Catholic Culture Overview
Catholic Culture Overview

The mountain moved

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Jun 17, 2015

Were you aware that Mount Everest has moved—about three centimeters to the southwest?

They say it’s because of the April earthquake in Nepal.

For my part, I’d be looking for someone with faith the size of a mustard seed. In this case, a biggish mustard seed.

Phil Lawler has been a Catholic journalist for more than 30 years. He has edited several Catholic magazines and written eight books. Founder of Catholic World News, he is the news director and lead analyst at CatholicCulture.org. See full bio.

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  • Posted by: koinonia - Sep. 15, 2016 7:55 PM ET USA

    The problem here is confidence. Catholics have a right to be confident in certain areas. Yes, there are grey areas in moral theology and there is a need to be cognizant of these grey areas and to be humble. But what's struck a cord here is that Pope Francis' letter goes to the core of our Christian confidence. Robert Royal wrote: "We have a new vision of the Eucharist." What does Pope Francis believe? From the mounting commentary- even among the measured- our confidence has been shaken.

  • Posted by: Randal Mandock - Jun. 17, 2015 5:19 PM ET USA

    Your notification intrigued me, so I just took a gander at the USGS tectonic summary and finite fault model in order to understand the geometry of the movement. If the southwestern displacement of Mt. Everest is confirmed, then it is clear that not only is the Indian plate subducting beneath the Eurasian plate in a northeasterly direction, but Mt. Everest, being located on the Eurasian plate, probably grew a little higher in its thrust-faulted climb over the Indian plate.