MILLENNIUM MILESTONES & MEMORIES: TIME CAPSULES

Historical Events in Church Annals for March 4:

• 1152 A.D.
  
• Frederick I Barbarossa assumes the csrown of Germany and, through the Diet of Wurzburg sets about to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Blessed Pope Eugene III, but ambition, greed and the lust for power would consume Barbarossa and after Pope Eugene died, he would be a constant thorn in the side of the Popes as was his predecessor Conradin and his later successors.

• 1483 A.D.
  
• Death of Saint Casimir, Polish ruler who died at the age of 25. For more, see DAILY LITURGY.

• 1853 A.D.
  
• Pope Pius IX, 255th successor of Peter, in a sweeping move to found new dioceses and re-establish old hierarchies in Europe, restores the See of Utrecht and brings the hierarchy of Netherlands back into tow. It was a resurgence of Catholicism in this Dutch region which in recent years has fallen back into apathy, schism and despair.

• 1979 A.D.
  
• Pope John Paul II publishes his first encyclical Redemptor hominis - "The Redeemer of man" as his first step in preparing mankind for the millennium and a Christ-centered society. It showed a tremendous grasp of intelligence, compassion and understanding of cultures that continues to flourish over these past two decades.