Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ The cult of the dead at the ossuary of Santa Maria delle Anime del Purgatorio ad Arco

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

This has nothing to do with ed tech, but EMMA's Ruth Kerr led me to the secret underground church and ossuary here in Naples filled with skulls and bones that had been fostered by a dozen or so rich noblemen in the 16th century and 'adopted' by people hoping to earn favour by helping them through purgatory. It struck me that this is an early form of socialism. I'm not sure it would fall under Chris Hedges definition of what it means to be a socialist, but I think we have to allow for variations in the format based on local conditions. In my book helping poor dead people counts.

Naples

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Dec 22, 2024 6:56 p.m.

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