Newspaper Page Text
CL CO
Diocese of
Savannah
Contents
Headline Hopscotch 2
News 3
Commentary 4-5
Around the Diocese 6
DDA 7
Faith Alive! 8-9
Notices 10-11
Last But Not Least 12
Vol. 80, No. 20
$.50 PER ISSUE
Thursday, May 18, 2000
“Third secret” of Fatima to be published
By Cindy Wooden
Fatima, Portugal (CNS)
ope John Paul II, ordering the publication of the
so-called “third secret of Fatima,” believes part
of it was a direct reference to the 1981 attempt on
his life, said the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal
Angelo Sodano.
Cardinal Sodano, the highest-ranking official of
the Roman Curia, said May 13 that the almost 80-
year-old pope asked him to make “the solemn
announcement” of the secret’s contents at the end
of the pope’s Mass in Fatima, 19 years to the day
after the assassination attempt.
The message was written down in 1943 by Sister
Lucia dos Santos, the only surviving Fatima vision
ary, and placed in a wax-sealed envelope. She gave
it to her bishop who sent it, unopened, to the
Vatican, where it remained secret except to the
popes and a few close aides.
Cardinal Sodano told an estimated 600,000 people
at the shrine of Our Lady of Fatima that the third part
of the message revealed to the three shepherd chil
dren in 1917 “concerns, above all, the war waged by
atheist systems against the church and Christians.”
But, it also includes reference to the ministry and
suffering of a “bishop clothed in white,” whom the
children believed was the pope, Cardinal Sodano
said. The cardinal said the pope had directed the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to pre
pare a commentary to help people understand the
message, then to make the message and the com
mentary public.
Joaquin Navarro-Vails, the Vatican spokesman,
told reporters on the papal flight back to Rome May
13 that publication was expected “within days, per
haps a week.”
In the message, Cardinal Sodano said, as the pope
“makes his way with great effort toward the Cross
amid the corpses of those who were martyred—bi
shops, priests, men and women religious and many
lay persons—he, too, falls to the ground, apparently
dead under a burst of gunfire.” Mehmet Ali Agca, a
Turk, tried to assassinate the pope in Saint Peter’s
Square May 13, 1981. Cardinal Sodano said that
after the shooting “it appeared evident to His
Holiness that it was ‘a motherly hand which guided
the bullet’s path’,” saving the pope’s life.
In his homily during the beatification Mass at Fa
tima, Pope John Paul renewed his thanks to God and
(Continued on page 11)
Right: Pope John Paul II prays at the shrine
of Fatima in Portugal May 13.
Bridgeport's Bishop Egan named
O'Connor's successor
Newly named New York Arch
bishop Edward M. Egan shows
his business card to the media
May 11 in New York. He suc
ceeds Cardinal John O'Con
nor as leader of the nation's
second largest archdiocese.
By Patricia Zapor
Washington (CNS)
ope John Paul II has appointed
Bishop Edward M. Egan of
Bridgeport, Connecticut, 68, as arch
bishop of New York, succeeding the
late Cardinal John J. O’Connor, who
died May 3.
Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo,
apostolic nuncio to the United States,
announced the appointment in
Washington May 11.
Archbishop Egan is a Chicago-area
native and canon lawyer who served
12 years as a judge in the Roman
Rota, the church’s central appellate
court.
He was a New York auxiliary bish
op for three years under Cardinal
O’Connor and was archdiocesan
vicar of education there before he
was named to head the Bridgeport
Diocese in November 1988. He was
installed the following month.
In Bridgeport, he oversaw a pro
gram to regionalize the diocese’s ele-
(Continued on page 11)
DDA 2000 Reaches Target
Savannah
t took a little longer than usual this
year, but the Diocesan Develop
ment Appeal reached its $1.3 million
target with pledges of $1,353,934.
Pat Signs, who directs the annual
appeal breathed a sigh of relief.
“Knowing how generous the mem
bers of the diocese have been in giv
ing to the Jubilee Campaign, I knew
this year was going to be a chal
lenge,” said Signs. She referred to the
fact that many are still paying pledges
from last year’s One Faith—One
Family Capital Campaign which will
continue for another few years.
Signs said that it took about four
weeks longer to reach the target this
year, and that fewer parishes made
their target than in previous years.
Despite this, the target was reached,
and all of the ministries that depend
on the Diocesan Development Appeal
will be funded in the coming fiscal
year.
“What helped tremendously” said
Signs, “is the fact that we had 620
new donors—families who had not
given to the DDA in previous years.
They may have been new to the dio
cese, or just not able to give before.
Whatever the reason, their gifts this
year made a big difference in the out
come of the appeal.”
Bishop J. Kevin Boland knows only
too well the sacrifices that some made
to make this year’s DDA successful.
“I received a number of letters or
notes on the prayer request cards,
usually from elderly parishioners,
saying that they wished they could
give more, but that they were living
on fixed incomes or had extraordinary
medical expenses. Their generosity of
spirit is touching. It is what steward
ship is all about.”
Bishop Boland extends his thanks
to all those who contributed to the
DDA. “There is no way I can carry
out the work of shepherding this dio
cese without the financial help of the
people,” he said.
“What we are about is spiritual, but
the simple fact is that we need money
to do the job. I thank those who par
ticipate in the work of the diocesan
family by sharing their financial
resources.”
See page 7 for the DDA report.