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The Southern Cross, Page 2
Three dead in Seton
Hall dorm fire
South Orange, NJ (CNS)
A n early morning fire in a fresh
man dormitory at Seton Hall
University killed three people and
injured 58 January 19. Of the injured,
54 were students, two were firefight
ers and two were police officers. The
10,000-student Newark archdiocesan
university closed for the day as
investigators sought to determine the
cause of the blaze in Boland Hall, a
six-story residence housing 600 stu
dents. “This is a heartbreaking
tragedy for Seton Hall University, for
our families, for all the Seton Hall
family,” said Monsignor Robert T.
Sheeran, university president, at a
9:30 a.m. press conference. “Words
cannot express what’s happening to
us,” he added.
Retired Detroit
AUXILIARY BISHOP DIES
Detroit (CNS)
R etired Auxiliary Bishop Arthur H.
Krawczak of Detroit, known as a
humanitarian and remembered for his
work with youths and for his compas
sion for European immigrants, died
January 13 of heart failure at Saint
Mary’s Hospital in Livonia. He was
86. A funeral Mass was celebrated by
Detroit Cardinal Adam J. Maida
January 17, followed by burial in Holy
Sepulchre Cemetery, Southfield. “We
have been blessed by the presence and
ministry of Bishop Krawczak for
almost 60 years,” Cardinal Maida said.
“He has served our church with great
vision, joy and pastoral sensitivity. He
will be very much missed.”
No POPE CAN DISSOLVE
VALID MARRIAGES, POPE
TELLS CHURCH TRIBUNAL
Vatican City (CNS)
T he bond of the sacrament of mar
riage is so strong and sacred that
not even the pope has the power to
dissolve it, Pope John Paul II said.
The pope, addressing members of the
Roman Rota, a church tribunal that
handles appeals of marriage annul-
Meadllaini® Hopseotclh
ment cases, said January 21 that he
wanted to put an end to speculation
that a pontiff had the power to dis
solve valid marriages as part of his
role as “vicar of Christ.” “Faced with
the doubts and confusion that could
emerge, it is necessary to reaffirm that
matrimony validly concluded and con
summated can never be dissolved, not
even by the power of the Roman pon
tiff,” he said. “The opposite argument
would imply that no marriage is
absolutely indissoluble, which would
be contrary to what the church has
taught and still teaches about the
indissolubility of the marriage bond.”
In Egypt, church
LEADERS WELCOME NEWS
OF PAPAL VISIT
Rome (CNS)
C hurch leaders in Egypt wel
comed the news that Pope John
Paul II will visit their country in
February and said it bodes well for
ecumenical and Christian-Muslim
relations. “This is a historic event: a
Muslim country where Christians are
mostly Orthodox will welcome a
Catholic pope. For our youngsters it
will be a joy and an encouragement,”
Father Ibrahim Isak Sedrach told the
Vatican missionary news agency
Fides January 20. Father Sedrach is
rector at Saint Leo the Great
Seminary in Cairo, where the pope
will hold an ecumenical encounter
during his February 24-26 visit. The
encounter will underline the good
relations between the tiny Catholic
community and the 6 million Coptic
Orthodox faithful. Father Boulos
Garas, who teaches at the seminary,
told Fides that Egypt’s approximately
200,000 Catholics are “oveijoyed” at
the news of the pope’s arrival.
Court approves closing
PUBLIC SCHOOLS ON
Good Friday
Washington (CNS)
T he U.S. Supreme Court declined
to review an appeal of Maryland’s
law requiring schools to close on
Good Friday. Without comment
January 18, the court rejected an
appeal by a retired Maryland teacher
who argued that the law violates the
separation of church and state.
Maryland, Illinois and North Dakota
are the only states that require all pub
lic schools to close on Good Friday,
although the Illinois law was struck
down by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals. A handful of other states
designate Good Friday as a legal holi
day but do not require schools to
close.
Britain announces
CHANGES TO NORTHERN
Ireland police force
London (CNS)
T he British government announced
wide-ranging changes to the
police force in Northern Ireland in a
bid to attract more Catholic recmits.
The proposed changes include a new
name for the Royal Ulster
Constabulary, which has a reputation
among many members of Northern
Ireland’s Catholic community as being
dominated by Protestant members. In
fall 2001, the name of the Royal
Ulster Constabulary will be changed
to Police Service of Northern Ireland.
Only 8 percent of the current police
force is Catholic—compared to more
than 40 percent of the population at
large. The government’s decisions
were announced in London’s House of
Commons January 19 by Secretary of
State for Northern Ireland Peter
Mandelson.
For Christian unity
week, Irish bishop says
PAY, NOT PRAY
Dublin (CNS)
A n Irish bishop is asking Catholics
in his diocese to express Christian
unity by paying, not just praying.
During the Week of Prayer for
Christian Unity, Bishop John Buckley
of Cork and Ross scheduled a January
23 collection to aid Saint Fin Bane’s
Church of Ireland Cathedral. The
Anglican cathedral, built in a French
neo-Gothic style by architect William
Burgess, is considered one of Cork’s
greatest architectural treasures.
Describing the collection as “a practi-
Thursday, January 27, 2000
cal expression of our common desire
for unity,” Bishop Buckley said:
“Christ died for all, and the Holy Spirit
is at work in every person, community
and culture. All churches must stand
together in defense of spiritual values
against the inroads of materialism.”
Cardinal George to
hear State of the
Union as Hastert guest
Washington (CNS)
C hicago Cardinal Francis E.
George will attend the presi
dent’s State of the Union address
January 27 as the guest of House
Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill. Doug
Delaney, executive director of the
Catholic Conference of Illinois, told
Catholic News Service January 20
that he and Cardinal George would
be sitting in the gallery as Hastert’s
guests during President Clinton’s
annual address to the joint session of
Congress. Delaney said Cardinal
George accepted the invitation from
Hastert as an opportunity to be
involved in a political event that is
more nonpartisan than most.
Justices hear
ARGUMENTS IN
Colorado clinic case
on ‘bubble zone’
Washington (CNS)
W ith attorneys arguing about
whether a “floating bubble
zone” is more or less of a restriction
on First Amendment rights than the
court previously has allowed, the
Supreme Court January 19 took up
consideration of a Colorado law lim
iting protests outside medical build
ings. For the third time since 1994,
the court will rule on whether restric
tions meant to address “sidewalk
counseling” at abortion clinics are
constitutional. The Colorado law
adopted in 1993 prohibits anyone
outside any “health care facility”
from approaching within eight feet of
another person to hand out a leaflet,
show a sign, or engage in discussion
with anyone within 100 feet of any
entrances without permission.
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