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THURSDAY
July 9, 1998
SECTION TWO vol 9, no. 133
To print out entire text of Today's issue, print this section as well as SECTION ONE
Events Today in Church History
For events throughout the centuries that are memorable in Church history today, click on TIME CAPSULES: ALL ROADS LEAD TO ROME
Historical Events in Church Annals for July 9:
1497 A.D.
Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama sets sale from Portugal enroute to India around the Cape of Good Hope, carrying with him missionaries to bring the faith to Southeast Asia.
1504 A.D.
Death of Pietro da Vinci, father of Renaissance master Leonardo da Vinci who was encouraged to paint by his father, a strong Italian Catholic.
WORLDWIDE NEWS & VIEWS with a Catholic slant
HEADLINES:
Pope begins summer vacation
The Holy Father, after his Wednesday public papal audience at Paul VI hall, left on an extended vacation in the Dolomite Mountains, an extension of the Alps, in the extreme northern regions of Italy for the refuge of Lorezago de Cadore where he will spend a minimum of two weeks of total solitude. We suspect he is taking a few documents along and will do considerable writing and praying in preparation for the fall when he is expected to release a few more encyclicals and continue to forge policy that will shape Holy Mother Church for the next millennium. For more, click on Pope's vacation.
POPE'S VACATION BEGINS TODAY
VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Pope John Paul II will leave Rome this
afternoon, to begin his vacation in Lorenzago di Cadore.
Traveling first by plane to Istrana and then by helicopter, the Pope
will reach the small chalet in the Dolomite Mountains where he will
spend two weeks in rest and reflection, in a break from his usual
schedule that the Vatican has underlined will be a "strictly private"
interlude.
In the town of Lorenzago, however, residents have decked out their
homes in the yellow-and-white colors of the Vatican, in anticipation
of the Holy Father's arrival.
The chalet where the Pope will stay is located in a wooded area, with
pine trees broken by occasional fields of wild flowers. The Pope's
private chapel and his room-- which features a balcony overlooking
the mountains-- are located on the second floor of the chalet.
During his stay there the Pope will rise at 6 in the morning for Mass,
and follow breakfast with several hours of reading in his room or--
weather permitting-- the chalet's small garden. In the afternoons he
will take some walks in the mountains (Camillo Cibin, the chief of
security for the Pope, has prepared several hiking routes, with the
help of local forest guides), and evenings will see another period of
reading after a simple dinner.
The Pope's only public appearances during the next two weeks will
be for the Sunday Angelus on July 12, from the window of the chalet,
and on July 19, when he will visit the town of Val Camonica.
For priests the greatest fuel is prayer - especially before the Blessed Sacrament
Practicing always what he preaches, Pope John Paul II conveyed a message of the necessity of prayer to the 2000 priests gathered from all over the world for an annual retreat at the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Holy Father, just before leaving on vacation, emphasized by remote communicating means, the necessity of praying before the Blessed Sacrament for inner strength in maintaining their clerical vows and goals for the good of the will of God and His Holy Church. For more, click on Pope's message to priests.
NURTURE PRAYER LIFE, POPE URGES PRIESTS
VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Pope John Paul II today sent a message
to the priests who have gathered for a retreat at the Basilica of Our
Lady of Guadalupe. The Pope reminded them that a life of prayer is a
basic need of their ministry.
An active prayer life is essential, the Holy Father said, because it
"unifies the life of the priest, so often endangered by the distractions
of the many tasks that must be done." Keeping Christ at the center of
his life, the Pope continued, helps the priest to "proclaim the mystery
of God through his words and through his life."
"Do not be afraid to set aside the time" for prayer, the Pope
counseled the priests who had come to Mexico City from all over the
world. He recommended a daily period of prayer before the Blessed
Sacrament, along with the Liturgy of the Hours.
Dallas child abuser Kos justifiably stripped of priesthood by Holy See
Scripture says "Thou art a priest forever according to the order of Melchisidec" but Melchisidec wasn't referring to one who would so abuse his vocation as Rudy Kos, the convicted child molester who brought so much grief and shame to the Dallas diocese for his pedophile actions. An admitted homosexual, Kos was officially laicized by the Vatican this week meaning he can never again perform any of the priestly duties. This might be difficult anyway considering he is currently serving a life sentence for his criminal sexual assaults. For more, click on Kos a priest no more!
VATICAN LAICIZES DALLAS SEX-ABUSE PRIEST
DALLAS (CWNews.com) - The Vatican has issued a decree to
officially laicize Rudolph Kos, a former priest convicted
of sexually abusing 11 boys, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram
newspaper reported on Tuesday.
Kos, 53, is serving a life sentence for molesting the altar
boys while a priest in the Diocese of Dallas. Ten of the
victims and the parents of the 11th who committed suicide
were awarded a record $119.6 million civil judgment against
the diocese. The plaintiffs have reportedly settled for
about $30 million.
Kos was convicted in a later criminal trial of sexual
assault and indecency for molesting four boys more than
1,350 times between 1987 and 1992. The Vatican decree did
not nullify Kos' ordination, but the laicization bars him
from ministry and performing the sacraments as a priest.
Ruins of oldest Catholic church discovered in Jordan while in New World valuable 17th century painting of Virgin destroyed
American Archeologists in the region of the city of Ayla near the Red Sea in Jordan recently uncovered remains of what could be the oldest remains of a Catholic church in existence. They date the ruins to the third or fourth century and surmise that a massive earthquake did in the structure around 363 A.D Meanwhile in Mexico, a valuable 17th century of Our Lady and the Child Jesus was destroyed by fire in a church built in the 1500's in the village of Metztitlan. The parish priest and parishioners tried in vain to save the work of art but were unsuccessful. For more, click on ancient treasures.
WORLD'S OLDEST CHURCH FOUND IN JORDAN, ARCHAEOLOGISTS SAY
WHILE FIRE DESTROYS REVERED PAINTING IN MEXICO CHURCH
AQABA, Jordan (CWNews.com) - Archaeologists said on
Wednesday that they may have discovered the oldest remains
of a Christian church in the world during an excavation in
Jordan.
American archaeologist Thomas Parker said the church sat a
few hundred yards from the Red Sea in the Christian
community of Ayla, a Roman city damaged by earthquake,
around 350 AD. Parker, a professor of history at North
Carolina State University, said his team of archaeologists
had found no conclusive proof in four years of work that
the monument was a church, nor could they date it
absolutely. But circumstantial evidence at the site leads
to that conclusion, including the size of the building, it
orientation to the east, proximity to a cemetery, and
architectural similarities to ancient churches in Egypt.
Parker said the building must have been built between the
late third and early fourth centuries, judging by fragments
of pottery and coins found at the site. The coins, the
latest of which were minted in the reign of Constantius II
between 337 and 361 AD, may have fallen from a collection
box during an earthquake, leaving dramatic evidence of the
church's final moments, he said. "We think this reflects
the catastrophic end of the church in an earthquake that is
attested in 363 AD."
Meanwhile in Metztitlan, Mexico, a revered 17th-century
painting of the Virgin and Child was destroyed in a fire in
one of the western hemisphere's oldest churches on Tuesday.
The Temple of the Holy Kings, built in the 1500s, suffered
only minor damage from fire started by a candle, but the
painting of the Virgin del Carmen and the Child Jesus,
painted in 1690 by Spinoza, was lost.
The parish priest spotted smoke in the church and sounded
the bells to summon parishioners to put out the flames, but
there efforts were only partially successful. The church's
damage was reportedly superficial.
For more headlines and articles, we suggest you go to the Catholic World News site. CWN is not affiliated with the Daily CATHOLIC but provides this service via e-mail to the Daily CATHOLIC Monday through Friday.
LITURGY OF THE DAY
Today is the Fourteenth Thursday in Ordinary Time, while tomorrow is the Fourteenth Friday in Ordinary Time. For the liturgy, readings and meditations for both days, click on LITURGY FOR THE DAY.
Thursday, July 9, 1998
First Reading: Hosea 11: 1-4, 8-9
Psalms: Psalm 80: 2-4, 15-16
Gospel Reading: Matthew 10: 7-15
Friday, July 10, 1998
First Reading: Hosea 14: 2-10
Psalms: Psalm 51: 3-4, 8-9, 12-14, 17
Gospel Reading: Matthew 10: 16-23
To review past articles in textonly format, click on Archives.
Click here to return to SECTION ONE or click here to return to the graphics front page of this issue.
July 9, 1998 volume 9, no. 133 DAILY CATHOLIC
