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     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 August 19:

440 A.D.


Death of Pope Sixtus III, 44th successor of Peter who served eight years. It was Sixtus who enlarged and embellished the Basilicas of St. Mary Major and St. Lawrence. He was the author of several epistles and upheld the jurisdiction of Rome over Ilyria against the Eastern Emperor who wanted it dependent on Constantinople.

1458 A.D.


Cardinal Enea Silvio Piccolomini is elected 210th successor of Peter and takes the name Pope Pius II on this date. He would go on to have a great influence on the crusades, even appointing himself to head the campaign, but he died enroute to the crusades.

1503 A.D.


Death of Pope Alexander VI, 214th successor of Peter. It was he who, by a simple mark on the maps of the new lands in America, decided the destiny of the new continent.

1568 A.D.


Pope Pius V sets up a commission to handle the problems that had cropped up regarding missionaries in the new world and the in-fighting among various orders.

Polish Government does about face, annexes land where crosses were placed at Auschwitz

     In a 180 degree turn from their statement last week in which they washed their hands of the controversy over the land outside Auschwitz, the Poland Government announced they will take over the plot of ground where the crosses have been constructed. While Jewish authorities take that to mean the crosses will be removed, Polish officials made no such commitment. Meanwhile, Catholic organizations vowed to keep the crosses there, honoring their fallen comrades. Stay tuned. For more, click on Auschwitz controversy

      WARSAW (CWNews.com) - The Polish government will take over a plot of land near the former Nazi death camp of Auschwitz used in recent weeks to plant dozens of crosses which have angered Jews, Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek announced on Tuesday.

      Buzek said it would annul the lease held on the land by groups linked to those who have planted the crosses in memory of Poles killed by the Nazis. Jewish groups have protested because they say the presence of any religious symbol desecrates the burial place of more than a million Jews killed there. Buzek said the taking of the land will "make further actions possible" without saying whether the government plans to remove the crosses already there.

      The groups planting the crosses said they will defend the markers which memorialize the execution of Poles during World War II as well as a larger cross already in place which marks the place where Pope John Paul II prayed during a visit to the death camp in 1979.

Holy See and Jewish Leaders seek to ease tension over appointment of Galilee bishop

     While tensions continue on the Polish front, efforts are underway to ease the differences between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Vatican officials over the Holy See's appointment of a Melkite bishop to Galilee who may be sympathetic to the Palestinian cause. It is a sensitive issue with Rome since governments are allowed to interfere with ecclesiastical appointments, something the Church was saddled with greatly in the middle ages and caused great consternation. For more, click on Galilee

      JERUSALEM (CWNews.com) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today told reporters that his government hopes to resolve tensions with the Holy See over the appointment of a new bishop in Galilee.

      The Israeli leader had lodged a strong protest when Bishop Boutros Mouallem was named to head a Melkite-rite diocese in northern Israel. He insisted that Bishop Mouallem-- who is currently serving in Brazil-- is sympathetic toward the Palestinian cause.

      The Vatican quickly rejected the protest, saying that the Holy See would not be influenced by the government's demands, and emphasizing the church-state agreement in which Israel promised not to interfere in pastoral appointments.

      Sources in Israel suggested that the government might not allow Bishop Mouallem to enter the country. But today's statement by Prime Minister Netanyahu suggested that negotiations between the Israeli government and the Holy See could soon resolve the issue.

Modernist Priest whines, calls foul for ejection from Church because he wouldn't obey!

     What is in the psychological makeup of liberals that they just don't get it? As we document in our editorial today, a priest who was removed because he waivered from Catholic doctrine and teaching, is now crying foul and, rather than apologizing for leading the flock astray, he goes on the attack much like someone else who went on national TV Monday night not to apologize but to brush off his lies with "I mislead you" and it's none of your business. When it comes to the Church it is. The fired priest James Callan of Rochester, New York should realize that the sooner he and the liberal parishioners, who allowed his aberrations to continue, realize that - the better off the parish of Corpus Christi will be. For more, click on Rebel priest.

      ROCHESTER, New York (CWNews.com) - A priest of the Diocese of Rochester told his parish on Sunday that the Vatican had ordered he be removed as pastor for his "liberal" views.

      Father James Callan, 50, of Corpus Christi Parish announced at the parish's weekend Masses that the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had ordered Bishop Matthew Clark to reassign Father Callan for allowing women dressed in priestly garb to act as deacons during Masses, for actively distributing Holy Communion to non-Catholic Christians, and for engaging in ministry to homosexuals that did not adhere to the Church's teachings. Bishop Clark was not available for comment on the statement until late Monday, according to a diocesan spokesman.

      "I am being reassigned to another church so this church can be brought more in line with what the Vatican would like," Father Callan said. "But these are three issues that are at the heart of this church. These are not my issues, they are our issues, and I am not ashamed."

      Michael Macaluso of Citizens for a Decent Community said he was pleased by the removal since his group had complained to the bishop and the Vatican several times about Father Callan's excesses. "I just feel sorry we have to have a priest who is deposed, but we have to recognize the Church has laws for the good of souls and they must be obeyed," Macaluso said.

Michigan Catholics condemn culture of death platform of suicide bill and Democratic candidate

     The state of Michigan has been the fertile ground for satan to sow the culture of death agenda through one of his hand-picked disciples Jack Kervorkian and now his attorney Geoffrey Fieger who somehow slipped through the primaries to run on the Democratic ticket for governor in the November elections. At issue is the suicide assistance platform which Michigan Catholics have strongly condemned as they strive to get out the word in an effort to defeat the referendum as well as Catholic-bashing candidate, the flippant Fieger. For more, click on Culture of Death .

      DETROIT (CWNews.com) - The Michigan chapter of the Catholic Campaign for America on Monday called on the state's voters to reject a referendum on the November ballot to legalize assisted suicide.

      The group of lay Catholics particularly exhorted Catholic politicians to reject the initiative sponsored by the pro-suicide group Merian's Friends, pointing out that they have an obligation to avoid supporting or obeying laws which violate the dignity of human life. The ballot question would overturn a law approved by the state Legislature and Gov. John Engler and set to go into effect on September 1 that would ban assisted suicide.

      Robert Mylod, chairman of the campaign, said the ballot is a unique opportunity. "We are in an exquisitely dramatic moment. All Catholic and other leaders of good will have the opportunity to speak out against this 'culture of death' initiative," he said. "Marion's Friends seek to turn health organizations into instruments of death rather than protectors of life."

      The group also criticized Geoffrey Fieger, the Democrat candidate for governor and former attorney for assisted-suicide activist Jack Kevorkian, for anti-Catholic rhetoric and for making assisted suicide a cornerstone of his platform.

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.

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August 19, 1998 volume 9, no. 162   DAILY CATHOLIC