World Watch

The Blood of Martyrs, and

Steps toward unity with the Eastern churches, a showdown with the government in San Francisco

VATICAN
Another step toward unity
New agreement with Armenian leader
Pope John Paul II ended the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on a high note as he signed a common theological
declaration with Catholicos Aram I of Antelias, Lebanon, an important leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The terms of that declaration matched those of a similar document which the Pope signed in December along with Catholicos Karekian I, the worldwide head of the Armenian church body.
The common declaration, which came at the end of a visit to Rome by the Armenian prelate, underlines "our responsibility to move forward together in order visibly to show the spiritual reality of communion which should bind Christians together in unity," said Pope John Paul.
The move toward union between Rome and the Armenian Church is expected to have important consequences for international negotiations on the status of Jerusalem, where the Armenian community maintains a very strong presence, as evidenced by the "Armenian Quarter" in the ancient walled city; an effective alliance between Catholic and Armenian interests would be a powerful factor in new negotiations. The common declaration signed by Pope John Paul and Catholicos Aram refers indirectly to that possibility, saying: "It is indispensable to give new life to the spiritual and social mission of the churches in the countries of the Middle East, where top priority must be given to the establishment of a just, global, and lasting peace, and an equitable, satisfactory solution to the problem of the holy city of Jerusalem."
Pope John Paul spoke with emotion about the origins of the Armenian Church, giving thanks that today "the land of the Armenian nation is finally free and independent." (Armenia, once a Soviet republic, became independent in 1991.) He also announced that the Holy See would cooperate with the Armenian Church in celebrations of the Jubilee Year 2000, which is closely followed by the 1,700th anniversary of the baptism of Armenia in the year 301. The latter occasion, the Holy Father said, should give Christians a chance to discover "the spiritual riches of the Armenian Church."
Papal visits set for trouble spots
Trips planned to Lebanon, Sarajevo
On January 22, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, the head of the Vatican press office, unveiled plans for papal visits to two of the world's most notable trouble spots: Lebanon and the city of Sarajevo. Soon thereafter, the Vatican confirmed reports--which had been widespread in the Italian press--that the Sarajevo trip would be a one-day visit, in mid-April.
Pope John Paul had frequently expressed his longing to visit Sarajevo, the storied city which has been wracked by the warfare in Bosnia. He had scheduled a meeting there in 1994, but postponed it when officials persuaded him that they could not arrange proper security for the crowds that would gather to greet him. He has consistently mentioned his feelings for Sarajevo, mentioning it alongside Dresden and Belfast as European cities which have been "martyred" in the 20th century.
A papal visit to Lebanon was also tentatively planned for 1994, but postponed because of unrest there. A special 1995 synod of the bishops of Lebanon helped to pave the way for the arrival of John Paul this year.
New teaching on death penalty
Catechism will be adapted
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has confirmed that the official Latin-language translation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is due to appear before the middle of 1997, will be modified to take into account new Church teaching on the death penalty. "The text to come will reproduce the substance of the first edition, which appeared in 1992," the cardinal explained at a January 28 press conference in Rome. "But on the question of capital punishment, we have seen since that time an advance in doctrine, and
therefore we will integrate it."
Cardinal Ratzinger pointed to the encyclical Evangelium Vitae, which
appeared in March 1995, and which carried the argument on the death penalty further than the traditional teachings of the Church. The cardinal did not enter into a detailed discussion of the new teaching, but the encyclical seemed to close off any practical route to justification of the death penalty.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church, in its 1992 form, does not exclude the possibility that a state could justifiably use capital punishment in cases "of extreme gravity," but adds: "If bloodless means are sufficient to defend human lives against an aggressor and to protect public order and the safety of persons, public authority should limit itself to such means..." [#2266, 2267] In Evangelium Vitae, Pope John Paul II wrote that punishment should not include the death penalty "if it is not a case of absolute necessity, in which the defense of society would not otherwise be possible." In the world of the 20th century, the Pope continued, "such cases are now very rare, if not practically non-existent." However, even in that encyclical the Holy Father added that the principles put forth in the Catechism remain valid.
Father Georges Cottier, OP, the papal theologian, commented on the Pope's teaching by saying: "The Catholic Church--in this encyclical, as in the Catechism--recognizes that states can maintain the death penalty, but under such conditions that it is not applicable."
Pope John Paul has never hidden his own personal opposition to capital punishment. His most recent comments on the topic have been made in the context of his appeal for clemency for prisoners on death row in the United States.
Catechism appears in Russian
Watershed for religious cooperation
At the same press briefing, Cardinal Ratzinger proudly introduced the first Russian-language edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The text is the product of a long process of translation, since the Catechism includes a number of terms which are not commonly used in the Russian language. The work also involved considerable attention to ecumenical concerns, since the Russian audience is keenly aware of the claims advanced by the Russian Orthodox Church. Patriarch Aleksei II, the leader of that communion, collaborated in the work of translating the Catechism, which is
being claimed by everyone involved as an important milestone in the nation's recovery after seven decades of enforced official atheism.
Anniversary for relief group
Aid to the Church in Need plots new efforts
Father Werenfried van Straaten, the famous "Bacon Priest" who founded the international relief group Aid to the Church in Need, celebrated his 84th birthday in January with a Mass at the tomb of St. Peter in the Vatican. Several leading prelates concelebrated the Mass today--which is also the 50th anniversary of work for Aid to the Church in Need.
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) which was founded in 1947 to support the pastoral work of the Church in areas where that work faces the most difficult challenges. For years ACN was active in support of the underground Church behind the Iron Curtain. With the collapse of the Communist regimes, the organization has been working to help the Russian Orthodox Church, and to increase support for ecumenical unity.
In a press conference held after the Mass, Antonia Willemson-- the secretary general of ACN--reported that the group was expanding its fundraising efforts to new countries, seeking to draw support from nations where the rising standard of living allows Christians to give rather than receive charitable offerings. These new fundraising ventures, she believes, will offset a decline in contributions to ACN from the western European countries. The group hopes to manage a 1 percent increase in its annual budget of $70 million. ACN has enjoyed phenomenal growth since 1947, when Father van Straaten collected bacon from farms in Flanders and delivered it to the priests then serving in what was then East Germany--a venture that gained him the nickname, "the Bacon Priest." ACN now claims 600,000 contributors all around the world, and supports some 7,000 pastoral projects.

ITALY
Caution on weeping statue
Bishop says investigation continues
Amid a new spate of rumors about a statue of the Virgin Mary which has been reported to weep tears of blood, Archbishop Girolamo Grillo of Civitavecchia cautioned that the Church has not made any determination regarding the validity of the phenomenon.
The archbishop's statement, issued early in February, came in response to newspaper reports that a panel of theologians had authenticated the reports of a miracle. Archbishop Grillo pointed out that the theological panel, which he had appointed to investigate the phenomenon, served only an advisory capacity, and that he would make any final determination himself.
According to a report published in the Italian daily Il Messaggero, the theologians studying the case found fifty eyewitnesses--including the archbishop--who had seen the white plaster statue shed what appeared to be tears of blood. Initial scientific tests revealed that the red liquid streaking the statue's cheeks was the blood of a male human, but there has been no conclusive explanation as to how it got there.
A local magistrate in Civitavecchia last year ordered Church authorities to keep the statue--which was bought in Medjugorje--temporarily out of public view, pending an investigation into whether it was a hoax. While insisting that he is not close to a final decision, and observing that many natural explanations are possible, Archbishop Grillo has said that he does not believe trickery is involved.

ENGLAND
NeoCatechumenate banned
Bishop finds group divisive
Bishop Mervyn Alexander of Clifton has issued an administrative decree bringing to an end the activities of the NeoCatechumenate Way in his diocese. The movement had been established in the three parishes there. The three parish priests are all to be moved. Canon Jerry O'Brien is retiring while Canon Michael English and Father Tony Trafford will be moved into new pastoral situations in the diocese.
The bishop's action is his response to a report on the movement which he published in November. The report said that the NeoCatechumenate Way had not brought new vitality to the three parishes concerned--in fact that way that they had declined. The Way had not acted in a spirit of service to the bishop or in communion with him, he said, and he saw no prospect of its inculturation into the diocese.
The report charged that while the NeoCatechumenate Way had helped some people back to the fold and renewed the faith of others, the parish communities as a whole had suffered. The bishop said that he was guided by the principle that the needs of a few members of the parish community could not be seen as greater than the needs of the parish as a whole. A spokesman for the diocese told CWR that the three priests involved were "naturally upset, but solidly loyal to their bishop."
While upset with their bishop's decision, the priests and other members of the NeoCatechumenate could point with some pride to a statement by Pope John Paul, who met with the leaders of the international movement just three days before Bishop Alexander banned the group. The Pope praised the NeoCatechumenate Way as an example of the initiatives which have flourished in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. "Both pastors and the laity should accept this gift with gratitude, but also with a sense of responsibility," he said. The Pope particularly encouraged the NeoCatechumenate leaders in their effort to establish formal statutes for their group, which could provide a canonical model for relations with local bishops.
In England, the three priests could also take some comfort from a statement by Bishop Victor Guazzelli, a recently retired London bishop, who affirmed his continuing membership in the NeoCatechumenate Way. The NeoCatechumenate Way was founded in 1964 by Kiko Arguello, a Spanish artist, together with Carmen Hernandez. Its adherents, who now number 14,000, in dozens of countries, seek to rediscover and live their Christian Baptism to the full.
Despite the setback in Clifton, the founder of the NeoCatechumenate remained optimistic that his group would eventually gain acceptance throughout the Church. "From the start of the Way, despite many enemies, the Holy See always has helped us," Kiko Arguello observed.

K.G.
Hunger strikes for asylum
Religious groups seek gentler policy
The question whether it is just to jail applicants for political asylum was brought into sharp relief when 17 such detainees went on hunger strike in Rochester prison in January. By February 10 twelve of the them had been persuaded to abandon their fasts and the prison told CWR that there was no immediate concern for the lives of the remaining five, although one was said to be refusing liquids as well as solid food.
Rochester is one of five designated prisons where asylum seekers said by the Home Office to pose a threat to the public are detained; it holds about 200 of a total of 750 applicants in prisons or detention centers. The government points out that detention is used only sparingly, and the 750 are only 1 percent of the 56,000 people currently seeking asylum in the United Kingdom.
The Christian churches have been in the vanguard of protests about British treatment of political refugees and the Anglican bishop of Rochester, Michael Nazir-Ali, who has joint British and Pakistani nationality, is supporting the cause of the hunger strikers. The Catholic relief agency CAFOD has aligned itself with a trade union move to have the detainees released.
The debate over government policy was clouded by competing claims about the background of many of the detained asylum-seekers. The Home Office will not comment on individual cases but says that one man has a conviction for indecent assaults on children and another refuses to give his name. The Observer featured the case of Suliemaan Mukhtar Ahmed, from Somalia, who was jailed for presenting false documents; they were his only way of getting out of Somalia, he pleaded. A Nigerian, Ejike Emenika, said he had been tortured for preaching against the government--but his sister in Nigeria said his claims were false.
As CWR went to press only one man, a Muslim, remained on hunger strike, he was visited by Dr. Zaki Badawi, principal of the Muslim College, who told him that it would be wrong for a Muslim to fast on the feast day which ends Ramadan.

K.G.
Stamps Mark Church Foundation
Postal service honors saints
The 1400th anniversary of the death of St. Columba, and the arrival of St. Augustine of Canterbury in England will be commemorated by four special "Saints" postage stamps to be issued by Royal Mail on March 11.
The attractive woodblock engravings by designer Clare Melinsky, show "The Missionary Journeys" of the two great saints. They depict: St. Columba sailing to Iona (on a 26-pence stamp), St. Columba the scribe (37 pence), St. Augustine blessing the King of Kent (43 pence), and St. Augustine founding Canterbury Cathedral.
St. Augustine of Canterbury, whose feast is observed by the Catholic Church on May 27 and by the Church of England on May 26, was sent on a missionary journey to England in 596 by Pope Saint Gregory the Great, to preach the Gospel to the Anglo-Saxons at the request of Queen Ethelberga. Augustine, accompanied by 40 monks landed on the Kent coast in 597. His preaching greatly impressed Ethelberga's husband, Ethelbert King of Kent, who was baptized with all his subjects. The first Archbishop of Canterbury, Augustine died on May 26 in the year 605.
Saint Columba (Colum Cille) was born of royal blood in Gartan, County Donegal, in Ireland. He founded a number of monasteries, notably at Durrow and Derry. In the year 563 he left Ireland and sailed across the sea to Iona, an island off the Scottish coast, where he established a monastery as the base for his missionary work. He died in 597. The later Lord MacLeod rebuilt the Abbey in 1938 and founded the Iona Community, now dedicated to spreading the Gospel throughout the world.
The present Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. George Carey, the Anglican successor of Saint Augustine of Canterbury, highlighted this year's celebrations during his official visit to Pope John Paul II, in December 1996. During his lecture at the Anglican Center in Rome, Dr. Carey said:

 
Eavesdropping on confessions?
Proposal would threaten sacramental seal
Widespread anxiety about the way in which a proposed anti-crime bill could undermine civil liberties have focused in the Catholic community on the freedom the measure would give the authorities to place electronic surveillance on confessionals. The Catholic Herald strongly emphasized the threat to religious freedom posed by such a measure, but was told by the Home Office that the proposed law would allow no loopholes, out of fear that criminals could exploit them.
In a sharply worded editorial, the Herald argued that to allow police to bug confessionals and presbyteries would betray an ancient and universally respected trust; and in its news coverage the paper reminded readers of the case of Conan Wayne Hale, in Oregon, who was taped while making his confession. Catholic bishops in the United States have tried, unsuccessfully, to have the tape destroyed, while the Holy See has lodged a formal protest in the case.
In a BBC television interview on February 9, Home Secretary Michael Howard bowed to the political storm and said that the advance authorization of a judge or commissioner would be necessary for each surveillance operation. But this did not meet the objection to the measure in principle, nor did it obviate the danger to the confessional seal in particular.
The government has stressed the need to fight serious crime such as drugs and terrorism. And with an election looming, the popularity of any effort to "get tough" on crime adds to support for the bill. But government leaders seem blind to the peril to general liberty which their proposals imply and to the dictatorial possibilities of such powers in the hands of cruder politicians in rougher times.

K.G.
Forgotten tablets
Anglican clergy flunk test on commandments
A poll by the Sunday Times of London embarrassed Church of England officials when only 34 percent of 200 Anglican priests could name all of the Ten Commandments.
The poll found that most clergy knew the commandments prohibiting adultery and coveting a neighbor's wife, but were unable to remember the details of the other eight. "When people are put on the spot like this of course they can't remember," a Church of England spokesman said. "Given time they would recall them."
The survey found some other disturbing news for the church. It found 31 percent of priests polled did not believe in the virgin birth, 21 percent did not believe in the devil, 12 percent did not expect a second coming of Christ, and five percent did not believe he performed miracles.

IRELAND
New inquiry requested
Evidence suppressed on Bloody Sunday killings
The former bishop of Derry, Bishop Edward Daly, this week called for a new inquiry into the events of "Bloody Sunday."
Thirteen unarmed civilians were shot dead by the British Paratroop Regiment during a peaceful civil rights march on Sunday, January 21, 1971. The marchers were calling for equal rights for Catholics in the Protestant-dominated six counties of Northern Ireland, which are part of the United Kingdom. The massacre and the fierce protests that followed led to the closing of Northern Ireland's Unionist-dominated Parliament. In place of that representative body, the government of Northern Ireland was--and still is--controlled directly by London. A public inquiry, under Lord Chief Justice Widgery, failed to exonerate the victims.
Now a new book of 700 contemporary witness statements, Eyewitness Bloody Sunday, has been published by Don Mullin, an eyewitness and survivor of the tragedy. The statements had been submitted to Lord Widgery within five weeks of the event, but he refused to look at them because he said they had been submitted late in order to embarrass him.
He also refused to hear evidence based on transcripts taken from British Army radio messages, because he said they had been obtained illegally, and he declined to hear evidence from those who had been injured.
Bishop Daly was a young priest in Derry at the time of the killings. Newsreel footage of the time shows him running in a crouch towards the wounded, waving a white handkerchief. Speaking on Irish national radio late in January, Bishop Daly said if justice were to be done, there must be a new look at evidence which was ignored by the original Widgery Tribunal.
"Those of us who witnessed what happened on that day, those of us who were the first at the side of some of the victims, and know they had nothing in their hands, that they were not engaged in anything that could be described as illegal or nefarious, I think we have a responsibility to act as guarantors of their good names," he said.

K.W.
Harbingers of confrontation?
Protestant, Catholic groups dig in
Production at factories in Derry was disrupted on January 31 as Protestant workers stopped work because some Catholics wore black ribbons to commemorate the shooting dead of 14 unarmed civilians by British paratroopers 25 years ago.
Five factories were affected. At one major clothing suppliers, the Protestant half of the workforce stopped work for an hour. They complained that the company had not maintained a neutral working environment. Fair employment legislation in Northern Ireland requires companies to provide a "neutral working environment" and bans flags, emblems, and badges at work.
Meanwhile in Belfast, a leader of the Protestant Orange Order said his members were still determined to march down the mainly Catholic Garvaghy Road in County Armagh this summer. Every year members of the Orange Order march throughout Northern Ireland to celebrate the 17th-century victory of the Protestant King William over the Catholic King James. Nationalists claim the parades are triumphalist and insulting to Catholics.
Last year members of the Orange Order were involved in a five-day standoff with police when they were refused permission to parade down the Garvaghy Road at Drumcree in County Armagh. Eventually the police backed down and allowed the Orangemen to march, leading to riots throughout Northern Ireland.
The assistant Grand Master of the Orange Order, Jeffrey Donaldson, said his members in Portadown were prepared to go "down to the wire" on the issue. Donaldson said that if Orangemen accepted the banning of the parade, it would turn the Garvaghy Road into a "no-go" area. Last July several planned Orange parades through the village of Dunloy were stopped because of residents' objections. Loyalists retaliated by disrupting services at a Catholic church in nearby Ballymena.
New law worries Catholic educators
Religious identity at issue
Catholic school authorities in Dublin, have delayed elections to the management boards of more than 500 parochial schools for 3- to 12-year-olds because of a dispute with the Irish government over new equality legislation.
A diocesan spokesman said parents would not be invited to elect representatives to the boards until the government promised to resist pressure from trade unions and the left-wing Democratic Left coalition party to make substantial changes to the Employment
Equality Bill which is now wending its way through the Irish Parliament. The draft legislation currently allows schools to discriminate in the employment of teachers on grounds of religion.
The [Episcopalian] Church of Ireland has also advised many schools to delay elections, and spokesmen say they are "extremely concerned" about pressure to amend the bill. Father Dan O'Connor, who oversees Dublin's Catholic schools on behalf of Archbishop Desmond Connell, recently helped negotiate a new deal for running the country's national (Church-run) schools, giving an equal say to parents, teachers, and Church authorities. But the priest told schools today to postpone plans to hold elections for parents' representatives on wschool boards.
Father O'Connor said the new boards were agreed on the explicit understanding that the government would allow religious-run schools to recruit teachers who support the school's religious ethos.

K.W.

GERMANY
Archbishop may face lawsuit
Homosexual activists resent public remarks
A German archbishop may find himself in court after making statements this month that homosexuals are unfit for the priesthood.
Archbishop Johnnes Dyba of Trier wrote in his monthly pastoral letter that only men who have "the right stuff to be good, healthy family men" are suitable for ordination to the priesthood. Following a complaint from a homosexual man who claims to be a devout Catholic, public prosecutors say they are investigating whether to charge the archbishop with slander and defamation.
A spokesman for the archbishop clarified his remarks, saying the archbishop holds that there is no guilt or shame in experiencing homosexual feeling, as long as the man does not give in to those feelings. But the argument may run deeper. Catholic psychologists who have treated men seeking to eliminate their homosexual leanings insist that these temptations are evidence of an emotional disorder, and indeed Church teaching characterizes the homosexual orientation as an "objectively disordered" condition. In his quest to find candidates for the priesthood who would also have the "right stuff" to be happily married men, Archbishop Dyba is in effect looking for men who are psychologically healthy and emotionally mature.

SWITZERLAND
Euthanasia drug gains patent
American school sought approval

A dramatic article, published by the Swiss newspaper Zeit-Fragen, has revealed that the European Patent Office recently granted a patent for a poisonous composition which guarantees an "aesthetic" and quick death, and which can even be used for killing people. The drug is intended to be made available by simple prescription.
On April 10, 1996 the European Patent Office in Munich granted the University of Michigan a patent for a poisonous mixture for the killing of "mammals." The patent is valid over all of Europe. The drug could now be used in euthanasia cases in countries where that practice is legal; Holland already falls into that category.
It was clear from the patent application documents that the new drug was to be used for the killing of people as well as of animals. Indeed the examiner who dealt with the application mentioned in unmistakable terms in a letter to the University, dated March 1,1996 the possibility of its use for killing people: "The Examination Commission assumes that the scope of the patent application is not confined to lower-order mammals. We draw the applicant's attention to the fact that human beings are also mammals, and that it follows from the wording of the application that the applicant wants to patent a substance which can also be used for the human euthanasia."
The applicant had deliberately used words like "humane death" of mammals and went so far as to talk about, "the aesthetic of euthanasia." And the applicant had deliberately set out to prepare a poisonous mixture which would not contain any legally controlled substances. In the patent application documents, it is unblushingly explained that the composition should be easy to apply by people who "are not even educated to the same degree as veterinary technicians but they can be trained to administer an euthanasia agent intravenously."
When the examiner at the European Patent Office mentioned that euthanasia is illegal, patent lawyers representing the University of Michigan responded: "There is no intent to violate the laws of any country in reference to use in humans. Nevertheless, if it should ever become legal to use the compositions in human beings, the patent claims should encompass the use of the composition for this purpose."
According to the Detroit News of September 22, 1996, Fred Erbisch, spokesman for the Office for Intellectual Property at the University of Michigan, explained that the poisonous composition had not originally been intended for use on people. A multinational organization--whose name he was not willing to disclose-- had taken over the project in order to secure the European patent. Erbisch stressed that the lawyers for the University had merely tried to get the best and broadest patent protection for the product.

ALBANIA
Heroic priest dies
Victim of Communism
Cardinal Mikel Koliqi of Albania, who spent 44 years of his life in Communist prison camps, died yesterday in Shkodre, Albania, at the age of 95.
Born in Albania, Mikel Koliqi studied for the priesthood in Italy, where he was ordained in 1931. Four years later, returning to his native land, he was named vicar general of the diocese of Shkodre. A talented writer and poet, he worked quite effectively with young people, and continued his work for the diocese until 1991.
But that work exacted a heavy price. Coming to the attention of Communist authorities because of his popularity, Koliqi was imprisoned, released, and imprisoned again with a stiffer sentence. His third arrest, in 1954, led to a 32-year prison term. The sum total of his punishment was 21 years at forced labor and 23 more years of prison confinement.
Pope John Paul II--who elevated the Albanian priest to the rank of cardinal in 1994--told Albanian Catholics of the "profound emotion" he felt upon learning of the death of "a heroic priest." His powerful Christian witness, the Pope said, was "a shining example of trust in divine Providence."

POLAND
Canonization process in motion
Priest was Solidarity hero
Hundreds of Poles attended a Mass February 9 which marked the start a campaign to promote the beatification of a Polish priest murdered by the Communist secret police in 1984 because of his ties to the Solidarity movement.
Father Jerzy Popieluszko was remembered by more than 700 people, including the Polish primate, Cardinal Jozef Glemp, who told the congregation that the beatification process is "to prove ... that death, which Father Jerzy did not shun, had its foundation in faith, even though accompanied by social and political struggle."
Father Popieluszko became famous during the brutal period of martial law through his inspiring homilies at his "Masses for the Homeland." Thousands of people came to hear the Solidarity chaplain preach in defense of freedom and the power of good over evil. Father Popieluszko openly supported Solidarity, the Eastern Bloc's first free trade union, from its foundation in August 1980. He helped organize support for the families of imprisoned Solidarity members after Communist authorities imposed martial law and outlawed the union in December 1981.
On October 19, 1984, three secret police officers kidnapped Father
Popieluszko and his driver. The priest was beaten, bound, gagged, stuffed in the trunk of a car, and later drowned in a reservoir. The driver escaped. His funeral drew nearly 1 million people in what became a show of strength for Solidarity. In 1985, the three secret police officers responsible and their superior were convicted in of murder and sentenced to imprisonment for up to 25 years.
Anti-Semitism charged
Walesa ally faces prosecution
Meanwhile another priest with ties to Solidarity's founder was facing a very different sort of publicity. Father Henryk Jankowski, parish priest of Saint Bridget's church in Gdansk and one-time confessor and adviser to Lech Walesa is in trouble once again for anti-Semitic remarks which he made in a sermon almost two years ago. At the end of January, the Gdansk public prosecutor's office filed charges against him of "verbally abusing and ridiculing Jews and persons of Jewish background." In the sermon in question, Father Jankowski had called on the congregation not to tolerate a government consisting of people who had "come from Russia or Israel" and said that the Star of David was "inscribed" in both the hammer and sickle and the swastika. (Former President Walesa was actually present in Saint Bridget's at the time, but said afterwards that--either because of the poor acoustics or a temporary distraction--he had not actually heard the words in question).
Father Jankowski, who faces a possible sentence of three years' imprisonment, responded in his sermon the following Sunday, by calling the charges against him a "political game," and claiming that to take a priest to court for something he said in a sermon constitutes an infringement of the right of freedom of speech--and reminiscent of the persecution of the Church during the 1940s. Members of the congregation were left to make up their own minds whether he was referring to the Nazi occupation forces or the post war, Stalinist government of Boleslaw Bierut.
Father Jankowski went on to criticize the new draft Polish constitution, which, he alleged, had been prepared by "prominent Communist figures." Referring to today's Poland as a "political dunghill" he called on believers to plant on it, "pure lilies, the emblems of Polish nationality."
Clash of claims
Church seeks property confiscated under old regimes
The Catholic Church's demands for the return of confiscated real estate in Warsaw is holding up the privatization of public housing, according to the daily, Zycie Warszawy (Warsaw Life). The Church, the newspaper said, has filed claims to more than eighty buildings and sites. Until these cases are settled, the local authorities cannot sell off the houses and apartments to tenants now occupying those sites.
In Poland, the Church property confiscated after the Communist takeover consisted of schools, hospitals, orphanages, and various administrative and auxiliary buildings. (Unlike in the Soviet Union, the churches themselves were left to the believers, although some shrines of special architectural and historical importance were formally declared state property). Soon after the end of the Communist regime, the Catholic Church, along with some of Poland's minority churches, began filing claims for restitution. In most cases, there was little dispute about the original ownership--although in some cases of prime downtown sites in Warsaw, the current occupants--Warsaw University in particular--proposed financial compensation or an exchange for property elsewhere in the city. But in these cases the Church had been in possession of the property when the Communists came to power.
However, of the eighty-odd claims mentioned by Zycie Warszawy, a number date from the period before the First World War, when Poland had disappeared from the map of Europe, partitioned among three empires--Prussia, Austria and Russia--and Warsaw itself was under Russian rule. These cases, the paper explained, are difficult to settle, since the title deeds and other vital documents are usually missing. Moreover, the Church will presumably have to come up with a convincing explanation why it did not claim the property back after the recovery of Polish independence following World War I, when, under the terms of the Concordat of 1924, the Catholic Church in Poland enjoyed a special status.

V.R.

CROATIA
Church-state agreement
Legal recognition for Church
Croatia, one of the two traditionally Catholic republics of the former Yugoslavia, has concluded a major agreement with the Vatican. Although not a fully-fledged concordat, the document covers major aspects of the interface between church and state in public life.
The agreement, in effect, reinstates many of the rights which the Communist state had denied the Church. Religious marriage ceremonies are recognized as valid in civil law; the Church is guaranteed the right to provide pastoral care for persons in state and private medical and social institutions, including hospitals, orphanages and prisons, and to provide military chaplains for the armed forces and police. The Church is also permitted to establish and run welfare and charitable organizations, provided that they conform to the relevant civil regulations Catholic schools and colleges are given equal rights (and duties) with state ones; rules are laid down governing the teaching of religion in state schools, and for cooperation-operation between Church and state in protecting Church buildings and other property deemed to be of cultural and artistic importance.

V.R.

MACEDONIA
Stopped at the border
Orthodox churches in public dispute
When two Serbian Orthodox bishops--Vasilije of Milesevo and Pahomije of Vranje--approached the Macedonian border early in February, they were turned back at the frontier. They had been invited to the Macedonian capital, Skopje, to celebrate the Divine Liturgy on the feast of St. Sava, the patron of Serbia.
After the dismemberment of what was formerly Yugoslavia, the Macedonian Orthodox Church established its own independent hierarchy. But that hierarchy is not recognized by the Serbian Orthodox Church. Indeed Pahomije, in addition to his principal see of Vranje, holds (in Serbian eyes) the position of administrator of the Macedonian dioceses of Skopje, Ohrid-Bitola, and Zletovo Strumica.
The bishops were invited to Skopje by the Skopje-based Association of Serbs and Montenegrins of Macedonia. But when they showed their letter of invitation to the Macedonian border police, the latter were apparently doubtful of the political impact of the visit, particularly on the feast of one who is now viewed as a specifically Serbian saint. (the patron of Macedonia is St. Clement of Ohrid.) Accordingly they first decided that the bishops could not be allowed into Macedonia in their clerical robes (which, in Orthodox eyes, is tantamount to refusing to recognize them as clerics). Then, when the bishops agreed to remove their cassocks, the police backtracked, kept them waiting for several hours, and finally refused to let them in.

V.R.

UKRAINE
A polemical saint
Orthodox canonize a critic of Catholicism
The Kyiv Patriarchate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church has canonized Petro Mohyla, one of the major figures of Ukrainian culture, and a leading campaigner for Orthodoxy against Eastern-rite Catholicism during the great religious disputes of the 17th century. But the canonization, and recent commemorative ceremonies in honor of the 400th anniversary of Mohyla's birth and the 350th of his death, should not be divisive between Catholics and Orthodox. On this point, Holos Ukrayiny (Voice of Ukraine), the newspaper of the Ukrainian parliament, was quite clear, quoting the Pope's New Year message on the need for mutual understanding and forgiveness. In particular, the paper said, reporting the dedication of a memorial plaque and students' basilica on the anniversary of Mohyla's death in January, these events in honor of "a great European humanist" should become a symbol of the Church unity.
Mohyla, like so many leading personalities of that troubled period of Church history, is a paradoxical figure. Although an opponent of the Union of Brest, which in 1596 established the Eastern-rite Catholic Church in what is today Belarus and Ukraine, Mohyla fervently advocated the uniting of Byzantine Orthodox tradition with the best of Western scholarship, and the Academy which he founded in Kyiv (the first higher-education establishment in the East-Slavonic lands), taught Latin and a Western-style curriculum. (This caused considerable annoyance among the Jesuits, who under the patronage of the King of Poland were trying to extend their educational influence in the area.)
Mohyla's Academy was suppressed after Ukraine's incorporation into the Russian empire. Its re-establishment, as the Kyiv-Mohyla-Academy-University, was a key event in the rebuilding of independent Ukraine following the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is now one of the leading universities in Ukraine. And to mark the canonization of its founder, the long-closed basilica of the Academy, formerly dedicated to the Transfiguration, has been reconsecrated to St. Peter Mohyla.

V.R.

RUSSIA
Statue challenges Orthodox conventions
A rare three-dimensional image
Moscow, which is currently preparing for the 850th anniversary of its first mention in the medieval chronicles, has been given its first-ever statue of Our Lady as an advance birthday present. The statue stands on Moscow's Ring Road, close to the new chapel of St. George the Victory-Bringer, patron of Moscow, also erected in honor of the coming anniversary. Moscow's southwestern borough authorities have designated the area around the chapel and statue a "natural cultural zone," which will include a reserve of woodland, in which virtually every tree is recorded in one of the special catalogues of endangered species or species of special scientific interest. Sports and recreational facilities and a guest house are also included in the zone.
The bronze statue, which stands near the entrance to the zone, is the work of the Moscow sculptor, Frid Sogoyan, who for the last few years has been working on New Testament themes--single figures and groups. His work represents a major break with traditions of Russian ecclesiastical art, for Orthodox churches are never adorned with statues. Whether today's post-Communist Russian Christians will share the old aversion to religious statues is unknown. So far, the Orthodox church leadership seems to be preserving a discreet silence.

V.R.

ISRAEL
Unwelcome gift
Muslims protest depiction of Jerusalem
Muslim leaders in Jerusalem were angered in January when Israel's prime minister presented a Catholic archbishop with a bas-relief of
the city, which left out Islamic holy sites.
The silver sculpture which was presented to Archbishop Maximus Saloum by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a visit to Haifa replaced the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount with a representation of the second Jewish Temple, which was destroyed by Roman conquerors in 70 AD.
The archbishop, an Arab, was clearly embarrassed by the incident. "I respect all people and all faiths," he said, "but what could I do--return the gift to the prime minister?" The prime minister's office called it a "regrettable oversight."
Sheikh Hashem Abdel Rahman, spokesman for the Israeli Islamic movement, charged that the gift hinted at an Israeli plan to destroy the mosques and rebuild the temple. "It is like declaring war on the entire Muslim world," he said. "Any plan to remove the mosques in Jerusalem, which are sacred to Islam, and any attempt to realize such a plan, will cause a very grave tragedy."

EGYPT
Army raids charitable agency
No explanation, no redress
Egyptian Army forces destroyed a Christian home for handicapped children while it was still under construction, sources at the charity charged late in January.
The charity, associated with the Coptic Christian Church, filed a complaint with authorities when the incident occurred in December, but no action has been taken. "The army brought bulldozers and other equipment and razed the buildings to the ground. Some of them were three-story buildings. They will have to restart from scratch," said one source who saw the site both before and after the incident.
Bishop Botros, chairman of the board of the St. John the Divine Institution for Development and Social Services, said he did not know what the army's motive might have been. The charity is close to military bases, but the bishop denied there was any dispute over the land. The center cares for children of all religions.

ALGERIA
Twenty killed in Algiers bombing
Islamic militants again blamed
A January 12 bomb explosion in central Algiers killed at least 20 people, and wounded scores more. Authorities in Algiers have blamed Islamic extremists for the terrorist act. The bombing followed closely on the heels of reports that at least 35 people had been killed in the town of Sidi Abdel-Aziz, about 50 miles from Algiers, which is reportedly a stronghold of Islamic activism.
The Algiers bombing--if it is indeed the work of Muslim terrorists-- is the bloodiest in a series of killings orchestrated by fundamentalists working to overthrow the Algerian regime.

JORDAN
Call for Arabic unity
Khartoum seeks help against rebels
The parliament of Jordan sounded a call for unity in January, asking all Arabic countries to help the government of Sudan defend itself against rebel forces based in the south of the African country. The plea from Jordan came as rebel forces advanced on the capital city of Khartoum.
The government of Sudan, controlled by the Muslims who predominate in the Arabic north of the country, has for years been engaged in a bitter campaign to wipe out resistance among the black Africans, mostly Christians and animists, who live in the south. The civil war has been marked by charges of gross human-rights violations, including several reports--confirmed by Western observers--that children of Christian families have been kidnapped and forced into slavery or military service in the north.
After years of purely defensive efforts, the Sudanese rebels claimed in January that they were closing in on the town of Damazin, the site of a power plant which supplies most of the energy for Khartoum. That announcement came after the rebels had seized a series of towns during a major offensive at the start of the new year.
Jordan charged that the Sudanese rebels were being aided by neighboring Ethiopia and Eritrea, and characterized the January fighting as "foreign aggression" against an Arab state. The rebels denied that they are receiving any outside assistance.

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KENYA
Missionary killed in Kenya...
A government role in monk's death?
An Irish Catholic monk was shot dead on January 23 in Nakuru, Kenya. A police officer was charged for the murder, and Church officials charged that the killing was politically motivated.
Reports immediately after the shooting suggested that the police had arrived at a Catholic secondary school in response to reports of vandalism committed by a gang of bandits, and Father Larry Timmons had been killed accidentally when he confronted the officers. But Catholic leaders worried that the Irish priest was killed because he had accused local officials of extorting money from his students in exchange for mandatory national-identity cards. Archbishop Raphael Ndingi Mwana a'Nzeki of Nairobi demanded an immediate investigation, and Nakuru police chief Peter
Kavila soon reported that a police officer had been apprehended in connection with the killing. Constable Francis Kimanzi Mbaya appeared before a judge, but did not immediately enter a plea.
Only Kenyans who obtained the new national-identity cards by January 31 will be eligible to vote in presidential and legislative
elections later this year. Opposition groups have claimed that the government is refusing to issue cards in areas where opposition is strong. Thus Father Timmons' charges of extortion carried implications not only of corruption and fraud, but also of efforts to squelch political opposition.
The death of the Irish priest sharply increased tensions between the Nairobi government and Church leaders. The Catholic bishops of Kenya have been outspoken critics of the current regime, and in recent months the government has occasionally hinted at retaliation.

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RWANDA
... and in Rwanda
Pope brings death to world view
Another missionary, a Canadian priest, was murdered in Rwanda on February 2 as he brought the Eucharist to sick members of his parish in the small town of Kampagna.
Father Guy Pinard was a member of the Missionaries of Africa order and had worked in Rwanda for more than 35 years. "He was distributing communion and at that moment was shot, and died immediately," said Father Pedro Sala of the Diocese of Ruhengeri, where Kampagna is located.
News of the murder spread quickly across the world after Pope John Paul mentioned it during his regular Sunday Angelus audience that same day. "The news has just reached me of the tragic loss of Father Guy Pinard, Missionary of Africa, barbarously murdered this morning during the celebration of Holy Mass in his parish of Ruhengeri," the Holy Father said.
A Canadian diplomat and a Rwandan official speculated that the killing was carried out by Hutus who returned late last year from Zaire or Tanzania and feared he would recognize and denounce them as killers during the massacre of an estimated 800,000 people in a three-month period in 1994.

B.K

CHINA

 
Headed for a showdown
Pope challenges Beijing on Church freedom
In his annual address to the diplomats stationed at the Vatican, Pope John Paul called on Communist China to give freedom to Catholics in that country and to maintain that freedom for those in Hong Kong.
Referring to the coming takeover of Hong Kong by Beijing in July, the Holy Father said: "With regard to the Catholic community which exists in this region, the Holy See will follow with particular interest this new step, hoping that it will be marked by the respect for diversity, fundamental human rights, and the supreme importance of law."
Beijing responded to the Pontiff abruptly, telling him not to meddle in China's internal affairs and repeating the standard Beijing line that the governance of the Church in their country is the prerogative of the Communist authorities. "China acts in line with its own national circumstances in administering its religious affairs," Foreign Ministry spokesman Shen Guofang told reporters. Communist China does not allow Catholics to recognize the primacy of the Pope, forcing all Catholics to choose between membership in the government-controlled Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association or the underground Church which remains loyal to Rome.
Referring to the Holy Father's recent appointment of a future successor for Hong Kong's Cardinal Joseph Wu, Shen said: "We would hope to have no interference in our religious affairs, and when we talk about interference, the scope is very wide, not only including missionary work but also in appointments of bishops. These should all be independently determined by China and there should be no interference by the Vatican."

HONG KONG
Wary of the future
Catholics fearful of Beijing rule
Catholics in Hong Kong are looking forward to the Chinese rule with some trepidation, but spokesmen for the Church insist that they will maintain their confidence as the transition approaches.
Citing a source within the Archdiocese of Hong Kong, a January report by the Reuters news agency said the Archdiocese of Hong Kong expects that Catholics will remain free to worship after June 1997, in contrast with their mainland brethren. That confidence is based on a Chinese promise to allow religious freedom in the territory under its Basic Law.
However, the confidence is far from universal. One Catholic told Reuters, "We've seen China reinterpret the Basic Law to suit itself. This does not bode well for freedom." Another Catholic told the agency: "Probably our future is like a lame duck--still alive, but unable to do very much. We will have to obey and stay within our political border: Hong Kong." Reflecting these concerns for the future, various agencies, charities, and religious orders are making plans to move their headquarters and operations out of Hong Kong.

TAIWAN
Unwelcome guests
Beijing warns Taipei on visitors
Beijing has warned government authorities in Taiwan that the Dalai Lama, who will visit Taiwan in March, may seek to inflame resentment against Communist China. The Dalai Lama is looking for support in efforts to free his homeland, Tibet, which has been ruled by Beijing for the past four decades.
The Dalai Lama argues that he is campaigning not for independence, but for respect for political and religious freedom in Tibet. But Chinese authorities reject that distinction. "It can be said that he is a separatist, trying to divide the motherland," said Beijing spokesman Shen Guofang.
The diplomatic implications of the Dalai Lama's visit to Taiwan are complicated, because Beijing still insists that Taiwan is a part of China, while the Taipei government--the Republic of China--has never relinquished its own claim to be the legitimate government of the entire Chinese nation. Taiwan, like the mainland, considers Tibet to be a part of China.
Meanwhile Taiwan's vice-president has invited Pope John Paul to visit the island nation. After a private meeting with the Pontiff, Vice President Lien Chan told reporters, "I invited His Holiness to visit my country, particularly during his future pastoral trips to the region." The Pope reportedly agreed to consider a visit.
Lien would not say whether he and the Holy Father had discussed China's criticism of Vatican and the status of Catholics on the mainland. But a papal visit would surely call attention to the plight of Catholics on the mainland.
Lien reported that he had presented the Pope with a charitable contribution of $1 million from Taiwan during his audience. A Vatican spokesman said the Holy Father earmarked the gift for Cor Unum, the papal charity that oversees the Church's charitable works, and that it would be used to help reconstruction in Bosnia and the Great Lakes region in Africa.

SOUTH KOREA
Church brokers labor peace
Cathedral was center of union activity
After three weeks of tense confrontation between the government and the leaders of an outlawed labor union, Cardinal Sou Hwan Kim of Seoul helped to negotiate a compromise that defused the crisis late in January. Militant labor leaders agreed to end their efforts at organizing nationwide strikes, in exchange for government promises to drop criminal charges against the union officials, and to open new debate on a labor law which had precipitated the labor unrest.
The ruling New Korea Party had rammed a labor bill--granting one labor union a monopoly in the representation of workers--through parliament in a dawn session while opposition deputies were asleep. Leaders of competing unions immediately called on their loyal workers to strike--a move which, under the new law, was illegal. To avoid arrest, the union leaders moved into tents in a makeshift center outside Myongdong cathedral
Kwon Young-kil, the principal leader of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, finally led his followers out of their tents on January 23, explaining that this was the first step toward a negotiated solution. The Seoul government responded by dropping arrest warrants which had been issued for Kwon and fifteen of his confederates, and releasing the union leaders who had already been imprisoned, dropping all pending charges. The opposition National Congress for New Politics then agreed to open a new debate aimed at overturning the new labor law.

PHILIPPINES
Bishop, bystander killed by gunfire
Muslim militants suspected
The apostolic vicar of Jolo in the southern Philippines was murdered February 4 outside the city's cathedral.
Bishop Benjamin de Jesus was shot six times in the chest at point-blank range with a .45 caliber pistol by a man and boy as young as 10-years-old according to eyewitness reports. A woman was killed and five others were wounded as police traded fire with the killers, who fled into a crowd.
Catholics have been a frequent target of violence in the area from Muslim extremists. Two priests were killed in the area in the 1970s and 1980s. The region had been troubled by violence during the Muslim observance of Ramadan this year; three people had been killed, and a Chinese restaurant bombed, during the past month. In response to this rash of violence, several Church-related organizations had closed during Ramadan.
One source in the Congregation of Missionaries Oblates of Mary Immaculate, of which Bishop de Jesus was a member, revealed that the bishop had been receiving death threats from Islamic militants for some time, and took those threats seriously. He regularly traveled with police protection, but on the fatal day he had been walking unaccompanied on his way to visit a soup kitchen near the cathedral.
Police soon arrested a Muslim man and his son, and charged them with the killing. They said they believe the murder was in retaliation for the arrest of another son in the same family, a member of the Abu Sayyaf rebel group, who was jailed after Bishop de Jesus reported that he had tried to extort money from the Church. The Abu Sayyaf group is fighting the government to establish a Muslim homeland in the southern Philippines.
A Church spokesman Msgr. Pedro Quitorio, called on Catholics to remain calm and urged them not to be provoked into reprisals. "We are asking our priests to continue their work for reconciliation and peace and not to be intimidated," he said in a radio broadcast. "We are asking people not to meet violence with violence." Pope John Paul, hearing the news of the bishop's death, said that he was shocked by this act of "deplorable violence." But the Pope also prayed that "the sacrifice of this true servant of peace" would help to bring about harmony among the different communities in his native land, "showing the futility of violence."

PERU
Bishops lament continuing hostage crisis
Call on captors to change their approach
Forty days after terrorists took scores of hostages at the residence of the Japanese ambassador to Peru, the Peruvian bishops' conference
released a document lamenting the "sad and extended captivity of many brothers."
In their statement, released during a meeting of the Peruvian episcopal conference in Lima, the bishops expressed their solidarity and communion with the remaining 73 hostages, their families, and their friends. The communique pointed to dialogue as "indispensable to reaching a reasonable solution." The Peruvian bishops--headed by Cardinal Augusto Vargas Alzamora of Lima, who was recently re-elected president of the Peruvian bishops' conference--also insisted that the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) must "change their attitude, because it contradicts God's law and human rights, threatening the integrity and life of all those who are in the residence."
Archbishop Juan Luis Cipriani of Ayacucho has been intimately involved in the hostage crisis, repeatedly entering the residence to celebrate Mass, hear confessions, and give advice to the hostages. He is now a member of the Commission of Guarantors created to solve the crisis. Cardinal Vargas also has visited the residence with Archbishop Cipriani "to plant the seeds of hope among the hostages."

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ECUADOR
Bishops applaud president's ouster
Cathedral is center of protests
After three weeks of protests against government austerity measures, the bishops of Ecuador announced their support for a bid--ultimately successful--to oust President Abdala Bucaram.
Opposition to the president had growing for weeks among labor leaders, students, human-rights activists, and Indian leaders until Congress finally impeached Bucaram, charging that he had become mentally unstable. At the peak of the protests, a group of about 150 demonstrators gathered in Quito's cathedral, remaining there overnight despite the pleas of Archbishop Antonio Gonzalez that they find a more appropriate site for their protest.
The bishops' conference of Ecuador reacted to the president's impeachment with a public statement that the move "opens new opportunities for the country." The decision by Congress, the bishops said, was "both patriotic and democratic."

A.B.

CHILE
Divorce law condemned
Catholic legislators warned on vote
Cardinal Carlos Oviedo of Santiago de Chile led the country's bishops in denouncing a January decision by the Chamber of Deputies to approve a bill that would legalize divorce for the first time in the mainly Catholic country. The cardinal protested: "A divorce law makes all families unstable, since it creates a mentality of conscious indifference toward the issue."
The bill--the first proposal ever introduced to allow legal divorce--was approved after two days of hotly contested debate; it will still have to be approved by the Senate in March. Cardinal Oviedo exhorted Catholics to pray so that "God will enlighten parliamentarians, especially those who are Catholics, because a Catholic cannot vote in favor of a law which permits the dissolution of the family bond."
But Chile's first lady, Marta Larraechea, said she is in favor of the divorce law. "I have always agreed with legal divorce and I have nothing else to say," stated Larraechea, wife of President Eduardo Frei.

A.B.

UNITED STATES
Confrontation and retreat
Compromise ends an Archbishop's protest
Risking the wrath of homosexual activists in a city where they hold unusual power, Archbishop William Levada of San Francisco challenged a new city ordinance which would have required archdiocesan agencies to grant tacit approval to homosexual unions. But after a short, heated public debate, the archbishop accepted a compromise solution which satisfied homosexuals' demands without forcing the Church to recognize same-sex unions.
In November, the city's Board of Supervisors had approved the ordinance requiring any organization that did business with the city to provide insurance benefits to the "domestic partners" of their employees. The new measure--an extension of an existing policy under which the city's own employees have obtained "domestic partner" coverage--provoked little public notice until January, when Archbishop Levada announced that the Church could not comply.
The Archdiocese of San Francisco has extensive ties to the city, the archbishop pointed out. Catholic Charities, for instance, receives 40 percent of its funding from the urban government, using those funds to subsidize a number of projects--notably including a large shelter for AIDS patients. But, the archbishop continued, the Archdiocese could not in conscience institute a policy which would, in effect, grant active homosexuals the same legal status as married couples.
The archbishop's public stand put him on a collision course with Mayor Willie Brown; a stalemate might have resulted in the withdrawal of public funds for Church agencies. But after a private meeting with Brown and several other urban leaders, Archbishop Levada emerged with a compromise which he would acceptable. The new policy--which would apply not only to the Archdiocese but to all organizations affected by the new ordinance--would require contractors to provide benefits to anyone who is designated by an employee and lives in the same household. Thus, instead of applying only to spouses or homosexual lovers, the benefits could be applied to a parent or sibling as well.
Editorial commentators in San Francisco scored the solution as a political victory for Archbishop Levada, since he force a change in the city's policy. But the net result is ambiguous, at best. Active homosexuals employed by the archdiocese will receive benefits which were formerly allowed only for married couples. The only real gain from the archbishop's compromise is that the Church will not be forced explicitly to recognize the nature of its employees' relationships.
Bomb scares
Media rush to blame abortion foes
Two January explosions--and one false report--led to stories in the American mass media about a "wave" of bombings at abortion clinics. But aside from one attack, apparently engineered by a teenage boy, it was not clear whether abortion had been a factor in the bombings at all.
In Tulsa, Oklahoma, police arrested a 15-year-old boy in connection with a explosions at an abortion clinic there. Twice within the space of a month, Molotov cocktails had damaged the clinic; police unraveled a long pattern of threats and attacks before making the arrest.
The second incident in Tulsa came just three days after a bomb ripped through a building which housed an abortion clinic in Atlanta, Georgia. No one was injured by that explosion, but minutes later a second powerful blast caught police officers responding to the alarm; one man was killed and several others injured by the second explosion.
That pattern of bombing--using a second explosion to catch officials reacting to the first--suggested a terrorist attack rather than an effort to destroy an abortion clinic. Indeed, the second bomb was not even located in the building where the clinic was located; it was hidden in a dumpster, in a parking lot outside the building. Investigators found that the second bomb was a military-style device, designed to send shrapnel across the parking lot, and powered by a rare form of commercial dynamite--all indications that professional terrorists, rather than fanatical foes of abortion, had been responsible. Since Atlanta had already been the site of an apparent terror bombing during the Olympic Games, it seemed odd that analysts clung to the assumption that the abortion clinic was the only target.

Still odder, however, was the report circulated on American news wires on January 22, the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision. As thousands of pro-lifers gathered in Washington for the annual March for Life, early-morning news broadcasts reported that a Planned Parenthood clinic had become the latest bombing victim. One Associated Press story painted a vivid picture of destruction, saying that debris had been scattered across the street and police were trying to count casualties. In fact, there had been no bombing whatsoever. A careless hotel worker had accidentally detonated a small device, with the explosive power of a firecracker, more than a city block away from the abortion clinic. That such a trivial incident could be the basis for such sensational stories is itself an indication of how thoroughly the bomb scare had infected the mass media.
Catholics attacked--and defended
Vice President lashes out at opponents of contraception
Vice President Al Gore used the anniversary of the Roe decision as the occasion to launch a political offensive against the Catholic Church. Speaking to the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League, the vice president suggested that the best way to reduce the number of abortions would be by promoting contraception. After arguing that pro-life advocates constitute a minority within American society, he continued: "The truth is that the minority within the minority also believes that family planning, in the form of birth control and even the giving of information about birth control, is morally wrong."
Scolding other pro- lifers for keeping company with those who oppose contraception, he said: "If they were willing to abandon that aspect of their common front, there would be much that we could all do together to make abortions rare." In effect, the vice president seemed to be signaling pro-lifers that the Clinton Administration could offer them some political rewards if only they would stop associating with opponents of contraception--among whom, of course, Catholics are easily the most identifiable.
Pro-life Catholics could take heart, however, in the decision by a New York judge to drop charges against a retired Catholic bishop and young monk. Bishop George Lynch and Brother Fidelis Moscinski had been arrested in May of last year outside an abortion clinic in Dobbs Ferry, New York. Since their presence at the clinic had been a violation of a court order, the pair faced contempt-of-court charges. But Judge John Sprizzo ruled that the clerics had acted out of genuine religious conviction, and invoked the "prerogative of leniency" to drop the charges. This was the first major case in which pro-life activists have successfully invoked such a "conscience clause," which in the past has been used to excuse civil-rights activists and anti-war protesters.