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The Southern Cross, Page 2 Thursday, June 15, 2000 Italy orders release of papal ASSAILANT, EXTRADITION TO TURKEY Rome (CNS) M ehmet Ali Agca, the Turk who shot and seri ously wounded Pope John Paul II in 1981, was ordered released from an Italian prison and ex tradited to Turkey, where he will serve a sentence for the 1979 killing of a journalist, Italian authorities said. Italian President Carlo Ciampi signed a clemency order for Agca June 13. At the same time, Italian justice ministry officials signed the decree for his extradition to Turkey. “For me, this is truly a dream. I can’t believe it. I say thank you to the Holy Father, thank you to the Vatican, thank you to the president of the republic,” Agca said through his lawyer, Marina Magistrelli. Florida ban on partial-birth ABORTION TEMPORARILY BLOCKED Tallahassee, FL (CNS) S upporters of Florida’s ban on partial-birth abor tions remained hopeful June 5 that the law would be held constitutional, despite a federal judge’s temporary restraining order against it. U.S. District Judge Joan A. Lenard’s June 2 ruling came eight days after Florida Gov. Jeb Bush had signed the partial-birth abortion ban into law. Elizabeth Hirst, a spokeswoman for Bush, said the governor was strongly opposed to partial-birth abortions and “feels the law will ultimately be upheld.” Former Treasury Secretary Simon, prominent Catholic, dies at 72 Santa Barbara, CA (CNS) F ormer U.S. Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon, a prominent investment banker, philan thropist and activist in Catholic causes, died June 3 at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara. He was 72. He died of complications from pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung disease. His funeral was celebrated June 8 at Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. Simon, who proudly described himself as “an out spoken conservative,” was widely regarded as a leading spokesman for free enterprise and limited government. In the 1980s he was one of the most prominent critics of the U.S. bishops’ 1986 pastoral letter, “Economic Justice for All.” Record gift of $20 million goes to Catholic women’s college Saint Paul, MN (CNS) T he Sisters of Saint Joseph of Carondelet, who founded the College of Saint Catherine nearly a century ago, presented the college with an unre- To Subscribe Send this in to your parish, together with your check for $15, made out to the parish. For more information call The Southern Cross (912)238-2320 Name stricted gift of $20 million June 2. Believed to be the largest unrestricted contribution ever made to a Catholic women’s college, the $20 million is intend ed to support the college’s vision “to be the world’s pre-eminent Catholic college educating women to lead and influence.” The United States and Canada have 74 women’s colleges, according to the Wo men’s College Coalition in Washington; there are 150 in the world. Bishops discussing challenges of FEWER PRIESTS Washington (CNS) W hen the U.S. Catholic bishops meet June 15- 17, they will discuss how to serve more Catholics with fewer priests but with more deacons and lay ministers. “This will be a vital conversation” said Bishop Richard C. Hanifen of Colorado Springs, Colo., chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Priestly Life and Ministry. A two-year “Study of the Impact of Fewer Priests on Pastoral Ministry,” conducted for the committee by the Washington- based Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, is to be released at the meeting, which will be held in Milwaukee’s Midwest Express Center. Suburban Washington pastor’s VIOLENT DEATH SHOCKS FAITHFUL Germantown, MD (CNS) T he violent death of a suburban Washington pas tor has shocked and saddened the Catholic faith ful in the Archdiocese of Washington. Monsignor Thomas Wells, 56, pastor of Mother Seton Parish in the Washington suburb of Germantown, was found slain in his sleeping quarters of the parish rectory June 8 when he did not show up as expected for the 8:00 a.m. Mass. Initial reports indicated he was beaten, and later unconfirmed reports said the priest also had been stabbed. Police did not immediately disclose a cause of death or release the results of an autopsy, but they said robbery was a motive. No suspects had been identified by police in the week end following the murder. When witness does not appear, JUDGE FREES BISHOP’S MURDER SUSPECT Manila, Philippines (CNS) T he judge in the murder case of Bishop Benjamin de Jesus of Jolo freed a suspect who had been jailed for nearly two years after the prosecution failed to produce a witness by the court’s deadline. The trial ended June 1, leaving the Oblate congrega tion with a stronger suspicion that “powerful local Address Phone (_ Parish (USPS 505 680) Publisher Most Rev. J. Kevin Boland, D.D. Director of Communications: Mrs. Barbara D. King cpaji Editor: 'ffss R ev . Douglas K. Clark, S.T.L. Editorial and Business Office: Catholic Pastoral Center 601 E. Liberty Street Savannah, GA 31401-5196 (912) 238-2320 FAX: (912) 238-2339 E-mail: DCIark5735@aol.com or Southerncross@ix.netcom.com Internet Home Page: http://www.dioceseofsavannah.org politicians” were behind their confrere’s murder in the southern Philippines, a priest at the trial told UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. Judge Teresa Soriaso of a Manila Regional Trial Court ordered the “provisional dis missal” of the case “without prejudice” when no witness appeared at the hearing at a Manila court room. Russian president meets pope, DOES NOT EXTEND INVITATION Vatican City (CNS) O n his first official visit to Western Europe, Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican about the ongoing need to bring Western and Eastern Europe closer together. However, during the June 5 meeting Putin did not invite the pope to visit Russia, underlining the continuing distance between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church. Putin told reporters June 6 that he could not “impose” a papal visit on the Russian Orthodox Church and “a visit of the pope which did not include a meeting with the patriarch would make no sense.” Vatican clears U.S. Catholic HIGHER EDUCATION NORMS Washington (CNS) T he National Conference of Catholic Bishops announced June 7 that the Vatican has approved the U.S. bishops’ particular norms for Catholic col leges and universities. They will take effect May 3, 2001, one year from the date of the Vatican decree of “recognition” or approval. Bishop Joseph A. Fiorenza of Galveston-Houston, NCCB president, said the purpose of the U.S. norms “is, above all, to strengthen our Catholic colleges and universities, especially by helping them to maintain their Catholic identity.” Partners buy Nebraska abortion CLINIC TO SHUT IT DOWN Bellevue, NE (CNS) D r. Leroy Carhart, the abortion doctor whose ' challenge of Nebraska’s ban on partial-birth abortion is now before the U.S. Supreme Court, is losing his clinic in Bellevue. The abortion clinic operates out of leased space in a building recently purchased by a state senator and his business part ners. The new owners, exercising an option in Carhart’s lease, have ordered the doctor to move out in six months. State Sen. Paul Hartnett, Bill Rotert and Ken Wessling bought the building for $325,000. It is across the street from the grade school at Saint Mary Parish, where Hartnett and Wessling are mem bers. Deadline: All material for publication on Thursday must be received at the latest by noon on the previ ous Friday. POSTMASTER: Send Change of Address to circulation office: Chalker Publishing Southern Cross Subscription Department P. O. Box 948 Waynesboro, GA 30830 Subscription Price: $ 15 per year Periodicals Postage Paid at Waynesboro, GA 30830 Published weekly except the second and last weeks in June, July and August and the last week in December. At 601 E. 6 th Street Waynesboro, GA 30830