A sign? Lightning strikes Vatican

Lightning strikes Vatican

Footage shows St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican being struck by lightning just hours after Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation.

God sends mysterious signs

Is the hand of God at play in Pope Benedict's shock resignation?

Pope Benedict XVI's resignation was described as 'like a lightning bolt from a  clear blue sky'. Source: AFP

• Pope's resignation 'a bolt of lightning'
• Bolt of lightning then strikes Vatican
• Reaction: Clergy | Gillard  | Victims' groups | Twitter jokes

POPE Benedict's shock resignation came like "like a lightning bolt in a clear blue sky'' according to one of his senior cardinals.

Then, just hours after the Pontiff dropped the bombshell that he no longer had the health and vigour to carry out his duties as leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics, a freak thunderstorm swept over Rome and a lighting bolt struck the basilica of St.Peter's dome.

Thunderstorms are not unknown in winter, but they are more likely to hit the celestial city in spring or summer, which makes the lightning strike even more unusual.

Photographer Filippo Monteforte was in the right place at the right time to capture an image that could be construed as a sign from God.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.

Vatican reveals pope has pacemaker

THE Vatican has acknowledged for the first time that the Pope has had a pacemaker for years and that its battery was replaced in secret.

Twitter is flooded with Pope jokes

TWITTER users have come up with some amusing theories on why the Pope - who has 1.5 million followers on the social network - is stepping down.

End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.

As Psalm 29 says:  "The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning."

View the original article here

Lightning strike delays Joondalup trains

A BOLT of lighting has caused delays on the Joondalup train line this morning.

Hundreds of peak-hour passengers have been delayed on their journey into the city.

A PTA spokeswoman said trains were still running on the line this morning but were delayed by between 10 and 15 minutes due to a lighting strike near the Leederville train station which had knocked out all of the line’s traffic light signals.

“The trains are still running, all the passengers are fine…but there are delays, we have to slow all the trains down and radio them through each station,” the spokeswoman said.

A technician is currently working to get the signals back up and running, the spokeswoman said.

View the original article here