NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      OSLO (CWNews.com) - The Nobel Committee announced on Friday that rival sectarian leaders in Northern Ireland were the winners of the 1998 Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts to bring peace the violence-torn region.

      John Hume, 61, of the predominantly Catholic Social Democrat party, and David Trimble, 54, of the Protestant Ulster Unionist party, were credited for bringing about the Good Friday accords signed in April that ended three decades of fighting between republicans and loyalists. The prize will be presented in Oslo on December 10.

      Hume said the award was a sign of international support for the peace process. "I see this award as a very powerful endorsement of the peace process ... because it underlines massive international goodwill towards it." Trimble added that much work remains to be done. "We cannot say with absolute certainty in Northern Ireland today that there is real peace," he said. "I hope we can actually bring about fairly soon a situation in Northern Ireland where everybody, even those who, at the moment, are skeptical of the process, can feel safe and confident."