On a rainy autumn night in London,

The local authorities have dusted off Cold War-era bomb shelters, installed a new satellite communications system and are working with the military on plans to help a deployment of Western forces in case of conflict.“The lesson we learned from Ukraine is that everybody pitched in,” said Odd John Resser, Kongsberg’s Emergency Planning Officer, noting breweries that pivoted to making Molotov cocktails, local authorities that built schools in shelters and weapons factories which ramped up production.

Across the Nordic nations, governments are boosting defense spending, reassessing security and pushing the concept of total defense. It’s an approach which mobilizes the whole of society to defend against military and non-military threats.As Moscow wages war in Ukraine, Western officials are accusing Russia of being behindand there are jitters across the continent about whether

The Norwegian government published its first national security strategy in May, saying the country is facing its most serious security situation since World War II.“After decades of peace,” it warned, “a new era has begun for Norway and for Europe.”

“What is now happening in Ukraine has to be a wake-up call for all and we must strengthen our defense to prevent anything like that from happening to us,” Norway’s Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre told The Associated Press.

Norway announced in January that it plans to start building bomb shelters in new buildings after halting the practice in 1998.rejecting a Vatican declaration to allow priests to offer spontaneous, non-liturgical blessings to same-sex couples seeking God’s grace.

That statement, seen as a rebuke of Francis, asserted that same-sex unions were “contrary to the will of God.” It cited biblical teaching condemning homosexuality and asserted that same-sex relations are “contradictory to cultural norms” in Africa.But it is Sarah, the Guinean cardinal who is the Vatican’s former liturgy chief, who posed a more public challenge to Francis.

A favorite of traditionalists, Sarah prefers silent prayer and is an adherent of the old Latin Mass. He is a staunch defender of longstanding doctrinal faith.After Francis in 2021 reimposed restrictions on celebrating the Latin Mass that Benedict had relaxed, Sarah responded with tweets quoting Benedict’s original 2007 law to relax the restrictions. His posts were accompanied by a photo of Benedict wearing the red cape that Francis had eschewed the night of his election.