Pop esees war as threat to hop e f orbetter lif e By John Thavis Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As the toll of death and destruction mounted during the second week of war in Iraq, Pope John Paul II repeatedly prayed for peace and said the conflict must not be allowed to become a "religious catastrophe. " Meanwhile, some church leaders stepped up criticism of the war effort led by U.S. and British troops, as Catholics tried to wrestle with the moral issues involved. Many in the United States were distressed at the loss of life on both sides, including four U.S. soldiers lulled by an Iraqi suicide bomber at a military checkpoint. Speaking at a noon blessing from his apartment window above St. Peter 's Square March 30, the pope said the world was experiencing a moment in which "painful armed conflicts are threatening humanity 's hope in a better future. " He offered a special prayer to Mary for war victims and especially for her intercession for peace in Iraq.
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St. Mary's Chinese Mission celebrates 100 years. Top p icture: parishioners drape the altar. Bottom p icture, from left: Paulist Fathers J im Donovan and John Duffy, Bishop Ignatius Wang, Oakland Bishop John Cummins, Paulist Father Daniel McCotter.
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The day before, addressing bishops from predominantly Muslim Indonesia, tire pope expressed deep concern about the interreligious impact of the war in Iraq. "War must never be allowed to divide world religions. I encourage you to take this unsettling moment as an occasion to work together, as brothers committed to peace, with your own peop le , with those of other religious beliefs and with all men and women of good will in order to ensure understanding, cooperation and solidarity," he said. "Let us not permit a human tragedy also to become a religious catastrophe, " he said. At his weekly general audience March 26, the pope said his heart was weighed down by reports coming out of Iraq, and he urged Catholics to continue praying tire rosary for peace. On March 25, the pontiff sent a message to a group of international military chaplains meeting in Rome. He encouraged chaplains to educate soldiers in the ethical values that underlie humanitarian law POPE WAR, page 9
St. Mary's Chinese Mission turns 100 By Patrick Joyce St. Mary 's Chinese Mission began its 100th anniversary celebration with words of gratitude to the Paulist Fathers who have served the mission since 1903 and words of praise for the people of Chinese heritage who worship at the mission and were educated at its schools.
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The progress of Chinese-Americans in the Church and society was highlighted by the presence of Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius Wang, the nation 's first ChineseAmerican bishop , as celebrant of the anniversary Mass in Old St. Maiy 's Cathedral Saturday, and by the success the community has achieved in its efforts to build a new St. Mary 's Chinese School.
At the beginning of Mass, Bishop Wang thanked the Paulists "for 100 years of faithful service to the Chinese people. " At the end, Father Joh n Duffy, president of the Paulist Fathers, praised the peop le of St. Mary 's: "We are celebrating the gift Chinese cultu re is to our Church , to San Francisco and our culture. " In a homily given in both Chinese and English, Paulist Father Jim Donovan traced the history of the mission, describing the obstacles faced by peop le of Chinese heritage and by the Paulists who decided to serve them at the beginning of the 20th century. At that time , the United States was entering a new century as "a nation of power and purpose" filled "with excitement and hope," Father Donovan said. Chinese ST. MARY'S CHINESE, page 6
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Convocation discusses future of four schools
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High School Hi-Lites . . . . 15
New name on 19th S treet - Page 3 ~
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