[img]http://www.catholic-saints.info/images/saint-peter.jpg[/img]

Peter the Apostle

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Peter was born at Bethsaida, near the Sea of Galilee. Peter, whose name was originally Simon, was a fisherman along with his brother Andrew. Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was first a follower of John the Baptist and then became the first apostle of Jesus. Andrew introduced his brother Simon to Jesus. The name Peter, meaning 'rock', was selected by Jesus to indicate that he would be the rock-like foundation on which the Church would be built.

Peter was a faithful follower of Jesus although at the Last Supper Jesus predicted that Peter would deny him three times following his death. Jesus said unto him, "Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." At the time of the arrest of Jesus, Peter cut off the ear of a servant of the high priest with a sword but then, as had been predicted, he denied three times that he had never known Jesus.

Peter then travelled to spread the Gospel and was in Rome in 63/64AD during the rule of the Roman Emperor Nero (r.54-68). In 64 AD Nero set fire to Rome and blamed the Christians for its destruction. Peter was one of the Christians who was taken prisoner and was sentenced to death by crucifixion. Saint Peter was crucified with his head downwards because he did not consider himself worthy to die in the same manner and posture as his Divine Master.

St. Paul the Apostle

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Paul was born as Saul in c 3 AD at Tarsus, Cilicia (modern Turkey)He was the son of Jewish parents who was brought up according to the strict influential party of the Pharisees who enjoyed the high distinction of Roman citizenship. The Pharisees were extremely zealous in their commitment to the Law and who would later oppose and persecute Jesus and His teachings and plot his death.

Paul's family were tent-makers by trade. He did not get to know Jesus during His early years as he travelled a lot. When he returned to Jerusalem he became a bitter opponent of Jesus and the new Christian religion. Saul travelled to Damascus to arrest another group of Christians. On his journey to Damascus he was knocked to the ground and struck blind by a heavenly light and received a special revelation which had a profound spiritual effect on him.

Saul converted to Christianity and was later baptised with the name of Paul. He began travelling and preaching and spent time preparing for his evangelical mission. He travelled with Barnabas on his first missionary journey to preach in Tarsus, Damascus, Antioch and Cyprus. He then went on to preach in Asia Minor, Europe and Ephesus. Between his missions he returned to Jerusalem four times. On his fifth return to Jerusalem Paul was arrested and held as a prisoner for two years at Caesarea.

Paul claimed his right as a Roman citizen to be tried in Rome and in 60AD was sent by sea to Rome. On the journey Paul was shipwrecked and delayed on the island of Malta. In Rome he was released after two years and continued with his missions. He returned to Rome in 63/64AD during the rule of the Roman Emperor Nero (r.54-68). In 64 AD Nero set fire to Rome and blamed the Christians for its destruction. Paul was one of the Christians who was taken prisoner and was sentenced to death by beheading.

Mary the mother of Jesus

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Some 2,000 years ago there was a young virgin, probably 15 or 16 years old. She was a young devout Jewish girl of great faith and was very poor. She was betrothed to marry a man but was still living at home. She was the handmaid of the Lord. She had a deep abiding faith in God and prayed faithfully. What happened to this young Jewish girl heralded the beginning of salvation of ALL mankind. God specifically chose her to be the Mother of Jesus, the Mother of Our Hope, the Mother of Our Salvation and made her something special.

Mary of Magdala

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She is called "the Penitent". St. Mary was given the name 'Magdalen' because, though a Jewish girl, she lived in a Gentile town called Magdale, in northern Galilee, and her culture and manners were those of a Gentile. St. Luke records that she was a notorious sinner, and had seven devils removed from her. When Our Lord was crucified, she was there at the foot of His cross, unafraid for herself, and thinking only of His sufferings. After Jesus' body had been placed in the tomb, Mary went to anoint it with spices early Easter Sunday morning. Not finding the Sacred Body, she began to weep, and seeing someone whom she thought was the gardener, she asked him if he knew where the Body of her beloved Master had been taken. But then the person spoke in a voice she knew so well: "Mary!" It was Jesus, risen from the dead! He had chosen to show Himself first to Mary Magdalen, the repentent sinner.

St. Francis of Assisi.

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Francis Bernardone was born the son of Pietro di Bernardone, a rich cloth merchant in Assisi in Italy. He led a wealthy and privileged life, wearing clothes made of the best materials and was well educated. With a future guaranteed in his father's business some of his youth was mis-spent. His experiences as a soldier, during which time he was a prisoner of war, led him to a more somber and religious life.

He undertook a pilgrimage to Rome and returned to Assisi following spiritual visions and mystical experiences. He decided to devote his life to the Christian faith and renounced all of his wealth preferring to lead a life of poverty. His evangelical preaching inspired others to follow him and in 1209 Francis and his first followers went to Rome to ask permission from Pope Innocent III to found a new religious order.

The pope agreed and Francis d'Assisi became the founder of the Franciscan Order of Preaching Friars. He was said to have preached to birds and animals which explains his association with nature and all of God's creatures. Francis of Assisi is also famous for the Canticle of Brother Sun and Sister Moon. Saint Francis of Assisi died in 1226 of natural causes.

[img]http://4.bp..com/-JxIjjTgCkM4/T1ekB0_QlhI/AAAAAAAAEC0/VIif2KjA-Jw/s1600/perpetua+and+felicity-sword.jpg[/img]

Sts Perpetual and Felicity

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The record of the <Passion of St. Perpetua, St. Felicitas, and their Companions> is one of the great treasures of martyr literature, an authentic document preserved for us in the actual words of the martyrs and their friends. It was in the great African city of Carthage, in the year 203, during the persecutions ordered by the Emperor Severus,[1] that five catechumens[2] were arrested for their faith. The group consisted of a slave Revocatus, his fellow slave Felicitas, who was expecting the birth of a child, two free men, Saturninus and Secundulus, and a matron of twenty-two, Vivia Perpetua, wife of a man in good position and mother of a small infant.

Perpetua's father was a pagan, her mother and two brothers Christians, one of the brothers being a catechumen. These five prisoners were soon joined by one Saturus, who seems to have been their instructor in the faith and who now chose to share their punishment. At first they were all kept under strong guard in a private house. Perpetua wrote a vivid account of what happened.

"While I was still with my companions, and my father in his affection for me was trying to turn me from my purpose by arguments and so weaken my faith, 'Father,' said I, 'do you see this vessel—water pot or whatever it may be? . . . Can it be called by any other name than what it is?" No,' he replied. 'So also I cannot call myself by any other name than what I am—a Christian.' Then my father, provoked by the word 'Christian,' threw himself on me as if he would pluck out my eyes, but he only shook me, and in fact was vanquished.... Then I thanked God for the relief of being, for a few days, parted from my father . . . and during those few days we were baptized. The Holy Spirit bade me after the holy rite to pray for nothing but bodily endurance.

"A few days later we were lodged in the prison, and I was much frightened, because I had never known such darkness. What a day of horror! Terrible heat, owing to the crowds! Rough treatment by the soldiers! To crown all I was tormented with anxiety for my baby. But Tertius and Pomponius, those blessed deacons who ministered to us, paid for us to be moved for a few hours to a better part of the prison and we obtained some relief. All went out of the prison and we were left to ourselves. My baby was brought and I nursed him, for already he was faint for want of food. I spoke anxiously to my mother on his behalf and encouraged my brother and commended my son to their care. For I was concerned when I saw their concern for me. For many days I suffered such anxieties, but I obtained leave for my child to remain in the prison with me, and when relieved of my trouble and distress for him, I quickly recovered my health. My prison suddenly became a palace to me and I would rather have been there than anywhere else.

Perpetua and Felicitas were exposed to a mad heifer. Perpetua was tossed first and fell on her back, but raised herself and gathered her torn tunic modestly about her; then, after fastening up her hair, lest she look as if she were in mourning, she rose and went to help Felicitas, who had been badly hurt by the animal. Side by side they stood, expecting another assault, but the sated audience cried out that it was enough. They were therefore led to the gate Sanevivaria, where victims who had not been killed in the arena were dispatched by gladiators.

Here Perpetua seemed to arouse herself from an ecstasy and could not believe that she had already been exposed to a mad heifer until she saw the marks of her injuries. She then called out to her brother and to the catechumen: "Stand fast in the faith, and love one another. Do not let our sufferings be a stumbling block to you." By this time the fickle populace was clamoring for the women to come back into the open. This they did willingly, and after giving each other the kiss of peace, they were killed by the gladiators. Perpetua had to guide the sword of the nervous executioner to her throat.

Mahatma Ghandi

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Indian nationalist leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869, in Porbandar, Kathiawar, West India. He studied law in London, but in 1893 went to South Africa, where he spent 20 years opposing discriminatory legislation against Indians. As a pioneer of Satyagraha, or resistance through mass non-violent civil disobedience, he became one of the major political and spiritual leaders of his time. Satyagraha remains one of the most potent philosophies in freedom struggles throughout the world today.

In 1914, Gandhi returned to India, where he supported the Home Rule movement, and became leader of the Indian National Congress, advocating a policy of non-violent non-co-operation to achieve independence. His goal was to help poor farmers and laborers protest oppressive taxation and discrimination. He struggled to alleviate poverty, liberate women and put an end to caste discrimination, with the ultimate objective being self-rule for India.

Following his civil disobedience campaign (1919-'22), he was jailed for conspiracy (192-'24). In 1930, he led a landmark 320 km/200 mi march to the sea to collect salt in symbolic defiance of the government monopoly. On his release from prison (1931), he attended the London Round Table Conference on Indian constitutional reform. In 1946, he negotiated with the Cabinet Mission which recommended the new constitutional structure. After independence (1947), he tried to stop the Hindu-Muslim conflict in Bengal, a policy which led to his assassination in Delhi by Nathuram Godse, a Hindu fanatic.


"An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind."– Mahatma Gandhi

St. Maximilian Kolbe

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Maximilian Kolbe was born in January 1894 in Zduńska Wola, which was at that time part of Russian Empire. Maximilian was the second son of Julius Kolbe and Maria Dabrowska. His father was an ethnic German and his mother of Polish origins. In 1907 Kolbe and his elder brother Francis decided to join the Conventual Franciscans. In 1910 Kolbe was allowed to enter the novitiate. He professed his first vows in 1911, adopting the name Maximilian.

After the outbreak of World War II, which started with the invasion of his nation by Nazi Germany, Kolbe provided shelter to refugees from Greater Poland, including 2,000 Jews whom he hid from Nazi persecution in his friary in Niepokalanów.[15] On 17 February 1941, he was arrested by the German Gestapo and imprisoned in the Pawiak prison. On 28 May, he was transferred to Auschwitz as prisoner #16670.[16]

At the end of July 1941, three prisoners disappeared from the camp, prompting SS-Hauptsturmführer Karl Fritzsch, the deputy camp commander, to pick 10 men to be starved to death in an underground bunker in order to deter further escape attempts. When one of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, "My wife! My children!", Kolbe volunteered to take his place.

He led the other condemned men in song and prayer and encouraged them by telling them they would soon be with Mary in Heaven. Each time the guards checked on him, he was standing or kneeling in the middle of the cell and looking calmly at those who entered. After two weeks of dehydration and starvation, only Kolbe remained alive. The guards wanted the bunker emptied and they gave Kolbe a lethal injection of carbolic acid. Some who were present at the injection say that he raised his left arm and calmly waited for the injection. His remains were cremated on 15 August, the feast day of the Assumption of Mary.

apart from gandhi,the entire list is total hogwash

Mother Teresa

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Mother Teresa was born August 26, 1910 in Skopje, the current capital of the Republic of Macedonia, which was part of the Ottoman Empire at the time of her birth and was conquered by the Kingdom of Serbia in 1912, when she was two years old. On August 27, 1910, a date frequently mistaken for her birthday, she was baptized as Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Mother Teresa's parents, Nikola and Drana Bojaxhiu, were of Albanian descent; her father was an entrepreneur who worked as a construction contractor and a trader of medicines and other goods. The Bojaxhius were a devoutly Catholic family, and Nikola Bojaxhiu was deeply involved in the local church as well as in city politics as a vocal proponent of Albanian independence.

Mother Teresa attended a convent-run primary school and then a state-run secondary school. As a girl Mother Teresa sang in the local Sacred Heart choir and was often asked to sing solos. The congregation made an annual pilgrimage to the chapel of the Madonna of Letnice atop Black Mountain in Skopje, and it was on one such trip at the age of twelve that Mother Teresa first felt a calling to a religious life. Six years later, in 1928, an 18-year-old Agnes Bojaxhiu decided to become a nun and set off for Ireland to join the Loreto Sisters of Dublin.

Mother Teresa was awarded the Pandra Shri prize for "extraordinary services" in 1962. Money from awards such as this was always used to advance her work. She opened clinics, hospices, and homeless shelters and did everything she could to make the lives of people more tolerable. Her goal was, in fact, quite simple. She wanted people to be able to die with dignity, and with a feeling of peace. She explained this further in her own words: "In my heart, I carry the last glances of the dying. I do all I can so that they feel loved at that most important moment when a seemingly useless existence can be redeemed."

Thanks for the thread. I have a feeling no one can exaust that list

Ubenedictus: Thanks for the thread. I have a feeling no one can exaust that list

Lol!!! Definitely not! I have been making research about popular Atheists who lived lives of sacrifice but I have come out empty. Do you know any? I'd like to add them to the list too.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta on 15 January 1929. Both his father and grandfather were pastors in an African-American Baptist church. M. Luther King attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, (segregated schooling) and then went to study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania and Boston University. During his time at University Martin Luther King became aware of the vast inequality and injustice faced by black Americans; in particular he was influenced by Gandhi's philosophy of non-violent protest. The philosophy of Gandhi tied in with the teachings of his Baptist faith. At the age of 24, King married Coretta Scott, a beautiful and talented young woman. After getting married, King became a priest at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama.

A turning point in the life of Martin Luther King was the Montgomery Bus Boycott which he helped to promote. His boycott also became a turning point in the civil rights struggle - attracting national press for the cause. It began in innocuous circumstances on 5 December 1955. Rosa Parks, a civil rights activist, refused to given up her seat - she was sitting in a white only area. This broke the strict segregation of coloured and white people on the Montgomery buses. The bus company refused to back down and so Martin Luther King helped to organise a strike where coloured people refused to use any of the city buses. The boycott lasted for several months, the issue was then brought to the Supreme Court who declared the segregation was unconstitutional.

Martin Luther King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work towards social justice. King announced he would turn over the prize money $54,123 to the civil rights movement. However, King's opposition to the Vietnam War did not endear him to the Johnson administration; King also began receiving increased scrutiny from the authorities, such as the FBI. On April 4th 1968, King was assassinated. It was one day after he had delivered his final speech "I've Been to the Mountaintop"

Martin Luther King - Popular Dream speech (Extract)

"...I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.

With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

striktlymi:

Lol!!! Definitely not! I have been making research about popular Atheists who lived lives of sacrifice but I have come out empty. Do you know any? I'd like to add them to the list too.

dat task too heavy 4 me, though i read atheist, i dont know any to recommend.
Uh... Maybe logicboy.

Ubenedictus: dat task too heavy 4 me, though i read atheist, i dont know any to recommend.
Uh... Maybe logicboy.

LWKMD!!! LB seem like one who would renounce Atheism if someone threatens him with a toy gun I am looking for guys who have demonstrated that the good of humanity is more important than their lives.


#LB na joke o!

striktlymi:

LWKMD!!! LB seem like one who would renounce Atheism if someone threatens him with a toy gun I am looking for guys who have demonstrated that the good of humanity is more important than their lives.


#LB na joke o!

Fear of logiboy is the beginning of wisdom!


Bros , I can help you out with your project about selfless atheists.

Logicboy03:


Fear of logiboy is the beginning of wisdom!


Bros , I can help you out with your project about selfless atheists.

Lol!!!

I will really appreciate your help.

First of all, many of the people that you mentioned in your op did nothing of worth from a secular perspective. Mother Theresa was evil. Also, Paul was a persecutor of christians who never made amends for his sins and went on to write sexist part of the new testament.

Spreading the gospel is not necessarily a good thing.



================================================

Jean Baptiste Aublet- Secular abolitionist

Robert ingersol- Secular abolitionist

Bill Gates- donates millions, fights malaria


.........................

Well LB everyone can't see things in same light.

Logicboy03: First of all, many of the people that you mentioned in your op did nothing of worth from a secular perspective.

I agree with you to the extent that doing stuff for others should be an important criterion in choosing those who would make up this list but I am of the opinion that those I chose actually did some good things (even from the secular point of view).

Logicboy03:
Mother Theresa was evil.

I don't agree with your opinion about Mother Teresa. I know she is greatly misunderstood but her works stood out and even got international recognition. She lived amongst the poorest of the poor, tended to the sick and the dying, rescued 37 children trapped in a front line hospital by brokering a temporary cease-fire between the Israeli army and Palestinian guerrillas etc. I don't believe that someone who is evil would be given the noble peace prize.

Logicboy03:
Also, Paul was a persecutor of christians who never made amends for his sins and went on to write sexist part of the new testament.

Spreading the gospel is not necessarily a good thing.

Saul persecuted Christians not Paul! Paul actually paid for the sins of Saul. He worked the hardest amongst the apostles, he fought against the discrimination meted against the gentiles even though he is Jewish. He showed extraordinary tolerance to those who are not Christians and even went as far as getting into public debates with them. He believes in hard work as against feeding off his flock like so many MoG do these days and the list goes on.

Logicboy03:
================================================

Jean Baptiste Aublet- Secular abolitionist

Robert ingersol- Secular abolitionist

Bill Gates- donates millions, fights malaria


.........................

Thanks for the above names, I will look into their lives and update the thread.

striktlymi: Well LB everyone can't see things in same light.



I agree with you to the extent that doing stuff for others should be an important criterion in choosing those who would make up this list but I am of the opinion that those I chose actually did some good things (even from the secular point of view).



I don't agree with your opinion about Mother Teresa. I know she is greatly misunderstood but her works stood out and even got international recognition. She lived amongst the poorest of the poor, tended to the sick and the dying, rescued 37 children trapped in a front line hospital by brokering a temporary cease-fire between the Israeli army and Palestinian guerrillas etc. I don't believe that someone who is evil would be given the noble peace prize.



Saul persecuted Christians not Paul! Paul actually paid for the sins of Saul. He worked the hardest amongst the apostles, he fought against the discrimination meted against the gentiles even though he is Jewish. He showed extraordinary tolerance to those who are not Christians and even went as far as getting into public debates with them. He believes in hard work as against feeding off his flock like so many MoG do these days and the list goes on.




Thanks for the above names, I will look into their lives and update the thread.

Well, I can agree with some of your points but never on Mother Theresa!

That woman was a fraud who enjoyed suffering of others. Both a philanthropist and a sadist would be found in the poorest areas, however their intentions will be different!

Mother Theresa was an evil B*****. A fraud



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrPjX5_gI1c

striktlymi:

LWKMD!!! LB seem like one who would renounce Atheism if someone threatens him with a toy gun I am looking for guys who have demonstrated that the good of humanity is more important than their lives.


#LB na joke o!

hehehe, i cant fit talk oh!

Logicboy03:




Well, I can agree with some of your points but never on Mother Theresa!

That woman was a fraud who enjoyed suffering of others. Both a philanthropist and a sadist would be found in the poorest areas, however their intentions will be different!

Mother Theresa was an evil B*****. A fraud



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrPjX5_gI1c

or so you think.

Logicboy03:

Well, I can agree with some of your points but never on Mother Theresa!

That woman was a fraud who enjoyed suffering of others. Both a philanthropist and a sadist would be found in the poorest areas, however their intentions will be different!

Mother Theresa was an evil B*****. A fraud

Good morning LB,

Sorry that I took time to respond to this. I have been busy with the research I promised earlier. After much thought and research I have decided to leave Bill Gates out cause he is still alive and including him at this time won't give us an all round view of his life. I agree with you that Aublet's life was exemplary and deserves to be part of this. I will update this thread with his biography. But for Robert, I will delay a bit cause what I have basically has to do with his power of oratory which I think is a good thing but I need more info on his actions as an abolitionist...I am still working on this.

Now for the case of Mother Teresa, I really don't want to go into this debate cause she happens to be one of two individuals I think very highly of...(the other individual would be Ghandi). However, I hope you understand that it is not possible to go through this world and have everyone love you, no matter how good you are. Similarly, not everyone can hate you, even when you are the worse of the worst...there will always be debates about the life of an individual...for or against.

The other day, I stumbled unto a write-up from an individual who claims that Ghandi is not the 'saint' we think he is...I was angry but shrug it off as his opinion on the matter...bottom line is, we can't take away the good Ghandi did because some people choose to see only the wrong. Now LB, irrespective of how you feel about Mother Teresa and her motives, we can't negate the fact that she bathed and clothed HIV patients, we can't negate the fact that she lived and worked with the poor (this is something some of our MoG today would prefer to send others to do as against doing it themselves), she never used the money gotten to build her own mansion, she never bought a private jet for herself etc.

I believe she deserves a place here cause of her works with the poor, let's leave the motive out of it. You think the motive is bad but I think her intentions are pure and sincere...this is a subject of debate anyways. The video you gave only showed 2 minutes of the debate...after going through the 9 minutes video, I could decipher that some of those who are against her are actually speaking because of their hatred for the Catholic church and religion. Anyways, like I said, I really don't want to debate this...below is the 9 minutes video...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MISP4pU0o64

Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet

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Aublet was born in Salon, a township in the south of France, some twenty miles east of Arles in 1720. As a boy he ran away to Spain to collect plants, and was able as a young man to pursue his interest more formally at Montpellier. In 1753 he went to Mauritius (then known as I'Isle-de-France) as a spothecary-botanist. There he established a garden of medicinal plants, and shaped his convictions about Negro slaves and the humanity of slavery.

He found the slaves he had been compelled to employ (and others with whom he came in contact) intelligent, hardworking, good at cultivation, honest, courageous, hospitable, generous and rich "in the sentiment of natural piety" and he was accordingly happy to free them when he returned to France in 1761. He also came to the conclusion that the defenses the Europeans justified the ownership of slaves, including that of being otherwise incapable of coping with tropical conditions were 'perfides'.

Princess Diana

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(Diana Frances Mountbatten-Windsor; née Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997)

Diana was born to an aristocratic family who links to the Royal Family. Her father was Edward Spencer, Viscount Althorp. Edward Spencer was a direct descendent of Charles II.. Her mother was Frances Viscountess Althorp. Her mother was distantly related with the Queen Mother, and was also of American descent. When Diana was young, her parents divorced with her father winning a bitter battle for custody of the children. Diana grew up in the family home of Park House, before moving to Althorp in 1975. Diana did not shine as a student, but did well in music and ballet. When she met her future husband, Diana was working as a part time assistant in a nursery school in London.

Princess Diana was an iconic figure of the late 20th Century. During her life she was often said to be the most photographed person, appearing on the cover of People magazine more than anyone else. She epitomised feminine beauty and glamour. At the same time, she was admired for her groundbreaking charity work; in particular her work with AIDS patient,s and supporting the campaign for banning landmines. Married to Prince Charles in 1981, she received the title of “Her Royal Highness Princess Diana of Wales” She is the Mother of Prince William and Prince Harry 2nd and 3rd in line to the throne respectively.

Diana died on 31st August, 1997, in a car crash involving Dodi Al-Fayed. (see last moments of Princess Diana) It was said they were being chased by paparazzi at the time the fatal accident. Although, the inquest noted that the driver was also under the influence of drugs and drink. Controversy still surrounds her death. The death of Diana had a profound impact on the British public and those in other countries. It led to an unprecedented outpouring of grief and sympathy, for a person people had taken into their hearts. Over 1 million bouquets of flowers were laid at Buckingham Palace. Her funeral was watched by countless millions around the world. Her final resting place was her family home of Althorp.

Shaykh Taieb el-Okbi (1888 - 1960)

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Taieb el-Okbi was a member of Algerian Islah (Reform) Party, born near Biskra in Algeria and a friend of the prominent Algerian reformist Abdelhamid Ben Badis, who was tolerant to different religions and cultures. He studied in Medina and was influenced by the Muwahhidun movement of Islam. He was known as an eloquent and controversial Islamic scholar.

Taieb el-Okbi discovered that the leaders of the pro-fascist group the Légion Français des Combattants were planning a Jewish pogrom with the help of Muslim troops. He did everything he could to prevent it and ordered Muslims not to attack Jews. His actions were compared to French archbishops Jules-Géraud Saliège and Pierre-Marie Gerlier, both of whom saved some Jews in France.


“Whoever saves one life, saves the entire world.”

Refik Veseli

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Out of one of Europe’s smaller nations came a young hero inspired by his community, his country and his faith. Refik Veseli was a 17 year old Muslim boy, born and raised in the rural village of Kruja in the mountains of Albania. Refik is one of thousands of Albanian heroes who risked their lives to save the lives of Jews during World War II.

Despite the immediate risk of death, Refik devised an escape plan for the Mandil family (a Jewish family) using various forms of transportation, traveling at night, and hiding in caves along the way. After a few days of traveling and a terrifying crossing right under the nose of the German border guards, they safely reached the Veseli home in Kruja, where the Mandil family was eagerly accepted and given food and a place to hide in a small space above the barn.

His efforts inspired his brothers to do the same, and their combined efforts inspired their rural village. Refik Veseli is a hero, as was his family and community. His story and the lives of hundreds who were saved in Albania highlights how a heroic community can achieve much more than one well-intentioned individual.