Newspaper Page Text
Vol. 81, No. 26
☆
The ☆
Sou
Diocese of
Savannah
mm
&
hern
Ooss
Thursday, July 19, 2001
$.50 per issue
Bush presents Congressional Medal to cardinal’s family
New York (CNS)
resident Bush said July 10 that
Cardinal John J. O’Connor of
New York, who died last year, left
the memory of “a life of goocf works,
strong faith and great influence.”
“From the distance of a year, his
character and his contributions only
seem larger,” the president said.
Bush spoke at Saint Patrick’s
Cathedral in New York before giving
the cardinal’s sister, Mary O’Connor
Ward, the Congressional Gold Medal
that had been authorized before his
death. Bush said he was giving the -
medal to the family and the cardi
nal’s successor, Cardinal Edward M.
Egan, but there’s was only one medal
and that went to the family.
Accepting on behalf of the family,
Ward said that she had to wonder at
such honor for “a kid from a small
house in Philadelphfci” that she grew
up with. But, she said, “we always
knew he was a treasure.”
Cardinal O’Connor’s other sister,
Dorothy O’Connor Hamilton, also
was present. A brother, Thomas J.
O’Connor Jr., was too ill to attend.
U.S. Rep. Vito J. Fossella, R-N.Y.,
a Catholic who represents Staten
Island, which is part of the Arch
diocese of New York, initiated the
resolution for the medal in the House
of Representative, and U.S. Sen.
Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., who is
Jewish, sponsored it in the Senate.
The medal itself was not produced
before the cardinal’s death May 3,
2000, but Fossella and Schumer
came to his residence during his final
days and gave him a framed copy of
the legislation authorizing the medal.
President Clinton signed the legis
lation, and former first lady Hillary
Clinton, now a Democratic senator
from New York, was among the sev
eral members of Congress who came
for the presentation.
Other officials attending included
New York Gov. George E. Pataki,
former Govs. Mario M. Cuomo and
Hugh L. Carey and New York Mayor
Rudolph W. Giuliani. Bishops pres
ent included the auxiliary bishops of
New York and Archbishop Renato R.
Martino, Vatican nuncio to the Uni
ted Nations.
References to Cardinal O’Connor’s
strong and persistent support of the
pro-life cause were threaded through
out the several tributes to him.
Cardinal Egan called his predeces
sor “a powerful preacher of the Gos
pel of life.” Rep. Fossella said Car
dinal O’Connor’s “greatest passion”
was “defending the rights of those
who could not do it for themselves.”
In an apparent allusion to pro-life
issues, Schumer acknowledged dis
agreeing at times, but said Cardinal
O’Connor showed that “we can dis
agree on some issues and work
together on others.”
President George W. Bush presents the Congressional Gold Medal hon
oring the late Cardinal John J. O’Connor to the cardinal’s sister, Mary
Ward, at a ceremony in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral July 10 in New York.
The president said Cardinal O’Connor led “a life of good works, strong
faith and great influence.”
Pope, in mountains, says creation should lead to praise of God
Les Combes, Italy (CNS)
G od first revealed himself through creation,
whose beauty should lead people to praise
the majesty and glory of God, Pope John Paul II
said after a week in the Italian Alps. “In reality,
creation is the first book of the revelation that
God has entrusted to the minds and hearts of
men,” the pope said July 15, reciting the Angelus
A child from the Italian alpine village of
Les Combes greets Pope John Paul II as
he arrives for a 12-day vacation in the Alps
July 9.
at the Alpine villa where he was vacationing July
9-20. About 3,000 people stood in the rain,
singing and cheering the pope during his ninth
stay amid the little cluster of houses in an area
known as Les Combes d’lntrod.
The Pontifical Council for Migrants and Trave
lers published a document entitled “Pastoral
Orientations for Tourism” July 11, encouraging
tourists to prepare for visits to other countries, be
respectful of local cultures and religions, safe
guard the environment and remember that a
vacation should not mark a break from practic
ing one’s faith.
Catholic school nurse
Call to Holiness retreat
Savannah parish reaches
remembered
If
draws young women
out to Guatemala
-page 3
>■
—page 6
3' vm
—page 12
CNS photo by Reuters