Historical Events in Church Annals for October 31st:

• 994 A.D.
• Death of Saint Wolfgang, Bishop of Ratisbon who died in upper Austria on this date. He was instrumental in the conversion of the Magyars and spent much of is life in pious solitude to gain strength to minister to the faithful. Whenever he sought out the life of the hermitage, the people stormed him, beseeching him to return as their bishop.

• 655 A.D.
• Death of Saint Foillan, Irish monk who ministered to the Brits and the French and founded numerous monasteries. He was martyred for his faith, along with two other companions and beheaded by a band of pagan outlaws in the forest of Seneffe at Le Roeulx in what is today Belgium after celebrating Holy Mass. His severed head and body would be found two and a half months after his death on January 16, 656 by his brother Saint Ultan and taken to Nevilles and later transferred to Fosses-la-Ville for proper burial.

• 1541 A.D.
• Italian master Michelangelo Buonarroti completes his masterful painting of the "Last Judgment."

• 1705 A.D.
• Birth of Cardinal Giovanni Ganganelli in Rimini, Italy. He would go on to become the 249th successor of Peter as Pope Clement XIV who was poisoned after a reign of five years.

• 1992 A.D.
• Pope John Paul II reinstates Galileo Galilei, forgiving him for his views which were condemned by Pope Urban VIII in 1633.

October 31, 2000
volume 11, no. 217
MILLENNIUM MILESTONES

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