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618 A.D.
Death of Saint Kevin, the seventh century hermit who founded monasteries in Ireland and traveled to Rome to bring back many precious relics for the monasteries. A close friend of Saint Kieran from Clonmacnois, St. Kevin was believed to have performed many miracles and lived to the ripe old age of 120.
1098 A.D.
On this day Stephen of Blois and his army of crusaders reached Nicea, capturing Antioch on their way to also regaining Jerusalem and Tripoli. The quick victories would come back to haunt the Crusades for Europe came down with a bad case of overconfidence because of the ease in which they had marched through the Turks and Moslems. Over the next 200 years and eight crusades later they would realize how much they had overestimated the strength and resolve of the infidels. This lack of foresight would carry over to many of the succeeding crusades including the ill-fated so-called "Children's Crusade" where thousands of innocents were slaughtered. After two centuries of fighting the Crusades were declared a failure since the Arabs still held the Holy Land.
1115 A.D.
Death of Saint Morand who is regarded as the patron saint of wine growers since he is said to have fasted only on grapes during Lent. He studied under Saint Hugh at Cluny and became a monk in the Cluniac monasteries, being known for his great holiness and purported miraculous healings.
1121 A.D.
The famous French theologian Pere Peter Abelard was excommunicated for heresy on this day for his writings. Twenty years later he would return to the Church and be reconciled with Saint Bernard of Clairvaux. Father Abelard retired to a monastery as a monk and died in 1142 in the good graces of the Church.
As the Swiss Guard attempts a return to normal patterns, 40 new members will be sworn into the service at a private ceremony on June 28. The swearing-in ceremony, ordinarily a public event, was postponed this year because of the deaths of Colonel Estermann, his wife, and the subordinate who apparently killed them.
Pius Segmuller, 46, was born in the canton of Lucerne. He is married, with two children. As his deputy, the Pope has designated Elmar Theodor Mader, 34.
The acting commandant of the Swiss Guard, Roland Buchs-- who had come out of retirement to fill his former position in the wake of the killings-- issued a statement commending the new leader and promising that the Swiss Guard would enter the 21st century with new strength and unchanging loyalty to the Holy See.
"The bishops tell me that every Sunday they are noting more and more people coming back to church," Archbishop John Favalora said after returning from a pastoral visit to Cuba. He said the papal visit filled Cubans with optimism and enthusiasm, and continuing good relations between the Church and the officially atheist government increases that enthusiasm. "From what I could tell there was a very cordial relationship between church and state which continues to build," he said.
"The Church already has a great deal of space and it is growing," he added. "It is preaching the gospel, spreading the message, and helping the people. I got no impression from anyone there was any intimidation not to go to church." Archbishop Favalora visited Cuba last week to show support for the Church in that country. A charter plane loaded with medical supplies was also expected to fly from Fort Lauderdale to Havana on Tuesday after being held up by various delays, said Bishop Thomas Wenski, head of Miami's Catholic Charities.
On the subject of Cuba, in a new pastoral letter, the bishops of Cuba strongly uphold Catholic social doctrine as an alternative to both capitalism and collectivism. The bishops also call for an end to the isolation imposed upon their country by the US embargo.
On the eve of a trip to Rome, during which they visit with Pope John Paul to discuss the progress that has been made in Cuba since his January visit there, the bishops released a pastoral letter, dated on Pentecost Sunday. The letter emphasizes that Catholic social teaching is different from both collectivism (which the bishops classify as "virtually obsolete") and "neo-liberal capitalism." In contrast to the ideologies of "domination of some by others" the bishops propose a social and economic system built on solidarity.
The bishops also echo the Pope's call for the world to open itself to Cuba, ending the embargo which has been imposed by the United States. That embargo is "ethically unacceptable," the bishops say.
More than 100 advocates gathered outside the EPOC clinic, singing, praying, and chanting, in apparent violation of a court order banning singing, whistling, and chanting within earshot of the clinic. The injunction, obtained by the city of Orlando against Operation Rescue last week, also allows police to search backpacks and purses of anyone within 1,000 feet of a clinic and requires pro-life and pro-abortion protesters to keep at least 10 feet apart. While no one was arrested for violating the order, five people were arrested in a civil disobedience protest when they blocked the street next to the clinic.
Pro-life advocates also attended a city council meeting on Monday to protest a plan to fly rainbow-colored flags around the city to commemorate June as Gay Pride month. The week of protests will include a demonstration at a Barnes & Nobles Booksellers store and then culminate with a protest at Walt Disney World which is the site of annual Gay Days celebration this weekend.
"Sterilizations have decreased in 68%" as a consequence of "a dramatic lack of confidence both in the method and in health agents," the sources said. The report also said that other artificial methods, with the exception of condoms, have experienced the same fall in popularity.
Jorge Parra, director of the Reproductive Health and Planned Parenthood program, said, "Obviously, we will not reach our annual goal to perform 78,000 tubal ligations and 22,000 vasectomies throughout the country, and we also had to suspend our sterilization festivals." Parra blamed the Catholic Church for employing "a subtle guerrilla war against the program."
Last December, Catholic bishops, pro-life groups, and congressmen started a campaign to stop forced sterilizations in the poorest regions of the country. Despite the partial failure of the birth control program, criticism of the plan continued. The People's Defense Center -- an arm of the Peruvian judicial system -- is currently looking into 56 cases of forced sterilizations among young women, the majority of them 18-year-old, to see if any laws had been broken or their civil rights violated.
