World Watch

A Month for Terrorists, and ...

More debate on condoms; a breakthrough for the "right to die"

SEASON FOR RENEWAL

POPE EXTOLLS THE VALUE OF PENANCE

"It seems like a subject from another era!" said Pope John Paul II. "And yet this is a vital theme for every person and for society itself." The Pontiff was speaking of penance, as he addressed pilgrims in Rome at an Angelus audience on the first Sunday of Lent.

In its deepest sense, the Pope said, penance means repentence for sins and the purpose of amendment, or will to change. "Is there anyone who does not need this?" the Pope asked. "Is it not an urgent need that is also stressed in non-Christian religions?"

Since sin has a social dimension, the entire Christian community is called on to do penance and purify itself of errors, the Pontiff said. "But let us not forget that community renewal necessarily relies on the personal commitment of each individual," he said. "Conversion begins in our inmost heart. Our efforts to change external things would be in vain were we not to strive to change ourselves profoundly."

John Paul pointed out that Paul VIís Apostolic Constitution Paenitemini, which changed the rules concerning fasting and abstinence, were not meant to weaken the practice of penance. "At that time, there were unfortunately many people who interpreted it as a relaxation of penitential practice," he said. "In fact, it was not a question of relaxation but of deepening." External acts of penance are never an end in themselves, but an aid to interior repentance, which consists in freeing our heart from the grip of sin and redirecting it to the love of God, the Pope said.

The Pontiff, who made his own retreat during Lent, said in was a good time to spend reflecting silently, and to ask the help of the Mother of God to make spiritual progress. "Withdrawing into ourselves and letting ourselves be guided by her, we can thus make an inventory of our life," he said.

At the beginning of Lent, John Paul celebrated the Ash Wenesday Mass as he traditionally does at the Basilica of St. Sabina on the Aventine Hill. The Pope revealed in his homily that he had once witnessed the opening of a sarcophagus at the Cathredal of Krakow, and seen for himself how the body is corruptible. "It was the tomb of a great monarch who had ruled when my country was at the height of its spendor and power," he said. "I saw clearly with my own eyes how his body had turned to dust. In his case, death had fulfilled its relentless law. This will happen to each one of us: 'To dust you will return.'"

It is necessary for us to hear this admonition in order that we may convert and believe in the Gospel, John Paul said in his homily. "It is necessary that this perspective be opened before us, so that we may believe deeply in the Gospel with all the truth of our mortal existence," he said.

TERROR BOMBS DRAW PAPAL CONDEMNATION

SYMPATHY FOR ISRAELI VICTIMS

A rash of suicide bombings in Israel has shocked the world and endangered the Middle East peace process. The radical Islamic terror group, Hamas, has claimed responsibility for the bombings.

Pope John Paul commented on the first attacks during his weekly Sunday Angelus address. The Holy Father told pilgrims in St. Peter's Square, "This Sunday, as well, is marked by very grave news that comes from Jerusalem where, with cold determination, a new, cruel attack has been carried out."

"Recourse to violence cannot have any justification. For this reason condemnation cannot but be strong and complete. I am close in sorrow to all, and I entrust them all to the mercy of God," the Pope said. "I'm also close to all those who, despite everything, continue to believe in peace."

NEW RULES FOR THE CONCLAVE

EMPHASIS ON ELECTORS' PERSONAL CHOICE

The cardinals were sealed up so well in their quarters in the 1978 conclaves that many of the older prelates were showing the ill effects of the heat by time the new pope was chosen. The princes of the Church were lodged in makeshift quarters from which they could walk to Sistine Chapel, where the voting for popes takes place. A number of cardinals slept in the Vatican museum, and had to walk long distances just to reach a bathroom.

All that will now change. John Paul IIís new Apostolic Constitution, Universi Domnici Gregis (On the Vacancy of the Apostolic See and the Election of the Roman Pontiff) has stipulated that the cardinal electors will reside in the House of St. Martha.

The residence, which is within the Vatican walls, was recently renovated with the idea of making it ready for a future conclave, and there the electors will have private rooms and private baths. How the cardinals will get from the House of St. Martha to the Sistine Chapel, which is on the other side of St. Peterís Basilica, has not yet been determined, but a bus seems to be the most logical solution.

A two-thirds majority is still necesssary to elect a Pope. But John Paul has done away with two forms of election that were previously allowed: by unanimous acclamation or by compromise (in which, during deadlocks, the cardinals entrusted a small committee to make the decision for them). These changes, the new papal document makes it clear, are intended as part of an overall drive to emphasize the personal freedom and responsibility of each elector; John Paul sought in these latest changes to isolate the cardinals from outside influences.

Although there had been some speculation that John Paul would allow a vote to the cardinals aged over 80, no such change was forthcoming. And the maximum number of electors remains set at 120.

Secrecy remains a priority, and the document calls for "two trustworthy technicians" to sweep the Sistine Chapel and adjacent areas electronically for all recording and transmitting devices.

The possession of a cellular phone could cause a lot of trouble, as the document says: "Should any infraction whatsoever of this norm occur and be discovered, those responsible should know that they will be suject to grave penalties according to the judgment of the future Pope." The traditional penalty for violating the secrecy of the conclave is excommunication.

NEW CALL FOR TOLERATION

MUSLIMS ASKED TO RESPECT CHRISTIAN NEIGHBORS

The United Nations proclaimed 1995 The Year of Tolerance, but the Vaticanís top man for relations with Muslims says it is time for Christians and Muslims to get beyond just putting up with one another.

"A brother is not just to be tolerated; he is to be loved," said Cardinal Francis Arinze, the Nigerian at the head of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue. Arinze's comments came in a letter to Muslims to mark the end of Ramadan, or month of fasting.

Arinze said the time of fasting is an especially apt period in which to ask for pardon for sins, and to be reconciled with God and with one another, since receiving pardon from God and granting pardon to oneís neighbor necessarily go together.

The cardinal acknowledged difficult periods in history which resulted in wars between Christians and Muslims. He said the past cannot be forgotten, but that the time has come "to free our memories of the negative consequences of the past, however painful they may be, and look resolutely towards the future."

Arinze said the war in the Balkans has been ìfalsely interpretedî as an example of Christian-Muslim confrontation, but conceded that bad relations between the two religions can be considered ìone of the elementsî contributing to the long-running war in Southern Sudan. Relations between the two religions should be marked by mutual knowledge and respect, Arinze said, adding that this requires mutual forgiveness and true reconciliation.

"We recognize that such a project is beyond us," the cardinal said. "This is why all of us raise our voices to the Almighty and Merciful, imploring him to come to our aid. He will not despise the sincere and humble prayers of his creatures."

CALLS FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

POPE ASKS RESPECT WITHOUT INDIFFERENCE

Pope John Paul II picked up on the same theme of respect and tolerance between different cultures and religions in a recent Sunday Angelus address.

The Pontiff reflected on the Vatican II document Dignitatis Humanae. He noted that the Church has experienced persecution from the beginning of her history.

At the same time, he quoted from Dignitatis Humanae, which honestly recognizes that even among Christians "there has at times appeared a form of behavior which was hardly in keeping with the spirit of the Gospel and was even opposed to it."

The Pope said the document, in the name of right reason and Revelation, proclaims a true and proper right to religious freedom, in which no one is forced to act against his conscience or restrained from acting in accord with his religious convictions.

"There is no relativism or religious indifferentism at the basis of this right, as if no truth existed and every choice had the same value," he said. "Instead, there is the dignity of the human person, who by nature has the right and duty to seek the truth." The Council called for religious freedom, like any other freedom, to be exercised with respect for the just requirements of public order, John Paul said.

ORDINATIONS INCREASING WORLDWIDE

ANNUARIO PONTIFICO LAUNCHED FOR 1995

Vatican officials pointed to statistics showing an increased numbers of ordinations to the priesthood worldwide as they announced the publication of an annual Church directory. But they cautioned that attrition--the results of deaths and resignations, still account for a decline in the overall number of priests.

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano presented Pope John Paul with the first issue of the 1995 Annuario Pontifico , which shows that ordinations rose 0.86 percent in 1994, the last year for which full statistics are available. The report also said the number of new diocesan priests (as opposed to those in religious orders) have risen by a remarkable 10.7 percent since reaching a historic low point in 1988.

"The balance between ordinations on one hand and defections on the other indicates that the number of priests has been declining for several years," a Vatican spokesman said. "But that phenomenon should diminish in future if the rising trend of ordinations and the falling trend of defections is maintained." He observed that "the average age of priests should fall and also the overall mortality rates."

100 TOP HITS

VATICAN LISTS FAVORITE MOVIES

The Vatican, commemorating the centenary of cinema, has just released its own Oscar awards for the best films of all time. The Pontfical Council of Social Communications, in collaboration with the Vatican Film Library, set up a commission which chose 45 films in three different groups.

Under the theme of religion, winning films included Mission, Ben Hur, A Man for All Seasons, and Pierpaolo Pasoliniís Gospel According to Matthew. In the field of morality, Schindlerís List made it on the list, as did Chariots of Fire, Itís a Wonderful Life, Gandhi, and On the Waterfront. In the artistic category, winners of Vatican "Oscars" included Citizen Kane, La Strada, the Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach, and 2001: A Space Odessey.

Archbishop John Foley, head of the Pontifical Council of Social Communications, said the idea was not to "canonize" the winners, but simply to point out some good films.

NO CONVENT LIFE FOR STALIN'S DAUGHTER

A CONFUSED STORY YIELDS A DISAPPOINTING ENDING

The story sounded too good to be true, and it was. The popular Italian magazine Chi had offered up a worldwide exclusive: that the daughter of Russian dictator Josef Stalin had entered a Catholic convent in Switzerland.

The story was filled with quotes from an elderly Italian missionary, Father Giovanni Garbolino, who had exchanged letters with Svetlana Stalin for nearly 30 years. Garbolino, who had not heard from Svetlana in a couple of years, surmised that perhaps she had entered a convent in Switzerland.

But 69-year-old Svetlana Stalin was tracked down in England by the Daily Mail. She is living on welfare payments and says although she was once drawn to the Catholic Church, she no longer feels the need for religion. Since her father's death Stalin has lived a troubled life, traveling from country to country and dabbling in a succession of religions and cults.

DEBATE STILL SWIRLS ON MADONNA STATUE

BISHOP AND MAYOR AT ODDS

The saga of the crying Madonna of Civitavecchia continues. A year after the tiny plaster statue allegedly started to weep tears of blood, the situation is just as confusing as it was at the very start.

The electrician who owns the Madonna, Fabio Gregori, has refused to take a blood test to see if the blood coming out of the Madonnaís eyes matched his own. That refusal has raised some suspicions, but the simple faithful still seem to believe the tears are real. And the "conversion" of the local bishop, Girolamo Grillo, who has announced that he now accepts the veracity of the phenomenon, has also given it new credibility.

But the prosecutor's office in this port city just north of Rome has done a computer analysis that claims to show the trail of tears on the statue always follows the same path. This has led investigators to the conclusion that in fact the virgin "cried" only once.

To make the entire soap opera a little more exciting, the bishop and the mayor of Civitavecchia, Pietro Tidei, currently find themselves at loggerheads. Tidei is a member of the Democratic Party of the Left, Italyís former Communists. He was piqued when the bishop gave an interview saying that Civitavecchia was tired of its mayor, and that Tidei ought to "talk less and do more."

ASFASFASF

ASFDADFSAF

The bishop of Como in northern Italy, Alessandro Maggiolini, doesnít make it into the paper as often as his outspoken brother bishop, Giacomo Biffi of Bologna. But frequently Maggiolini shocks Italians in the same way Biff does: by serving Church teaching to the faithful "straight up," with no effort to soften their impact.

But Maggiolini's most recent brush with the headlines involved something less than a solemn dogma: the issue of priestly dress. Even on that issue, his statements proved enough to spark some lively reactions. "Even manual workers own a white shirt, jacket, and tie," Maggiolini said. "Now almost the only people who dress like bricklayers or miners are priests. The cassock was elegant. And it had a certain air of sacred solemnity."

Maggioliniís short statement about good taste was met with a long comment in the Rome daily, Il Messaggero. Under a headline, "Question of Look," the newsaper took the bishop to task for telling priests to dress the part.

"Dressing 'badly' lets priests be poor among the poor," Il Messaggero reasoned, "something that perhaps is not recognized too much in curial palaces, but certainly well accepted by the rest of the people of God." The newspaper suggested that Maggiolini, instead of railing against a lack of clerical elegance, try to find out a little bit more about the difficult sacrifices most priests have to make. The newspaper did not address the obvious question: If a priest dress in casual clothes visits among the urban poor, how do those poor people know that they are speaking to a priest?

ROME'S EVANGELIZING MISSION

A NEW CHALLENGE FOR THE ETERNAL CITY

Pope John Paul II has called for an evangelizing ìmissionî for the city of Rome, which will officially begin on May 25, the vigil of Pentecost.

The Pope first mentioned the need for this mission on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception last year, and then repeated it in a meeting with the priests of Rome at the end of February, in which he said Christian witness was needed in the university, in hospitals, and in all walks of life.

"Concretely, Christians ought to learn to make themselves actively present in these environments," the Pope said, adding that Christian witness has become more urgent as the forces of de-Christianization have become stronger, both in Rome and society in general. The secularizing forces easily lead Christians into a kind of anonymity in their faith, John Paul said.

"The scope and the objective of the mission is to call our city to faith and to conversion," the Pope told Romeís priests. The mission is directed to each and every person, but also to the collective soul of the city, he said.

"By means of the mission and the greater commitment from Catholics in the city, Rome will be able to recognize better the great role that the Providence of God assigned to it from the time when the Apostles Peter and Paul came here to announce the Gospel and give witness with their own blood," the Pope said. He added that if the mission manages to influence the culture and the conscience of the city, the missionary witness that Rome can bring to the rest of the world will also increase.

John Paul said the mission offered a special opportunity to encourage the good formation of both priests and laypeople: "If we want the Church of Rome to become..... more missionary, this perhaps is the most important and decisive step: to direct all formational work in a missionary sense, from that of the sacraments of Christian initiation to that with adults."

ATTACK ON AN INSTITUTION?

WEEKLY MAGAZINE SCORNS FEMINIST CELEBRATION

The Italian weekly magazine Famiglia Cristiana sells briskly on newsstands, but ordinarily it does not cause major public controversies. But half of Italyís population of 56 million seemed to be up in arms when the magazine called for the abolition of "Womanís Day," which is celebrated in Italy each year on March 8.

An editorial in the magazine called the celebration a ìtired ritualî and an ìantiquated occurrence.î Not that Famiglia Cristiana is against women; the same editorial pointed to the great steps that have been taken in the course of womenís liberation.

Not too many women agreed that the festival should be abolished, and Italian nuns were the first to take the countryís largest-selling Catholic magazine to task. Female political leaders also fell in line in criticizing the editorial.

Long-time feminist Miriam Mafai said Italians should especially celebrate Womanís Day this year since parliament recently passed a law making sexual violence a crime against the person and not against public morals, as it had been. "We needed 20 years of proposals, debates, meetings, demonstrations and arguments women won, for themselves and for the decency of this country," Mafai said. "So why not celebrate this event on the 8th of March?"

FRENCH BISHOPS DENY SHIFT ON CONDOMS

BLAME MEDIA FOR "DISTORTION" OF REPORT

In an interview broadcast by Vatican Radio, the French bishop who chaired the committee responsible for a new report on the Church's response to AIDS denied that the French bishops had strayed from the Church's teaching regarding condom use.

Bishop Albert Rouet, chairman of the social commission of the French bishops' conference, denied the French church explicitly supports condom use. "The press has exaggerated because, in the first place, in the text which commits the commission there isn't even any mention of (condom use)," Bishop Rouet said.

Bishop Rouet explained that the document has two parts, and only the second part contains ethical and moral guidelines. In the second part, he said, "there is in fact no mention of condoms."

The commission report, released at a news conference in Paris on Monday, noted that "many competent doctors state that a viable condom is today the sole means of prevention." It said: "In this respect, it is necessary."

CONDOM DEBATE JOINED

STRONG REACTIONS TO FRENCH STATEMENT

If the French bishops did not intend to open a new debate within the Church, they should be surprised by the uproar their statement provoked. In an interview with the Reuters news service, a spokesman for the German bishops' conference showed that the controversy had quickly crossed the border.

"The Catholic Church restricts sexual intercourse to marriage. But if one partner is HIV positive the problem is that condoms do not give 100 percent protection against AIDS. So how can the Church recommend the use of condoms?" asked the bishops' spokesman.

The German spokesman, Rudolf Hammerschmidt, told Reuters that while the Church rejects the use of contraception, some Germans bishops approve the use of condoms when employed only as protection against infections rather than as tools that allow lustful behavior without fear of pregnancy.

"I do not think German bishops feel it is for them to regulate the tiny details of people's lives. People must take responsibility for themselves as to whether they endanger others' lives by infecting them with deadly infections," said Hammerschmidt.

NEW LEADER BALKS AT VATICAN ACCORD

LEFTIST LEGISLATORS WARY OF SOLIDARITY ACCORD

The new prime minister of Poland's leftist-dominated parliament said that he is unwilling to give special status to the Catholic Church in ratifying a concordat between the Vatican and Poland.

Prime Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz expressed his "willingness and openness" to discuss issues not only with the Catholic Church but all religions. Poland's population is overwhelmingly Catholic.

Since the post-Communist victory in 1993, the Polish parliament has been unwilling to ratify the Vatican agreement negotiated with the previous Solidarity-led government. Critics say the concordat gives the Catholic Church special privileges over other religions.

"The concordat affair is very important and I hope we will be able to find a wise solution," said Cimoszewicz, whose party strongly opposes ratifying the concordat until Poland adopts a new permanent constitution.

ANOTHER EMPIRE ENDING?

Ukrainian Orthodox see distance from Moscow patriarchate

The patriarch of Ukraine's independent Orthodox church said that recent division between the Russian and Constantinople Orthodox churches should be the beginning of the dismantling of the Russian church's "spiritual empire."

Patriarch Filaret said the schism over the Orthodox Church in Estonia signals that the time has come for the formal recognition of his church's independence from Moscow. The independent Orthodox church in the Ukraine has been battling with factions still loyal to Moscow Patriarch Aleksei II for the hearts and minds of the faithful in their nation.

Worldwide Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople has refused to recognize the breakaway church, not least for fear of offending the vast Russian church. Patriarch Filaret said that, like Estonia, independent Ukraine deserved to have its own church free of outside control--particularly as Orthodoxy in eastern Europe originated in Kyev in the uear 988.

"Moscow still maintains the essence of an imperialist church. Despite the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian church wants to keep a church empire in the form of the Moscow Patriarchate," Patriarch Filaret said. "The time has come to restore historical right. An end must be put to Moscow's spiritual empire."

Russia's church suspended its links with Constantinople early in March in a protest against the mother church's decision to recognize the independence of another breakaway church -- in the Baltic state of Estonia. A senior Moscow cleric, Metropolitan Kirill, accused the Constantinople hierarchy of encouraging a schism in the 200-million strong world-wide faith by bowing to pressure from Estonian authorities.

NEW CHURCH DIVIDES CITY

MUSLIMS OBJECT TO CATHOLIC BUILDING PLANS

The divisions within the city of Mostar between mainly Catholic Croats and Bosnian Muslims are becoming apparent as the site of a new Catholic church raises conflicting historical claims to the location.

The Diocese of Mostar plans to build a new Church of Christ's Resurrection on the site of great churches dating back to the time of the Roman Empire. But Islamic leaders claim the proposed site was a Muslim graveyard until the end of Ottoman rule of Bosnia in the 19th century when it was usurped by the new Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Reis-ul-Ulema Mustafa Ceric, head of Bosnia's Islamic community, wrote to Sarajevo's Archbishop Vinko Puljic saying Muslims were "bitter and worried" at the plans for the new church.

The diocese denies that the Lakisic harem graveyard occupied today's church site, insisting it was at least two hundred yards away. The diocese had the deed to the property and the harem was never registered, it said. "And by what law should we stop exactly at the Turkish era and not go further back to the pre-Turkish or old Christian era?" the diocese said.

Catholics have lived in the region since the 5th century, according to the diocesean statement. "After this area fell under Turkish rule (in 1468) the people and the Church started waging a painful battle for survival," it added. Ottoman Turkish imperial rule lasted in Bosnia for 400 years and many people in the region converted from Christianity to Islam. The Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed Bosnia in 1878 and ceded it in 1918 to a new multinational Yugoslav kingdom. In 1945 the kingdom became a Communist federation which broke up in 1991-92.

THE GREAT MENORAH MYSTERY

SECRET INFORMATION FOR GOVERNMENT MINISTER?

Israel's Religious Affairs Minister Shimon Shestreet has asked the Pope to help search for one of the most significant treasures of Judaism, the great menorah, or seven-branched ritual lamp, from the Temple of Jerusalem. The menorah, made of pure gold and reportedly weighing well over 100 pounds, was part of the loot carried off by the Romans who sacked Jerusalem in 70 AD.

According to the story told by carvings on the Arch of Titus in Rome, the menorah was displayed during the triumphant march of the victorious legions when they returned to Rome. What became of it after that time is unknown, although the Jewish community of Rome, which dates back to before the time of Christ, has preserved a number of legends about its history. Some say it was thrown into the Tiber; some say it is buried under the Vatican. One version of the story says that it really never reached Rome at all--that the Jews hid it before Jerusalem fell, or that it fell overboard during a storm at sea--and that what was displayed in Rome for the amusement of the populace was simply a mock-up.

All these stories could be explained by a simply psychological trait: the unwillingness of the Jews to face the fact that so great a treasue had been sacriligiously melted down for coins and jewelry. But Minister Shestreet seems to give the stories some credence. Following a meeting with the Pope, he said that he had asked for a search to be made in the Vatican catacombs. Recent research at the University of Florence, he said, indicated that the menorah might be there, among the Vatican treasures.

"I don't know that it is there for certain," he conceded, "but I asked the Pope to help in the search as a good-will gesture in recognition of improved relations between Catholics and Jews."

The reference to Florence, however, only compounds the mystery. University officials say they "can say nothing" about any such research. Emanuele Ascarelli, who recently made a film for Italian television on "The Enigma of the Menorah," likewise knows nothing ("Our films was about legends," he remarks pointedly.) And the new Israeli embassy to the Vatican is kep in the dark. Only Minister Shestreet, it appears, knows what the "new research" involves. And he, at least for the moment, is not making his knowledge public.

- V.R.

RECOGNITION FOR Q'ADDAFI?

DELICATE MOVE TOWARD A PARIAH STATE

The Holy See will soon give its blessing to Libyan leader Muammar Q'addafi in the form of diplomatic relations, according to an Italian newspaper report.

The Holy See will announce full-scale diplomatic relations with the Arab nation probably before the end of May, the Rome daily Messaggero reported.

Libya has been suffering the consequences of an international imbargo for failing to hand over two suspects in the bombing of the Lockerbie jet, and Vatican diplomats will have to be careful not to make it look like they are breaking ranks with the anti-Libyan countries, with the United States and Israel at the forefront.

Libya has about 60,000 Catholics in three vicariates, Tripoli, Benghazi and Derna, governed by the apostolic vicariate, Archbishop Giovanni Innocenzo Martinelli.

ARCHBISHOP DETAINED

CAMPAIGN AGAINST CHRISTIANS CONTINUES

There is more bad news for the Catholic Church in Sudan, where the government in Khartoum is continually cracking down on Christians.

The archbishop of Juba, Paolino Lukudu Loro, was recently prohibited from boarding a KLM flight to from Khartoum to Rome via Amsterdam. Witnesses said the archbishop was driven out of the airport.

The Comboni Missionaries released a statement in Rome denouncing the action. ìIt is not the first time that the security personnel at the airport of Khartoum intervened in such a fashion,î the statement said.

In February, following the detention of two priests and a seminarian, the Sudan Catholic Bishops Conference protested the "continuous and frequent harassment" of Church officials.

The United States recently recalled its diplomatic personnel from Sudan since it no longer felt capable of guaranteeing their safety.

CRITICISM FOR MILITARY RULERS

COUNTRY "CRITICALLY ILL," BISHOPS CHARGE

According to a BBC radio report, Catholic bishops in Nigeria have slammed military rulers for delaying the countryís return to civilian rule.

The BBC World Service said the bishops produced a statement at the end of a five-day meeting in which they called on General Sani Abacha to free all political prisoners.

General Abacha, who took power in a 1993 coup, originally pledged to return Nigeria to civilian rule in 1996, but now says he will wait until October 1998. The bishops urged Abacha to speed up the process to restore democracy, saying Nigeria has become internationally isolated for its human-rights abuses.

Hundreds of political opponents have been jailed under Abacha's rule, and nine dissidents were executed on November 10, eliciting condemnation by governments around the world. Nigeria was suspended by the Commonwealth, the organization of Britain and its former colonies.

The bishops blamed a recent surge of violence on the regime'srefusal to engage in what the bishops called meaningful dialogue with segments of the civilian population. Citizens no longer feel safe at home, work or on the streets, they said.

Nigeria has more than 14 million Catholics, representing about 15 percent of the population. Christian groups are a traditionally influential force, but far more so in the south of the country than in the north.

MASSACRE MEMORIAL FOR EASTER SUNDAY

GOVERNMENT REJECTS CHURCH PROTESTS

The Rwandan government rejected a plea from the nation's Catholic bishops to change the date of planned memorials of the 1994 genocide so that it would not fall on Easter Sunday.

State-run Radio Rwanda reported the bishops had asked parliament to change the date from April 7 to April 8. However, angry legislators refused the request, renewing accusations that some priests and nuns took part in the killings.

Dozens of priests and nuns have been accused by witnesses of taking up arms and machetes to hack their victims to death. Some of the ugliest massacres were committed in churches, missions and parishes where Tutsis who took shelter were hunted down by extremist Hutu militias. More than 5,000 Tutsis were slaughtered in and around a church in southern Rwanda, and thousands more are suspected of being buried in mass graves outside another church in the town of Kibuye.

The government has declared April 7 a national day of mourning because that day marked the start of the 1994 genocide of up to a million minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

PAINTING STIRS A CHRISTIAN PROTEST

Mandela portrayed in Christ's role

While Nelson Mandela is hailed by many in South Africa as the savior of his people, some government leaders think a new painting hanging in the parliament goes too far.

A new exhibition, replacing the portraits of white Afrikaners who formerly held power, includes a portrait of President Mandela as a Christ-like figure wearing a crown of thorns. "As a Christian I reject this painting as blasphemous," Ferdi Hartzenberg, leader of the Conservative Party said in a statement of the painting, part of a UN anti-apartheid art exhibition.

CHURCH LEADERS DECRY REPATRIATION

VOLUNTEER HELP FOR VIETNAMESE REFUGEES

Contradicting earlier government reports, the Catholic bishops of the Philippines have stated their willingness to support Vietnamese refugee camps, which the government says it can no longer support.

Government officials had stated that they will forcibly repatriate 1,700 refugees in June because the cost of the camps was beyond the resources of the government. At the same time, the officials had said the Catholic Church had backed down from a commitment to support for the camps, after learning of the cost. Two weeks earlier, Manila had said it was willing to allow the Vietnamese to stay permanently.

Bishop Ramon Arguelles, chairman of the Catholic bishops' commission on migrants, accused Manila of trying to evict the Vietnamese and of accepting repatriation as the only solution. "The Church will oppose any forced repatriation at any time. The Church is willing, in her own terms, to take over assistance of the refugee settlements anytime before or after June 30," Bishop Arguelles promised.

MISSION FOR PEACE

POPE'S ENVOY STRESSES HUMAN RIGHTS

Cardinal Roger Etchegary, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, visited the troubled island of East Timor, and asked authorities that the "legitimate aspirations" of the Timorese people be recognized.

East Timor, a former Portuguese colony, was taken over by Indonesia in 1975 when Portugal pulled out of the country. But many Timorese have continued to call for independence, and the Indonesian military has had to enforce strict control over all those it considers rebels.

One of the most prominent spokesmen for the Timorese people has become the Bishop of Dili, Carlos Filipe Ximenes Belo.

In a statement made on leaving Dili at the end of February, Etchegary said respect for human rights is the only way in which justice and peace can be brought to live together. "If these principles had always been respected in history, many lives would have been saved, much suffering and many tears would have been spared everywhere," he said.

Etchegaray, who also visited Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country in the world. There he met with the Indonesia Episcopal Conference. The French cardinal, who frequently serves as a kind of diplomatc troubleshooter for the Pope, said he was aware of the problem concerning East Timor, but said it was not his competence to enter into the question.

"As a friend, however, I wish to say to all those involved: believe in the power of dialogue, of dialogue among yourselves and of dialogue outside the country," Etchegaray said, adding that "in such a dialogue there must be space for the realization of the legitimate aspirations of the Timorese people to see their special cultural and religious identity recognized."

NO PROGRESS FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

GOVERNMENT REBUFFS CATHOLIC EFFORTS

Diplomatic exchanges may be progressing nicely between Vietnam and the United States, which recently granted its former enemy diplomatic recognition. But the situation is quite a bit more difficult for the Catholic Church in Vietnam.

The Vietnamese government has responded to requests made by the Catholic bishops in the country in October of 1995, and the answers were not encouraging.

According to the French Catholic daily La Croix, the government has prohibited the aposotolic administrator of Ho Chi Minh City, Huyh Van Nghi, named by the Holy See in 1993, from exercising any of his functions in governing the local church.

In their letter last year, the bishops had expressed their concern about limitations put on Catholic worship, on the formation and ordination of priests, and the inability to work in the fields of health-care and education.

The goverment made one concession: the episcopal conference will be permitted to publish a newsletter once every three months. But it has deemed it necessary to maintain strict control on acts of worship "in order to guarantee order and public safety." Government officials will also keep a close watch on seminarians, and must give their approval if a candidate is to be ordained a priest.

ARSON AT AUSTRALIAN CATHEDRAL

SUSPECT DESCRIBED AS SATANIST

A self-proclaimed devil worshiper was arrested by Sydney police on charges of setting fire to a Catholic cathedral built on the site of Australia's first Mass 200 years ago.

Police said Jason Humphries, 21, was arrested Monday while he watched the fire consume St. Patrick's Cathedral in a Sydney suburb, gutting the interior and destroying the roof. He was charged with arson and ordered to undergo psychiatric examination.

Humphries reportedly told police he set fire to the church as an act of revenge against his mother-in-law who introduced him to black magic.

The cathedral, constructed in 1935, was built on the site of the first Mass in Australia in 1803, and incorporated elements of a previous church built in the 1800s.

WAR ON POVERTY, NOT ON POPULATION

BISHOP, PRESIDENT TRADE CHARGES ON POPULATION

Bishop Luis Bambaren Gastelumendi, secretary-general

of the Peruvian bishops' conference, said that if the Peruvian government is truly concerned about equality in the country, "It should start by providing for basic needs" instead of pushing birth control on the poor. The bishop's statement came in response to previous public criticisms levelled at the Peruvian hierarchy by the country's president, Alberto Fujimori.

During a recent visit to Brazil, Fujimori, speaking of his government's birth-control policy, said that "I don't care for the position of the Catholic hierarchy. It is absurd, obsolete, and medieval. I want to give the poor of my country the same opportunity that the rich, even Catholics, have to control their fertility."

"If President Fujimori is so concerned with equality, then he should take into account other, more urgent problems," said Bishop Bambaren in a press conference.

"We salute any government's effort to reduce the dramatic differences in our society, but we don't think that birth control is a priority," said Bishop Bambaren. "We would like to remind the president of a long list of differences of which he may not be aware: the rich have enough food, the poor don't, the rich have access to health services, the poor don't, the rich have electric power and running water, while the poor lack these and other fundamental services like education," said Bambaren.

"I will not reply to the description used by President Fujimori," concluded Bishop Bambaren, "I do deplore that a Peruvian president, who is supposed to reflect a image of unity in the country, creates these divisions and conflicts."

PRESIDENT CHARGED WITH CORRUPTION

Church demands a moral voice

Colombia's president was indicted with four criminal charges in a special, closed-door meeting, according to judicial sources. The scandal stems from alleged connections to drug traffickers

and threaten to bring down the government.

President Ernesto Samper was charged in four criminal counts by Prosecutor-General Alfonso Valdiviseo in a closed-door meeting with members of the Committee of Accusations of the House of Representatives, which is the only group that could bring charges against the president.

According to the sources, the charges include electoral fraud, procedural fraud, and a criminal charge stemming from Samper's alleged responsibility for covering us his 1994 campaign's links to drug dealers.

Earlier this week, Bogota Archbishop Pedro Rubiano, added his voice to leading business groups, student protesters, and the scores of opposition leaders who have demanded Samper stand down. Archbishop Rubiano was told he should "hold his tongue" by Senate president Julio Cesar Guerra, a staunch Samper supporter, in a public reprimand for meddling in the country's political affairs.

But the archbishop shot back on Wednesday with a scolding of his own: "The country is tired of corruption and immorality and that's something the Church can raise its voice about without censorship and with total freedom."

Meeting for a five-day summit in the week after Samper's indictment, the bishops of Colombia diagnosed their nation as "morally sick" and characterized it as a place where many people

have sold out the drug lords.

"Today's national drama is a sign that drug trafficking has invaded all spheres of our democratic, economic, professional, and social life," the statement read. "[The drug trade] has even converted armed insurgents into narco-guerrillas," the bishops charged, referring to allegations by senior military officials that leftist guerrillas have replaced the Cali cartel as Latin America's top drug lords. "Corruption and lies have taken over politics in such a way that we no longer know who's telling the truth, who's telling half-truths and who is deceiving us."

MERELY "FORMAL" RELATIONS

GOVERNMENT HOLDS CHURCH AT ARM'S LENGTH

The Archbishop of Havana, Cardinal Jaime Ortega y Alamino, defined relations between the Church and the government in Cuba as merely "formal."

"They are relations that are maintained through an Office for Religious Affairs," Ortega said in an interview with Vatican Radio. "Itís this office, for example, that authorizes the entrance of priests and nuns to work in the country. So thereís a good rapport. But what there isnít, however, is an authentic dialogue between the Church and the State about the big questions, the profound ones, which are at the base of the Catholic Church in Cuba and of the religious faith in general."

Ortega, who was made a cardinal at the last consistory, is in a difficult position as head of the most important diocese on the communist island nation. He said the government shouldnít look on the Catholic Church as just another cultural entity.

"The Church also has a mission of service to the people, a mission that comes from the very Gospel," he said. "And so the Church has traditionally, for centuries, exercised charity, solidarity, love, particularly for the poorest, the least favored."

Although a Cuban office of Catholic Charities was recently established, Church leaders complain that they are not allowed to act in complete freedom in their social work. Ortega also stressed the Churchís prophetic mission, and its work in forming consciences. "The Church has the duty to teach," he said. "We donít believe to be--for the things of this world, for the day-to-day things--the deposit of the absolute truth. But we have the truths for what regard the nature and destiny of the human being; truth about that which makes someone aware of his rights and his duties."

Pope John Paul II sent a message to Cuban Catholics on the occasion of the National Cuban Ecclesial Encounter, telling them that the Church was still waiting for full freedom to carry out

its evangelizing activity, and to bring the message of Christ to all Cubans. "On the other hand, it is also true that the period of atheism, mistakenly called scientific atheism, appears to have passed in your country," he said.

The Pontiff pointed out that the third millennium offered lots of hope but lots of questions, too: "If the Church does not proclaim the truth and show love, who will do it?" he asked, continuing: "Now that the collectivist systems that suffocate valid personal initiatives seem already overcome, will the world fall under the blind mechanisms of a kind of ruthless economic organization, which has no concern for the weakest members of society and destroys the aspirations of the poor?"

"UNSAFE" ABORTIONS

INTERNATIONAL AGENCY POINTS TO CATHOLIC COUNTRIES

"Unsafe abortion" is a a loaded term, but according to the U.N. the highest number of them take place in Latin America, despite the fact that abortion is illegal in most Latin American and Caribbean nations.

According to World Population Monitoring 1996 some 41 unsafe abortions took place per 1,000 women in the region. That compares with 2 unsafe abortions per 1,000 women in Europe; 12 per 1,000 in Asia and 26 per 1,000 in Africa.

The study said Argentina registers one abortion for every live birth, and that Chile has a similar rate, despite the fact that abortion is illegal there. The report was prepared by the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Information and Policy.

The UN group characterizes abortions as "unsafe" wherever they are illegal. The report does not take into account abortions which are both legal and unsafe. In fact, statistics from the United States show that the key difference between "safe" and "unsafe" abortions is not the state of the law, but the availability of modern hygienic conditions and antibiotics. Women who procure abortions are relatively "safe" from physical complications where those medical resources are available--whether or not the government condones the operation. Their unborn children, of course, are never safe.

COURT UPHOLDS "RIGHT TO DIE"

ECHOES OF ROE V. WADE

A federal court has overturned an 1854 Washington state law banning doctor-assisted suicide, saying terminally-ill persons have a constitutional right to die.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court ruling, explaining, "We first conclude that there is a constitutionally protected liberty interest in determining the time and manner of one's own death..." which outweighs the state's duty to preserve life when that life is one of pain and helplessness. Writing for the majority, Judge Steven Reinhardt drew an astonishingly broad conclusion: "If broad general state policies can be used to deprive a teminally ill individual of that choice, it is hard to envision where the exercise of arbitrary and intrusive power by the state can be halted."

"This isn't about letting people die, this is about making people die,

and that is a new and dangerous precedent," warned Mark Chopko, lawyer for the United States Catholic Conference, which represents the nation's Catholic bishops.

Judge Robert Beezer, who cast one of three dissenting votes (against an 8-vote majority) in the 9th Circuit decision, essentially agreed, suggesting that the ruling is a step toward the killing of the poor, the elderly, and the disabled. "If physician-assisted suicide for mentally competent, terminally ill adults is made a constitutional right, voluntary euthanasia for weaker patients, unable to self-terminate, will soon follow," Beezer wrote.

Judge Reinhardt made a second astonishing statement when he wrote that similar dire predictions, offered in 1973 after the Roe v. Wade decision, had been proven inaccurate. "The legalization of

abortion has not undermined our commitment to life generally; nor, as some predicted, has it led to widespread infanticide," Reinhardt said. "Similarly, there is no reason to believe that legalizing assisted

suicide will lead to the horrific consequences its opponents suggest."

The backbone of the decision rests on the constitutional guarantee

outlined in the 14th Amendment promising the state cannot "deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law." The court's ruling described the statute's effect on the rights of terminally ill people as "drastic" since "it bars what for many terminally ill patients is the only palatable, and the only practical, way to end their lives." It effectively deprived the patients of their liberty and due process, Reinhardt charged.

Unless the new ruling is overturned on appeal to the Supreme Court, Oregon's new law allowing assisted suicide--the first such law to be approved by a voters' referendum--will almost certainly be upheld.

Although the 9th Circuit Court's ruling only affects the Western states in its jurisdiction, the precedent's effects could be felt throughout the country.

"DOCTOR DEATH" BEATS CHARGES

JURY REJECTS PROSECUTORS' ARGUMENTS

When he heard the news of the 9th Circuit decision, attorney Geoffrey Feiger immediately filed a motion calling for a Michigan court to dismiss charges against his client, Jack Kevorkian. The motion was denied, since Michigan's courts are not governed by the precedents set in the 9th Circuit. But just a few days later Feiger had an even better result: the jury found Kevorkian "not guilty" of the charge that he had violated a state law against assisting a suicide.

No one denies that the man known as "Doctor Death" had been instrumental in helping several people end their own lives, most recently by carbon-monoxide poisoning. Indeed Kevorkian, who has lost his license to practice medicine after repeated clashes with the law, has deliberately called public attention to actions, by the ghoulish process of leaving dead bodies to be discovered in automobiles parked outside the office of the local medical examiner.

Kevorkian had seemingly damaged his own case when he took the witness stand, and shocked his own attorney by comparing his actions to those of an executioner carrying out the death sentence; he was, he said, trying to arrange "justice" for those who were living in pain.

However, Feiger evidently convinced the jury with his argument that Kevorkian's actions should not be classified as criminal, since he had been trying to end his "patients'" suffering.

CARDINAL JOHN KROL, RIP

INFLUENTIAL PAPAL ADVISOR DIES AT 85

Cardinal John Krol, an outspoken bishop and friend of Pope John Paul II, died at home from diabetes-related kidney problems. He was 85.

From humble beginnings as a butcher in Cleveland, Krol rose to become a prince of the Church, a position to which he never aspired.

Through his Polish background and family connections, Cardinal Krol maintained communications with the Polish Church behind the Iron Curtain, and befriended Archbishop Karol Wojtyla of Krakow, now Pope John Paul II. Both bishops were elevated to cardinal at the same time, in 1967. It is widely rumored that Cardinal Krol was instrumental in sponsoring Cardinal Wojtyla for election to the papacy in 1978.

Cardinal Krol, born in Cleveland in 1910 of Polish immigrants, was ordained to the priesthood in 1937. In 1961, he was appointed Archbishop of Philadelphia where he remained until his retirement in 1988. The cardinal's successor, Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua said, "His death is a great loss to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the entire Philadelphia region as well as to the Catholic Church of the United States."

In a telegram addressed to Bevilaqua, Pope John Paul II said, "With immense gratitude for his fruitful and untiring cooperation with the Holy See from the time of the second Vatican Council and with me personally throughout my pontificate, I am certain that his memory will live on in the community he so faithfully served."

SEEKING COMPROMISE ON CENSORSHIP

AMENDMENT WOULD LIFT BAN ON ABORTION INFORMATION

In a February bow to the parents' demands, Congress passed passed a sweeping telecommunications bill that would regulate the dissemination of sex-related information through the Internet. But President Bill Clinton has refused to enforce a portion of the law that would ban the electronic distribution of information about the availablity of abortion, and several Congressmen have already launched an effot to overturn that ban.

The ban was the result of the extension to computer services of the unenforced, 123-year-old Comstock Act forbidding the transmittal of pornography or abortion information through the mail. "To think we would take a 19th-century law and slap it on the Internet is really ridiculous," said Rep. Patricia Schroeder. "We are

talking about women who are adults trying to get information about their health."

Abortion supporters say the kind of information that could be banned includes where to obtain an abortion, how to use birth control pills, and facts about the abortion pill RU-486. They warned that if the legislation remains in force, women will be afraid to seek such knowledge.

Defenders of the telecommunications provision say it targets pornography and does not suggest any restrictions about abortion. In fact an enormous amount of information about abortion is readily available on the Internet, and no law-enforcement authority has made any effort to stem the flow of that information.

This rather obscure battle over the ground-rules for the worldwide computer network is a reflection of a larger political struggle, in which the drive to protect youngsters from pornography and violence conflict with the drive to maintain an unfettered flow of information. In the world of television, some politicians and broadcasters have touted a potential compromise in the use of the "V-chip"--an electronic device that would allow parents to block off broadcasts which they deemed objectionable. But such a device only shields children from the programs their parents can anticipate; it does not stop all objectionable material, nor does it foil the efforts of curious youngsters who have the technical ability necessary to outwit an electronic censor.

SEX-ABUSE SETTLEMENT

ARCHDIOCESE ADMITS A CRIME

The Archdiocese of San Francisco has reached an out-of-court settlement with three men who accused a priest of molesting them in the 1960s and 1970s.

Ruth Berkowitz, the attorney for the three men, announced on Monday that archdiocese had made a cash settlement in a civil suit brought by the men and offered letters of apology acknowledging the crimes had taken place. Berkowitz said the settlement was with the archdiocese and not with Msgr. Patrick O'Shea, the priest who allegedly molested the children. Msgr. O'Shea has been place on administrative leave from the diocese.

O'Shea could still face criminal charges if the California

Supreme Court decides to waive the statute of limitations in the case.

Prosecutors allege the Church hid information concerning the incidents for several years.

The letter of apology to the three men reads in part, "You have endured great pain and suffering through no fault of your own.... (The archdiocese) sincerely regrets this and (prays for your) healing and peace."

The San Francisco settlement is unusual in that its terms have been disclosed to the public. Experts believe that dozens of similar lawsuits have been quietly settled in dioceses all around the United States, with the stipulation that those who receive cash payments must agree not to discuss their cases.