NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN (CWNews.com) -- Most of Italy's 32,000 bakers will be selling "charity bread" tomorrow, October 1, with a portion of the proceeds from each loaf going to the papal charity Cor Unum.

      The bread will be simple fresh bread, baked in circular loaves surrounded by a dozen rough clusters. Archbishop Paul Josef Cordes, the head of Cor Unum, explained that the form of the loaf symbolizes the twelve apostles. The entire project is symbolic as well as concrete, he added. The bread will provide a family's daily sustenance, while the income from the sales will help to subsidize five urgent projects in Rwanda, Sudan, and Guinea-Bissau.

      Archbishop Cordes today announced the beginning of the project, which will continue for 823 days--through the Jubilee Year. He observed that the project also has an educational aspect, since it will help to remind Italian families of the others who are living in poverty. On Sunday, at his Angelus audience, Pope John Paul denounced the "immoral spectacle" presented by a world in which so many people. live in need, while others enjoy affluence.

      The idea for the "charity bread" came from an Italian baker, Archbishop Cordes revealed. The first loaves were produced by several European bakeries. Italian bakers have guaranteed that they will not indulge in speculation on the price of the bread. Pope John Paul II blessed a "prototype" loaf on April 18, at the conclusion of the annual meeting of Cor Unum.