling that Charlie is writing to you.

Background and Publication
In the book, the English teacher gives Charlie books to read that he thought he would enjoy. One of these books is "The Catcher in the Rye" by J. D. Salinger, which Chbosky says was an inspiration for him to write "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". Also some music titles had inspired him, for example ''Asleep" from "The Smiths".

Stephen Chbosky was born in Pittsburgh, the same town where "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" plays. He has said that much of what Charlie writes about in the book is based on what he, the author, has experienced himself.

The book was published on 1 February 1999 by Pocket Books and was later translated in 13 languages and sold in 16 countries all over the world, especially when a film based on the book was made in 2012.

Plot

p. 1-21
Charlie writes letters anonymously, he changes all the names, that way the reader won't find out who he is. And all of them are sent to someone because he wants for someone to listen and understand him. He explains his life through these letters. Firstly, he talks about his friend Michael who killed himself. Charlie does not understand why he did it, but he is really emotional because of it. Charlie is told that one of the reasons why he killed himself is because of "problems at home". Charlie starts to ask himself if he is in a similar position, then he introduces his family members and relationship with them. He mentions his aunt Helen who was his favorite person, however she died. Charlie is about to start high school, and he is nervous about it. He doesn't like high school and finds it completely different from middle school. He realizes that everybody has changed and they behave differently with him. He feels lonely and wants to have friends. He has a good relationship with his teacher Bill, who believes that he has a great skill at reading and understanding language. Charlie talks about his sister and her boyfriend, who fight a lot. He one time catches them having sex, but he is too innocent to understand.

p. 21-38
Charlie goes to the football game, that he used to go to with his dead friend Michael. There he meets Patrick and Sam for the first time. Patrick and Sam are step siblings and Charlie develops a crush on Sam, but Sam has no interest in Charlie. After thinking a lot about girls and couples he goes to Bill and tells him what is bothering him: his sister's boyfriend Derek had hit her. When the teacher talks about it with their parents, the dad does not allow his daughter to see Derek anymore and she gets mad with Charlie. At that moment, Charlie has a flashback of his past, in which a girl is raped by a guy in his room in front of him. Charlie goes to a party with his new friends, Sam and Patrick, where he gets stoned for the first time. After that night, everyone calls him Wallflower.

p. 40-65
Charlie talks for the first time about Mary Elisabeth. He then explains Patrick and Brads complete story, of how they met and how Brad went through a very rough phase at the beginning of their relationship. He talks about his possibilities for jobs in the future and how he is momentarily working for Mary Elisabeth writing a newspaper of a play, Sam and Patrick play in. Charlie recalls memories with Michael. Charlie and his friends play a "secret Santa" together, where Charlie reads out a poem that Michael gave to him, however he does not know that it was written by Michael.

p. 65-84
Sam and Patrick are visiting the Grand Canyon, so Charlie is alone. Soon it is Christmas and Charlies birthday. He hates it, because it is the day where his aunt Helen died, so it is a hard time for him. Charlie feels very guilty for her death, because she died in a car accident while buying him a birthday present. For Christmas, Charlie goes with his family to the family of his dad. In his old room, he thinks a lot about his family and about Helen. His mother is very worried about him, because after the death of Helen he had to go to the hospital and had to talk with a doctor. Charlie still sometimes has panic attacks when he thinks too much about it. After visiting Helen's grave, he feels better but is still missing her. When Charlie drives to a New Year's Eve party he finally sees Sam and Patrick again.

p. 86-105
Charlie writes letters to an unknown person. He tells about his family and about his past. Charlie is very happy, because the conversation with his psychiatrist makes him very happy. Charlie talks with his friends about his psychiatrist, the Beatles, and more. Charlie writes about an awkward situation. He got an erection in class and had to go to the blackboard. He was only wearing a swimsuit so you could see his erection. Charlie also asked a girl for a date, but she does not want to answer him and be alone. Then he went with another girl to the prom, which then ran away. When he came home, he suddenly heard his sister crying again because she was pregnant.

p. 106-119
Charlie asked his dad for the car, because he was going to have another date with Mary Elisabeth. That night, dad came to his room and talked about sex to Charlie. Then they went to the record store and had first sex there. Since they were together, Mary Elisabeth was calling Charlie every day. Charlie's parents invited Sam and Patrick for a dinner, Mary Elisabeth asked to join them. After that, Charlie came to find his sister and brother to ask, how to deal with Mary Elisabeth. Next day in school, Mary Elisabeth gave Charlie a book, but he returned it to the book store. Then he regretted and got it back and brought Mary Elisabeth a gift. On Friday, they had a party in Craig's house and they played "Truth or Dare", Charlie chose a dare and had to kiss the most beautiful girl in the room. Without thinking, he kissed Sam, and after that the relationship between him and Mary Elizabeth was broken and the entire group told him they didn't want to see him anymore.

p. 122-137

Charlie is lonely without his friends. He is trying to survive the grey days by analyzing his environment, especially people's behaviour. He spends his time at the local mall alone, sometimes with the English teacher, Bob, and his books. Once he met with Susan, he asked her about their dead friend: "Do you ever miss him ?" The girl just bats her eyelids and stayed quiet. Susan's company said something rude behind Charlie's back. Brad appears at school, but he has changed a lot. Brad wounded Patrick's heart with words, like "faggot" at the cafeteria. During this tough period, Charlie stands on Patrick's  side, he even fought for him. At a Saturday morning, Charlie got a phone call from Patrick, which made his day. Since then, they spend days together, Charlie means a lot to Patrick. Charlie also apologized to Mary Elisabeth at the Rocky Horror Picture Show, Mary Elisabeth found a new boy, Patrick decided to quit playing Frank 'N' Furter.

p. 137-155
Patrick must stand a bad phase. Charlie tries to help him to go through it and Patrick takes him to places where gay men meet anonymously. All seniors like Patrick, Sam and his sister make plans for their future after graduating. Patrick will visit college in Washington, Sam will start at Penn State. Patrick plays the Frank 'N' Further one last time. Charlie's sister watches the show with her boyfriend. Mary Elizabeth kisses Peter at Craig's Party and Charlie is happy for them. Bill invites Charlie to his house to spend and afternoon with him and his girlfriend. Sam and Craig broke up because he cheated on her ever since the beginning of the relationship. Bill thanks Charlie because it was an honor for him to teach him. Bill says Charlie is one of the most gifted people he's ever met.

Author
Stephen Chbosky (born January 25,1970 in Pittsburgh) is an American novelist, film director, and screenwriter. He is known for writing "The Perks of Being a Wallflower", which is a New-York-Times Bestseller. Chbosky is also known for writing and directing the movie version of this book, starring Logan Lerman, Emma Watson and Ezra Miller. Later, he wrote the screenplay for the movies "Rent" and the live-action adaptation of "Beauty and the Beast" of 2017. Stephen Chbosky also directed the movie "Wonder".

Themes

Coming of age
In most parts of the book, Charlie is talking about the struggles of coming of age. His everyday problems can be divided into three sectors. When describing his "friend", he complains the "fears of adulthood". Stephen Chbosky summarises this aspect with the well-fitting quote "It's much easier not to know things sometimes." Charlie, the "wallflower" isn't ready to take the responsibility for his own life. High school, love and parties are overstraining him. "People who try to control situations all the time are afraid that if they don't, nothing will work out the way they want."  is Charlie's way to accept, that life happens the way it does and that he must stand it.

Main quote of the second part of coming of age, "What you need in life", is "We accept the love we deserve." Bill teaches Charlie that it needs more than people who give you love. You must give back. You must love yourself. You must trust others. You can't love alone. Charlie is also wishing for a person to keep contact "I just need to know that someone out there listens and understands." By all the mess he had to go through, he tries not to lose his good mind about community.

Last main part of growing up is "becoming individual". Sam, and also Charlie, understand that being an adult means to be unique. "I'm going to do what I want to do. I'm going to be who I really am. And I'm going to figure out what that is.". That's the way Sam declares her readiness. But adolescence also is about doubting, "Just tell me how to be different in a way that makes sense." The book conveys an important advice to pass adolescence: Just be yourself, find out who you are, leave your past far behind, but never forget where you started.

Music
Music is a very important part of Charlie's life. Mostly, he listens to music in the car, either on the radio or from one of his mix tapes. These mix tapes are pretty special, because they are made by a person with their personal and favorite songs. Charlie thinks that when you know the taste of music of a person, then you already know them, because music says a lot about someone. Because of the personality, mix tapes are often used as a present. With music, Charlie connects a lot of memories, from car rides, high school dances, theatres or parties. On the mix tape of his sister is Charlie's favorite song, called "Asleep". He really loves this song and whenever he feels sad or lonely, Charlie listens to it.

Literature
In the novel, many books by other authors are mentioned. Charlie's English teacher sees that Charlie loves reading and writing, so he helps him develop his skills by giving him extra "homework": books to read and essays to write.

Those books are:

"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee
 "This Side of Paradise" by F.Scott Fitzgerald
"Peter Pan" by J.M. Barrie
"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald
 "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles
 "The Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger
 "Naked Lunch" by William S. Burroughs
 "The Stranger" by Albert Camus
 "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand

Charlie likes all the books except  "Naked Lunch" because he does not understand it.

All these books were written between 1911 and 1960; by and by, Charlie starts to see similarities in the books.

Sport
Charlie went to the high school football game. He went to the games sometimes, when the games were popular and sometimes Susan and Michael were there, but this time, Michael is gone and Susan hangs around different boys, also he went alone. He knew Patrick in the football game. He loves the "Football game", then he can analyse play-by-play.

Mental illnesses
Although it's not clearly said in the novel, Charlie probably has several mental illnesses, including: Asperger's, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), occasional depression, and perhaps drug(cannabis)-induced psychosis and/or schizophrenia. Before the end of the novel Charlie's state of mental health deteriorates, because of his emerging PTSD (from the death of aunt Helen) and perhaps psychosis and/or schizophrenia. He is brought to a mental hospital, from which he finally recovers. Early in the book, it is mentioned that Charlie's best friend Michael appeared to have suffered from depression and had killed himself (before the book). There are several more people in the book who appear to have depression and/or bipolar disorder.

Suicide
Teenagers, like adults, may decide to take their lives for a variety of reasons. Michael, who was Charlie's friend, had committed suicide (killed himself) but the reason behind it is never explicitly said in the novel. The school counselor guessed that he might have had "a problem at home" but nobody to talk to, so he felt desperate and lonely. As suicide is a tragic event, it impacted many of the people around him, like Charlie (his best friend) and Susan, (his girlfriend), in addition to the rest of his school. It did, however, help the staff and students become more aware of mental illness in and beyond the school. In addition, it is mentioned in the book that both Bridget and Carl struggled with suicidal thoughts when facing problems in their lives.

LGBTQI
This theme appears often in the book, as one of the main characters, Patrick, is homosexual. Patrick is in a relationship with Brad, they are two very different people with very different lives. Brad is one of the most popular boys in school and is dating a girl to cover up his sexuality because he is ashamed of people knowing. Patrick is known by the nickname "Nothing" in school and is bullied often, however that doesn't disturb him at all. In their relationship they go through pain, fear, love, but mostly sorrow. Their whole relationship is told from Charlie's perspective. He explains the phases Patrick goes through and stories he is told throughout their affair. Brad at the beginning had to take drugs and alcohol every time they got together, so that he had something to blame for the next day. Patrick was always very upset about this, however when it finally stopped he wasn't at all bothered that Brad wanted to keep it a secret, as he had deep feelings for him. Things start becoming more complicated when Brad's dad walks in on them. Brad is beat up terribly by his father, which caused him not to come to school for a week and ignore Patrick completely. When Brad comes back to school he calls Patrick "faggot" in the cafeteria, in front of the whole school. This provokes a huge fight, including Brad's friends and Charlie who ends the fight. Brad and Patrick never get back together.

Family relationships
Charlie's family consists of both of his parents, mom and dad, an older brother who is in college and an older sister who is a senior in high school. The family member Charlie is closest with is his mom's sister: aunt Helen. Unfortunately, she died in a car accident on his seventh birthday. Often, Charlie gets flashbacks about her, but he wouldn't understand why it happened. He later realizes after being in the hospital because of a mental breakdown, that his aunt Helen used to sexually abuse of him. Charlie's mom is always home, and does not work. According to Charlie, she is quiet and does not talk much, but when she does everybody listens to her. His dad is considered an honest man by Charlie, he is a hardworking man and a good husband. Since his brother is in college, he loses connection with him, and they don't talk much after that. However Charlie and his brother were never close in that sense. Charlie's relationship with his sister gets worse when he sees her boyfriend hit her. Eventually, Charlie discovers that his sister is pregnant, and he agrees to bring her to an abortion clinic and keep it a secret. She then breaks up with her boyfriend and the relationship between Charlie and her improves. Everybody in Charlie's family is busy and nobody ever has time for him. For that same reason, Charlie feels lonely and sometimes even depressed.

Drugs
In the book "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" Charlie has a few experiences with drugs, at parties he goes to. Unfortunately, these were all due to bad influences from Patrick since his confusion with finding himself made him try different things.

Movie adaption
The book was adapted into a movie in 2012, having Stephen Chbosky direct it and starring Logan Lerman as Charlie, Emma Watson as Sam and Ezra Miller as Patrick. Although the plot of the movie shows many similarities to the novel, it has some clear and distinctive differences. For example, in the movie, Charlie helps Sam with schoolwork to improve her grades, but this is not mentioned in the novel. And the side-story about Charlie's sister getting pregnant is only in the book, not in the movie.

The movie received mostly positive reviews following its first appearance in theaters, including 85% positive feedback on the website Rotten Tomatoes.

References

American young adult novels
1999 books

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (novel)


The Metro / Te Ananui Caves are a maze of limestone caves formed by the underground capture of Ananui Creek, a tributary of the Waitakere / Nile River.  The caves are located in the Paparoa National Park in New Zealand, managed by the Department of Conservation.  Parts of the cave system are accessible by cave tours and rafting, operated by a commercial tour operator out of Charleston.

History
The karst landscape in the area was under the sea some 30 million years ago, then pushed upwards over time. Over the past 200,000 years, weathering and water have been dissolving the limestone and shaping both the surface as well as the underground.
Te Ananui Cave contains fossils and bones carbon-dated to between 300 and 25,000 years old, as well as shellfish fossils in the limestone itself.

Geography
Tours from Charleston access Te Ananui Caves via a 3 km narrow road, followed by a bush tram ride and a short walk.  The walking track crosses the Waitakere or Nile River on a suspension bridge to reach the Triclops entrance halfway up the side of the Nile River valley.

The passages of the 8 km Metro complex get younger from west to east, following the pattern of cave development.  Over time as the land has lifted, the upper levels of the cave system have become dry and have grown various cave formations, while the lower levels continue to be shaped and changed by the underground streams flowing through them.
An easily navigable dry passage leads from the Triclops entrance to the Ananui Creek entrance.

Recreation
A tour company based in Charleston offers several options for exploring the Te Ananui Caves, ranging from a guided walking tour of the upper levels including the Nile River Glowworm Cave, to underground rafting and adventure caving.  A bush tram track was commissioned in 2002 for transport of visitors from the road end to near the cave entrance.

The caves themselves are left in their natural state, with no ladders or suspended walkways, however, the terrain of the upper levels is easy to walk on, comparable to a tramping track. The cave system features several caverns containing stalactites, stalagmites and drapery and can be walked through from one entrance to the other in one hour at a leisurely pace. Near the Ananui Creek entrance, a partially submerged grotto is inhabited by glowworms and cave weta. The grotto can be accessed by foot on dry ground along the edges.

Cave rafting tours explore the wetter parts of the cave system on inflatable tubes, continuing down the gentle rapids of the Nile River.

See also
Caving in New Zealand

References

External links

Caves of New Zealand
Limestone caves
Wild caves
Buller District
Tourist attractions in the West Coast, New Zealand
Landforms of the West Coast, New Zealand
Show caves in New Zealand
Paparoa National Park

Metro Cave / Te Ananui Cave


Religion in Sweden has, over the years, become increasingly diverse. Christianity was the religion of virtually all of the Swedish population from the 12th to the early 20th century, but it has rapidly declined throughout the late 20th and early 21st century.

Christianity came to Sweden as early as the 9th century mainly as a result of an expansion in trade. The ancient Nordic religions were slowly replaced. Several centuries later all monarchs were Christian and Christianity became the established official religion. The church belonged to the Catholic Church until 1527 when the Swedish state church was established as a Protestant church based on Lutheran principles, following the Protestant Reformation enacted by Martin Luther which converted most of Germanic Europe. The Lutheran Church of Sweden was formed and remained the official religion of the Christian state until the turn of the 21st century.

In recent years, the Swedish religious landscape has become increasingly diverse, with Christians comprising in 2021 some 59.6% (of which 53.2% belonging to the Church of Sweden) of the total population and rising numbers of people of other religions (2.5%) and people who do not belong to any church (37.9%). The Lutheran Church of Sweden – which was the state religion until 2000 – is by far the largest Christian denomination but is facing a continuous decline in registered membership down to 52,8 % of the total population in 2022 Other minor Christian denominations include Free churches, the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches, while members of other religions are mostly Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and Jews.

History

Historical Norse religion

Before the 11th century, Swedes practised Norse religion, worshipping a variety of Germanic deities. An important religious centre was the Temple at Uppsala. The shape and location of this temple is sparsely documented, but it is referenced in the Norse sagas and Saxo Grammaticus' Gesta Danorum, and is also described by Adam of Bremen. It was probably destroyed by King Ingold I in 1087 during the last known battle between the pagans and the Christians.

While Norse religion was officially abandoned with the Christianization of Scandinavia, belief in many spirits of Norse mythology such as tomtar, trolls, elves and dwarves lived on for a long time in Scandinavian folklore.

9th–12th century: Conversion to Catholicism

The oldest evidence of Christian burial sites in Sweden are dated to the 6th century, but they are very few in number. The earliest documented campaign to Christianise the Swedes was made by the monk Ansgar (801–865). Making his first visit to Birka in 828–829, he was granted permission to build a church. In 831, he returned home and became Archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen, with responsibility for Christianity in the north. Around 850, he came back to Birka, where the original congregation had been shattered. Ansgar tried to reestablish it, but it only lasted a few years.

Christianity first gained a hold in Västergötland, probably due to mercantile ties to the Christian Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in England. Remnants of a 9th-century church building has recently been excavated in Varnhem. The diocese of Skara, which is the oldest diocese in Sweden, emerged under the Archdiocese of Hamburg-Bremen, in the late 10th century. According to Adam of Bremen, the Christian king Olof Skötkonung, who ruled from c. 995 to c. 1022 was forced to limit Christian activities to the western province. When King Stenkil ascended to the throne in 1060 Christianity was firmly established throughout most of Sweden, although the people of Uppland, and probably Sodermanland, resisted the new religion.

The last king adhering to the old religion was Blot-Sweyn, who reigned 1084–1087. A handful of local saints (canonized on diocesan level before the centralized process became normative in 1170–1200), folk saints and clerics were allegedly martyred as late as the 1120s, most of them in Sodermanland and Uppland. Under the reign of Eric the Saint (1150–1160) Christianity became an ideological factor of the state, and the First Swedish Crusade took place; it was a military expedition aimed at converting the Finns to Christianity and conquering Finland as Swedish territory. (However, no archeological data or written sources seem to support the legend. The diocese and bishop of Finland are not listed among their Swedish counterparts before the 1250s). A national church of Sweden was not organized until 1164, when the first archbishop of Uppsala received his pallium from the archbishop of Lund.

Pre-Reformation Swedish Catholic religious leaders – including Bridget of Sweden, founder of the continuously functioning Catholic Vadstena Abbey – continue to be held in high regard by the population as a whole. Her nunnery at Vadstena is one of Sweden's pre-eminent tourist attractions.

16th century: Protestant Reformation; conversion to Lutheranism

Shortly after Gustav Vasa was elected king in 1523, he asked the Pope to confirm Johannes Magnus as Archbishop of Sweden, replacing Gustav Trolle, who had supported the Danish king Christian II and was convicted for treason. When the Pope refused, Gustav Vasa – he himself a proponent of a "Renaissance Biblical Humanism" – started to promote the Swedish Lutheran reformers Olaus, Laurentius Petri, and Laurentius Andreae. Gustav Trolle was eventually forced into exile, and soon all ecclesiastical property was transferred to the Crown. In 1531, Laurentius Petri was appointed by the Crown to become the first Lutheran primate of Sweden, and was ordained by five Catholic bishops without papal assent. The ties with Rome were irreversibly cut in 1536, when Canon Law was abolished.

Originally, no changes were made to official church doctrine, and the episcopal organization was retained. Gradually, in spite of popular protests against the introduction of "Luthery", teachings were aligned with continental Lutheranism. Calvinism was, otherwise, refuted as heresy at the synod of Stockholm in 1565. In order to appease the Holy See, king John III of Sweden, one of Gustav Vasa's sons, took measures to bring the Church of Sweden to a theological position influenced by George Cassander, but, in the heat of controversy, such a compromise position did not achieve its intent of reunion. However, after his death, his brother, Duke Charles, summoned the Uppsala Synod in 1593, which declared the Holy Scriptures the sole guideline for faith, with four documents accepted as faithful and authoritative explanations of it: the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed, and the unaltered Augsburg Confession of 1530. The Uppsala Synod also reinstated The Swedish Church Ordinance of 1572, which remained in use until 1686.

The move put Charles at odds with the heir to the throne, his nephew Sigismund, who was raised in the Catholic faith. Although Sigismund promised to uphold Lutheranism, Duke Charles's aspirations to power led to the War against Sigismund, a power struggle that was effectively decided at the Battle of Stångebro in 1598, in favour of Charles and Protestantism.

During the era following the Protestant Reformation, usually known as the period of Lutheran Orthodoxy, small groups of non-Lutherans, especially Calvinist Dutchmen, the Moravian Church and Walloon immigrants from the Southern Netherlands, played a significant role in trade and industry, and were quietly tolerated as long as they kept a low profile.

17th–18th century: Conversion of the Sami, freedom for Christian minorities and Jews
The Sami, who originally had their own shamanistic religion, were converted to Lutheranism by Swedish missionaries in the 17th and 18th centuries. Citizens of foreign nations, mainly Russians, were granted freedom to practice Eastern Orthodox Christianity since the Treaty of Stolbovo in 1617. Anglican and Calvinist foreigners were granted freedom to practice their religions in Stockholm (1741) and Gothenburg (1747). Similar liberties were granted to Catholics in 1781, and an apostolic vicar was sent to Sweden in 1783. In 1782, with the passage of Judereglementet, Jews were allowed to settle in three cities and practice their religion, although they were not allowed to proselytize or marry Christians.

18th–19th century: Crackdown on Pietism and enforcement of Lutheranism
In order to curb Pietism, several royal decrees and parliament acts were issued in the 18th century, such as the Conventicle Act and Kyrkogångsplikt . They forbade Swedish citizens to engage in practices other than mandatory Lutheran Sunday Mass and daily family devotions. Without the presence of a Lutheran clergyman, public religious gatherings were forbidden. It remained illegal until 1860 for Lutheran Swedes to convert to another confession or religion.

19th–20th century: Liberalisation of all religions
In 1860 it became legal to leave the Church of Sweden for the purpose of becoming a member of another officially recognised religious denomination. From 1951, it became legal to leave the church, without providing any reason. From 1951 to 1977 all religious institutions could only be established with the permission of the Crown.

Demographics
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="float:left; margin:1em;"
!Religion, formal affiliation (in 2021)
!Members
!Percent
|-
! style="text-align:left" |Christianity
! style="text-align:left" |6,228,708
! style="text-align:left" |59.6%
|-
|Church of Sweden
|5,563,351
|53.2%
|-
|Eastern Christian Churches
|160,266
|1.5%
|-
|Catholic Church|126,286
|1.2%
|-
|Pentecostal congregations|115,403
|1.1%
|-
|Uniting Church in Sweden|111,456
|1.1%
|-
|Evangelical Free Church
|44,163
|0.42%
|-
|Swedish Evangelical Mission|43,877
|0.42%
|-
|Jehovah's Witnesses
|22,188
|0.21%
|-
|Swedish Alliance Mission|20,898
|0.20%
|-
|Other Christians|20,820
|0.20%
|-
! style="text-align:left" |Non-Christian religions
! style="text-align:left" |261,807
! style="text-align:left" |2.5%
|-
|Islam
|224,459
|2.1%
|-
|Mandaeism
|12,408
|0.12%
|-
|Buddhism
|12,328
|0.12%
|-
|Judaism
|8,153
|0.08%
|-
|Alevism
|4,459
|0.04%
|-
! style="text-align:left" |No affiliation or other religions
! style="text-align:left" |3,961,811
! style="text-align:left" |37.9%
|-
! style="text-align:left" |Total
! style="text-align:left" |10,452,326
! style="text-align:left" |100.0%
|}

The constitution of Sweden provides for freedom of religion, and the government generally respects this right in practice. The government at all levels seeks to protect this right in full and does not tolerate its abuse, either by governmental or private actors. The rights and freedoms enumerated in the constitution include the rights to practice one's religion and protection of religious freedom. The laws concerning religious freedoms are generally observed and enforced at all government levels and by the courts in a non-discriminatory fashion. Legal protections cover discrimination or persecution by private actors.

In the early 2000s about 80% of Swedes belonged to the Church of Sweden. By the end of 2021, this figure had fallen to 53.9%. Other religious organizations keep count of their registered membership, and as reported in the table, as of 2021 the largest religious denominations after the Church of Sweden (53.9%) were the officially registered Muslims (2.1%), members of the Orthodox Church (1.5%), Catholics (1.2%) and members of the Swedish Pentecostal Movement (1.1%).

Eight recognized religious denominations, in addition to the Church of Sweden, raise revenues through member-contributions made through the national tax system. All recognized denominations are entitled to direct government financial support, contributions made through the national tax system, or a mix of both. Certain Christian holidays are national holidays. Individuals in the military may observe their the holidays from their own religious background, in exchange for not taking leave on public holidays. There is no legal requirement for religious groups to register with the government; however, only those faith communities which are registered can receive government funding and tax exemptions.

Religious education is compulsory in public schools. Parents may send their children to religious charter schools, all of which receive school vouchers, provided they adhere to government guidelines on core academic curriculum. The Equality Ombudsman investigates claims of discrimination; discrimination on religious grounds is illegal.

 Surveys
In 2017, the Pew Research Center found in their Global Attitudes Survey that 59.9% of the Swedes regarded themselves as Christians, with 48.7% belonging to the Church of Sweden, 9.5% were Unaffiliated Christians, 0.7% were Pentecostal Protestants, 0.4% were Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox and the Congregationalist were the 0.3% each. Unaffiliated people were the 35.0% divided in 18.8% Atheists, 11.9% nothing in particular and 4.3% Agnostics. Muslims were the 2.2% and members of other religions were the 2.5%.

In 2016 the International Social Survey Programme found that 70.2% of the Swedish population declared belonging to a Christian denomination, with the Church of Sweden being the largest church, accounting for the 65.8% of respondents; the Free Church was the second-largest church accounting for 2.8%, Roman Catholics were 0.7% and Eastern Orthodox were 0.5%; members of other Christian denominations comprised 0.4% of the total population. A further 28.5% declared no religion, 1.1% identified as Muslim and 0.3% declared belonging to other religions.

In 2015 the Eurobarometer found that Christianity was the religion of 47.6% of respondents, with Protestantism being the main denomination with 36.5%, followed by other Christians with 8.6%, Catholics with 1.6% and Eastern Orthodox with 0.8%. 31.0% of the sample identified as agnostic and 19.0% identified as atheist.

 Christianity
In 2021 there were 6,228,708 formally affiliated Christians in Sweden, comprising 59.6% of the total population.

A survey by the Pew Research Center found in spring 2016 that 66.7% out of a sample of 1,000 Swedes claimed to be Christians.

As of 2016, 6,484,203 people, or 64.9% of the total population, were registered members of the various Protestant denominations in Sweden.

 Church of Sweden

Representing about half of the population, the Church of Sweden () is the largest Christian church in Sweden, and also the largest religious body. The church professes the Lutheran faith and is a member of the Porvoo Communion. As of 2022, it had 5,563,351 members, 52,8 % of the Swedish population, although surveys show different figures, ranging from 24% to 52.1%. to 67.3%. Until 2000 it held the position of state religion, and most Swedes were baptised at birth, until 1996 all newborns with at least one parent being a member of the Church of Sweden were also registered as members of the church. Yet the membership is declining rapidly, about 1% each year, for the most recent years even 2%, falling from 95% in 1972 and 82% in 2000. The number of both new baptisms and members has declined since. Indeed, according to official statistics, as of 2021:

 About 1 out of 3 (35.2%) children are christened in the Church of Sweden.
 About 1 out of 4 (23.5%) weddings take place in church.
 About 2 out of 3 (66.8%) Swedes have Christian burials.

The Church of Sweden, by law, is organized in the following manner:
It is an Evangelical Lutheran community of faith manifested in parishes and dioceses. The church also has a national organisation.
It is an open national church which, working with a democratic organisation and through the ministry of the church, covers the whole nation.
The primate of the Church of Sweden is the Archbishop of Uppsala.

 Other Protestant denominations
The 19th century saw the arrival of various evangelical free churches, and, towards the end of the century secularism, leading many to distance themselves from church rituals. Leaving the Church of Sweden became legal with the so-called Dissenter Act of 1860, but only under the provision of entering another denomination. The right to not belong to any religious denomination was established in the law on freedom of religion in 1951.

Today, the Swedish Free Church Council () organizes free churches in Sweden, belonging to various Protestant denominations: Calvinist, Pentecostal, and others. In total the member churches have around 250,000 members. Baptists, Methodists and the Mission Covenant Church of Sweden merged in 2011 into a new denomination: the Uniting Church in Sweden. It is the largest member church in the Swedish Free Church Council, with approximately 65,000 members. One of the Baptist denominations, the Evangelical Free Church in Sweden, has remained an independent denomination outside this merger.

 Catholicism

Most Catholics in Sweden are of Slavic (especially Poles and Croats), South American or Middle Eastern (especially Assyrian) origin.

As of 2021, legally registered Catholics in Sweden were 126,286, comprising 1.2% of the total population, the same percentage was found in a spring 2016 survey in Sweden.

 Orthodoxy
Multiple Orthodox jurisdictions exist in Sweden, including but not limited to the Greek and Serbian Orthodox Churches. There is also a substantial presence of Syriac, Coptic and Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. The Serbian Orthodox Church has several parishes in Sweden, under jurisdiction of Serbian Orthodox Eparchy of Britain and Scandinavia. As of 2021, legally registered Eastern Orthodox Christians were 160,266 and they were the second-largest Christian denomination in Sweden, comprising 1.5% of the total population.

 Restorationist

Jehovah's Witnesses
According to the 2015 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, there are 22,730 active members in Sweden, and 36,270 people attended their annual memorial of Christ's death. This number includes active members and guests.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints claims 9,528 members in 40 congregations in Sweden as of 2022.

Other Abrahamic religions
Islam

Islam entered Sweden primarily through immigration from countries with large Muslim populations (such as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, Iraq, Morocco, Iran, Kosovo and Somalia) in the late 20th century. The Baltic Tatars were the first Muslim group in modern Sweden.

In 2021, Sweden's official statistics counted 224,459 formally affiliated Muslims. The US Department of State's Sweden 2022 International Religious Freedom Report set the 2016 figure at around 8.1% (almost 800,000) of the total Swedish population.

Judaism

The Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities estimates about 20,000 ethnic Jews in Sweden by halakhic criteria. Of them, about 8,153 were members of a Jewish religious congregation in 2021.

Stockholm has the largest community and boasts a primary school, a kindergarten, a library, a bi-monthly publication (Judisk Krönika) and a weekly Jewish radio program. Other cities like Malmö, Gothenburg, Borås, Helsingborg, Lund, and Uppsala have Jewish communities as well. Synagogues can be found in Stockholm (which has two Orthodox and one Conservative synagogue), Göteborg (one Orthodox and one Conservative synagogue), Malmö (one Orthodox synagogue), and in Norrköping (although the Norrköping community is too small to perform regular services).

Bahá'í Faith

In 2020, the Bahá'ís claimed about 1,000 members and 25 local assemblies in Sweden from Umeå in the north to Malmö in the south.

In November 2009 the Swedish paper Västerbottens-Kuriren reported that 25 local non-profit Bahá'í organization had changed their organizational form to religious communions. The central Bahá'í secretariat in Stockholm stated at the time that the Bahá'i Faith in Sweden had 1003 members.

 Dharmic religions
Buddhism

In 2021, there were 12,328 formal affiliated Buddhists in Sweden, comprising 0.12% of the total population.

Hinduism

The 2005 International Religious Freedom Report'' stated that there are between 7,000 and 10,000 Hindus in the country at that time.

In 2020, the Association of Religion Data Archives estimated that there were approximately 13,000 Hindus in Sweden (0.13% of the population).

Germanic Heathenism

Germanic Heathenry, the contemporary continuation of ancient Germanic religion, is represented by various organizations, including the Nordic Asa-Community (), the Swedish Forn Sed Assembly () and the Community for Nordic Faith (). Founded in 2014, the Nordic Asa-Community has quickly grown to become the largest Heathen organization in Sweden, despite being the most recently established among the three.

Freedom of religion
In 2023, the country was scored 4 out of 4 for religious freedom.

See also
Christianization of Scandinavia
Bahá'í Faith in Sweden
Buddhism in Sweden
Hinduism in Sweden
Religion in Europe
Religion by country
Demographics of atheism
Irreligion in Sweden
Sámi shamanism

References

External links

Eurel: sociological and legal data on religions in Europe

Religion in Sweden


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