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He is also known as the "Apostle of Flanders" for venturing into Belgium and converting the Britons to the faith and accepting the authority of the Frankish King. He was a friend to the poor and a counselor to the rich, dying on this date at Noyon at the age of 70. He is the patron saint of metalworkers.
1167 A.D.
Pope Alexander III heads efforts to convince Northern Italian towns to form the Lombard League to offset the advance by Frederick I Barbarossa in overthrowing Italy.
1521 A.D.
Death of Pope Leo X, 217th successor of Peter. This Firenze-born pontiff neither understood nor knew how to offer a remedy to the dangerous schism brought about by the ex-Augustinian monk Martin Luther. Leo contributed to the institution of the pawnbrokers' activity seen as a work of charity for the assistance of the less fortunate.
1580 A.D.
Death of Blessed Father Edmund Campion, English Jesuit priest who was martyred for his faith through hanging because he dared to disobey Queen Elizabeth and follow Rome.
1580 A.D.
Death of Cardinal Giovanni , the Italian 71-year old theologian who contributed much to the counter reformation and the Council of Trent.
1917 A.D.
Father Edward Flanagan, with very little in his pockets, but a heart of gold, founds a small community just outside Omaha, Nebraska and calls it "Boys Town." He would open the doors of Boys Town less than two weeks later.
The Vatican delegation was led by Msgr. Pierre Duprey, the secretary of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity. The president of that Council, Cardinal Edward Cassidy, could not make the trip to Turkey because of his participation in the special Synod for Oceania.
The Vatican envoys delivered a message to Patriarch Bartholomew from the Holy Father, who spoke of "the pressing urgency of overcoming the differences and difficulties which prevent us from achieving full communion."
For several years, the Vatican and the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople have exchanged delegates, with representatives from the Holy See participating in the ceremonies for the feast of St. Andrew, while Orthodox representatives travel to Rome for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.
Eight masked members of the so-called Orange Volunteers took a hooded journalist to a secret location where -- following a Bible reading -- they showed off guns and grenades. They threatened to target members of the Irish Republican Army who had been freed early from prison as part of the Good Friday peace agreement of April 10. The demonstration ended with prayers.
The Volunteers also claimed responsibility for a series of attacks on Catholic bars and businesses last month, though police said they only investigated one such incident.
A steady stream of refugees from Albania, Kosovo, Turkey, and other countries is arriving on the eastern coast of Italy, often having crossed the Adriatic in crowded, unseaworthy vessels. Experts estimate that 17,000 people have arrived illegally in Italy by this route during the past six months.
Last Friday, the collision of two such ships off the coast of Brindisi left at least one person-- a year-old baby-- dead, and four others missing and lost at sea.
"Even as we pray for the victims of the shipwreck, I cannot but deplore, in the strongest possible terms, the manner in which some people exploit the misery of so many poor people, for their own personal gain," said the Pope. "These deaths should weigh heavily on their consciences."
The latest accident, the Holy Father continued, "dramatically illustrates the problems of clandestine transportation" of illegal immigrants. He noted that the desperate families often entrust their safety to "unscrupulous" smugglers. He called upon governments to find ways to stop the "dishonest traffic" and create conditions in which refugees could live with dignity and find ways to make a better life.
In a similar pronouncement, Pope John Paul II has issued another appeal for steps to ease the debt burden of impoverished countries.
Addressing the participants in an international conference of parliamentarians, meeting in Rome to discuss the problems of world hunger and the environment, the Holy Father urged wealthy countries to "find the means to be generous in underwriting programs that would ease or simply annul the heavy burdens of debt which are crushing the least favored countries."
The Pope praised the many statements of concern which have been issued by international bodies, calling for concrete action to address the problem of hunger. But such statements have no effect, he said, "because they are not supported by effective national legislation and by the political will to put appropriate programs into place."
The Swiss-born bishop, a veteran Vatican official who has served in previous diplomatic postings to Peru, France, Pakistan, and Japan, was assigned to Romania on November 12. In recent months there has been widespread discussion of a papal trip to Romania, which would be the Pope's first official visit to a predominantly Orthodox country in Eastern Europe.
Speaking to a reporter from the Roman news agency I Media after his audience, Bishop Perisset confirmed that one of the key points he would address as nuncio would be the status of church properties which were confiscated from the Catholic Church by the former Communist government, and handed over to Orthodox parishes. A joint commission including both Catholic and Orthodox representatives has recently made substantial progress toward a satisfactory resolution of those cases, he reported.
As for a papal visit, the bishops said: "If things continue to progress, that visit might be arranged. But for the moment, nothing has been settled on that subject."
