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The Southern Cross, Page 2 President Bush, cardinals OPEN CULTURAL CENTER Washington (CNS) S even cardinals and President Bush presided over the March 22 ceremony and ribbon-cut- ting that marked the grand opening of the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center in Washington. Detroit Cardinal Adam J. Maida, president of the center dedicated to the Catholic faith, told the audience of about 1,200 guests in a huge tent on the grounds of the center that the pope insisted it be located in Washington instead of any of several other suggest ed sites, including Warsaw or Krakow in Poland. “He sees Washington, D.C., as the crossroads of the world,” Cardinal Maida said. “The center’s location here will allow it to impact and shape the many events that transpire here.” Vatican announces papal visit to Greece, Syria and Malta Vatican City (CNS) C ontinuing a series of biblical pilgrimages, Pope John Paul II will travel to Greece, Syria and Malta to visit sites where Saint Paul preached near ly 2,000 years ago. The May 4-9 visit was official ly announced at the Vatican March 26 after months of diplomatic and ecumenical moves by top church officials. It will be the first time a modem pope has visited Greece or Syria. Saint Paul converted to Christianity in Syria, stopped in Athens, Greece, during his second missionary journey and was shipwrecked in Malta on his way to Rome later in life. Writing in 1999 about his hopes for Holy Year pilgrimages, the pope said he wanted to retrace the steps of Saint Paul, to recall for Christians the zeal of one of the church's most effective early mission aries. Catholic-Lutheran shared Eucharist “not yet possible” Vatican City (CNS) D espite a major ecumenical agreement in 1999 between Catholics and Lutherans, a shared Eucharist is not yet possible because of remaining doctrinal differences, an article in the Vatican newspaper said. The article said that at this stage of the ecumenical dialogue with Lutherans, eucharis- tic sharing would constitute a “repudiation of truths of the faith” for Catholics. “The doctrinal contrast in very important areas of the profession of faith, the liturgy, and the apostolic constitution of the church does not allow a common celebration of the Eucharist,” it said. The article was published by the newspaper L ’Osservatore Romano March 25. To Subscribe Hopscotch Jewish leaders donate Holocaust MENORAH TO BALTIMORE SEMINARY Baltimore (CNS) H oping to strengthen the bonds of understanding and mutual respect between Jews and Catho lics, prominent Jewish leaders have donated a meno- rah to Saint Mary’s Seminary and University in Bal timore, commemorating millions of lives lost in the Holocaust. A replica of similar menorahs given two years ago to Pope John Paul II and the North Ameri can College in Rome, the Yom Hashoah Menorah was presented to Cardinal William H. Keeler of Bal timore, chancellor of Saint Mary’s, during a March 5 ceremony at the seminary. Gunther Lawrence, executive director of the New York-based Inter religious Information Center, developed the idea for the project and worked with Israeli sculptor Aharon Bezalel of Jerusalem to design the artwork. Talks opened with Archbishop Lefebvre followers, says Vatican Vatican City (CNS) A Vatican spokesman confirmed that, at Pope John Paul II’s request, formal talks have been opened with a group of followers of the late Arch bishop Marcel Lefebvre. The contacts between the Vatican and the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X are still going on, the spokesman, Joaquin Navarro- Valls, said March 22. He gave no further details of the talks, which began last year. The society’s bish ops were excommunicated in 1988 with Arch bishop Lefebvre, a self-styled traditionalist who rejected the Second Vatican Council’s reforms in liturgy, ecumenism and other areas of church life. Missionaries: reports of abuse PAINT INCOMPLETE PICTURE Rome (CNS) R eports of sexual abuse of nuns by priests are serious, but they do not paint a complete pic ture of the church in Africa and elsewhere, said senior members of religious orders, missionaries and a Vatican official. The dimensions and geo graphical extent of the sexual abuse are still largely unknown, they said, and are complicated by some times overlapping issues of cultural practice and simple failure to live celibacy vows. The Vatican acknowledged the problem March 20 and said it was working with bishops and the two main world wide associations of men and women religious to address the issue. Highlighting the sensitivity of the issue, at least half a dozen prominent mission ary authorities in Rome declined Catholic News Service requests for comment. Thursday, March 29, 2001 Pope John’s face found well PRESERVED 38 YEARS AFTER DEATH Vatican City (CNS) C hurch officials who opened the casket of Pope John XXIII found his face well preserved nearly 38 years after his death, but the Vatican downplayed talk of a miracle. The discovery was made in mid-January, when Vatican officials and technicians exhumed Blessed John’s body in a “re cognition” ceremony, in anticipation of its transfer al from the grotto to the main level of Saint Peter’s Basilica. A detailed report on the procedure, drawn up by the officials present, was published by a Ve netian newspaper March 24. The exhumation took several hours, since workmen had to open a marble casing and three successive caskets: one of oak, one of lead and one of cypress, in which the body was closed. Women meet with bishops Chicago A three-day meeting called by U. S. Bishops’ Committee on Women in Society and in the Church March 13-15 discussed increased collabo ration and future prospects for interaction between women and the clergy. Among the representatives were 150 women holding leadership positions in U. S. dioceses. Workshops and general sessions offe red recommendations for consideration by the bish ops and their national committees. Among ideas to improve the collaboration of bishops and priests with women and to make church employment more attractive to women were: better diocesan materni ty leave policies to back up the Church’s strong pro-life position; regional gatherings of women and bishops, similar to the national consultation but on a smaller scale; establishment of formal systems of women mentoring younger women; orientation programs for new clergy and new diocesan staff; internships for seminarians in diocesan offices, es pecially those headed by women; increased recruit ment and mentoring of women in “underrepresent ed groups”; job performance evaluations for priests, including pastors; greater attention in priestly formation to psycho-spiritual issues that might prevent a seminarian from dealing with women as collaborators after ordination; explo ration of alternative means of compensating employees, when money is not available, such as offering free or reduced tuition to Catholic schools for the children of employees; and better training of priests for their role as Chief Executive Officers of parishes. Pat Signs, Director of Stewardship and Development, attended the meeting for the Diocese of Savannah. 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 :.*is i Address Phone (_ Parish The Southern Cross (USPS 505 680) Publisher Most Rev. J. Kevin Boland, D.D. Director of Communications: Mrs. Barbara D. King [cpaji Editor. '*«* Rev. Douglas K. Clark, S.T.L. Editorial and Business Office: Catholic Pastoral Center 601 E. Liberty Street Savannah, GA 31401-5196 (912) 201-4100 FAX: (912) 201-4101 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. POSTMASTER: Send Change of Address to circulation office: Chalker Publishing Southern Cross Subscription Department P. O. 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