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The Southern Cross, Page 2 Cardinal regrets writing on BEHALF OF RELEASED DRUG DEALER Los Angeles (CNS) L os Angeles Cardinal Roger M. Mahony said he “made a serious mistake” in 1996 when he wrote a letter in support of a convicted Los Angeles cocaine dealer who was released from prison January 20 by President Clinton. Carlos Vignali, serving 15 years in federal prison for bankrolling purchases of hundreds of pounds of cocaine, was among 140 people who received pres idential clemency on Clinton’s final day in office. The Los Angeles Times reported February 12 that Cardinal Mahony and several prominent city and state political leaders had written letters to the White House on Vignali’s behalf. In a statement after the appearance of the Times story, the cardi nal said, “I made a serious mistake in writing to the president and I broke my decades-long practice of never sending a letter on behalf of any person whom I did not know personally.” American loses $1 million in Rome burglary during consistory Rome (CNS) T hieves took more than $ 1 million worth of jew elry, cash and travelers checks from the Rome hotel suite of a prominent Catholic philanthropist and art patron from New York City. Florence D’Urso, 67, and her daughter, Lisa, 37, were in Rome attending the February 21 consistory creat ing 44 new cardinals, including New York’s Cardinal Edward M. Egan. The evening of the con sistory, D’Urso returned to the Regina Baglioni, a luxury hotel across the street from the U.S. Embassy, to discover that her room safe was miss ing, according to ANSA, an Italian news agency. D’Urso told Italian police investigators that the safe contained about $1 million worth of jewelry, about $15,000 in U.S. and Italian currency, $800 dollars in travelers checks and various credit cards, a police spokesman told Catholic News Service February 23. Liechtenstein’s prince to get Vatican’s Path to Peace Award New York (CNS) P rince Hans Adam II, sovereign of the small principality of Liechtenstein since the death of his father in 1989, will receive this year’s Path to Peace Award, the Vatican nuncio to the United Nations announced in New York. The prince has “made untiring efforts for the promotion of peace at all levels of society” and “devoted much of his energy to the study and promotion of the peaceful 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 'sMienii: Address Phone (_ Parish Etendlta® Hopscotch self-determination of peoples,” Archbishop Renato R. Martino said February 22. Those efforts led to establishment of the Liechtenstein Institute on Self- Determination at Princeton University in Decem ber, he said. The award is given annually by the Path to Peace Foundation, an agency founded by Archbishop Martino to carry out projects related to the work of the Vatican Mission to the United Nations. Arizona doctor convicted of manslaughter in abortion death Phoenix (CNS) D r. John Biskind, an abortion practitioner at the now-closed A-Z Women’s Center in Phoenix, was convicted of manslaughter February 20 in the death of a woman who bled to death following an abortion there in April 1998. In addition, Carol Stuart-Schadoff, former administrator of the abor tion facility, was found guilty of negligent homi cide in the death of LouAnne Herron, a 33-year-old mother of two who died from a punctured uterus just hours after Biskind performed a late-term abortion. Biskind, whose license to practice medi cine in Arizona was suspended after he delivered a nearly full-term baby while attempting an abortion in June 1998, and Stuart-Schadoff had both been charged with manslaughter. Spanish bishops deny charge of BEING SOFT ON TERRORISM Madrid (CNS) S panish bishops defended themselves against government accusations of leniency toward ter rorism and the Basque separatist group ETA. Poli ticians from Spain’s ruling Popular Party and the opposition Socialist Party denounced the church in late February, accusing the bishops’ conference of taking an ambiguous and half-hearted stance against terrorism after the bishops refused to sign an anti-terrorist pact drawn up in December. In a February 20 statement, the bishops said that while they had not been asked formally to sign the pact, they had decided they would be unable to sub scribe to what was, essentially, a political docu ment. They claimed to have taken a consistently firm line against ETA’s terror campaign, which has left 24 dead since the end of the cease-fire in December 1999. Gates Foundation gives $1.36 mil lion to Yakima Catholic schools Yakima, WA (CNS) T he Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given $1.36 million to the Diocese of Yakima Catholic School District to support the district’s Thursday, March 1, 2001 ongoing efforts to help all students achieve. The diocese’s seven elementary schools and one high school serve more than 2,000 students from throughout central Washington. Cathy Colver, diocesan superintendent of schools, said the grant “will provide the schools with the professional assistance, staff development and equipment need ed to weave the use of technology into every aspect of their students’ learning experience.” The Seattle-based foundation, funded by the founder of Microsoft and his wife, has made grants to 11 Washington state school districts. Cardinals to hold ‘extraordi nary’ MEETING ON CHURCH’S FUTURE Vatican City (CNS) O nly days after creating 44 new cardinals, Pope John Paul II has convened a meeting in May of the entire College of Cardinals for a wide-rang ing discussion on the church in the third millenni um. The encounter, called an “extraordinary con sistory,” will cover issues raised in the pope’s post jubilee document, Novo Millennio Ineunte (“At the Beginning of the New Millennium”), which out lined the church’s path in the 21st century, the Vatican announced February 26. The meeting, the sixth consultative session of the College of Car dinals during Pope John Paul’s pontificate, will take place May 21-24. Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga said the encounter would no doubt touch upon internal church issues and broad er social justice questions. U.S. AMBASSADOR TO VATICAN HAS FAREWELL MEETING WITH POPE Vatican City (CNS) C orinne “Lindy” Boggs, the U.S. ambassador to the Vatican since late 1997, had a farewell meeting with Pope John Paul II February 24 at the Vatican. Neither Boggs, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, nor the Vatican provided details about the meeting; it is customary for departing ambassadors to meet the pope before leaving Rome. Boggs, who will celebrate her 85th birthday March 16, was scheduled to return to the United States March 1. Danny Boy ■dyoifr LadyotKnod Galway Bay & Others prJerry Brehm Sings Church and Cefcc 14 of the most beautiful songs ever written. * CD - $15.00 (tax included) • Cassette - $9.75 (tax included) Please Include $2.00 Handling Ui|($ chocks oavabl* and mail to* ■Jerry Brehm Music” • 41 Bloomingdate Ave. • E. Greenbush, NY 12061 ,' 518-477-4532 • ettbqigOaol.com The Southern Cross (USPS 505 680) Publisher: Most Rev. J. Kevin Boland, D.D. Director of Communications: Mrs. Barbara D. King l(cpa)| Vf Editor. s* Rev. 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.diosav.org Deadline: All material for publication on Thursday must be received at the latest by noon on the previous Friday. 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