c. 1996 Religion News Service

Cardinal John Krol, confidant of pope, dies at 85

(RNS)-Pope John Paul II, in a telegram Monday (March 4) expressing condolences at the death of retired Cardinal John Krol of Philadelphia, singled out for special praise Krol’s personal faithfulness to him during his papacy.

Krol, 85, died Sunday (March 3) at his residence. He had been hospitalized Feb. 14 for diabetes-related kidney problems and a blood clot in his lung. On March 2, after doctors determined he was unlikely to recover, the cardinal was allowed to go home.”With immense gratitude for his fruitful and untiring cooperation with the Holy See from the time of the Second Vatican Council and with me personally throughout my pontificate, I am certain that his memory will live on in the community he so faithfully served,”John Paul said.

Krol played a key role in Vatican as well as U.S. church affairs in the 27 years he served as archbishop of Philadelphia.

He first gained prominence as an influential leader of the U.S. church’s delegation to the Second Vatican Council, held from 1962 to 1965.

After becoming a cardinal in 1967, however, Krol became a vocal proponent of the conservative wing of the church seeking to slow some of the more radical changes in liturgy, church structure, and ecumenical and interfaith relations unleashed by the council. In particular, Krol was critical of those who questioned the authority of the church and its hierarchical structure.

But he never disavowed the council. The reforms, he said in 1985, caused”some turbulence, some dust.”But he said their implementation”exceeded the great hopes of many members of the council.” Krol, the son of Polish immigrants, was also an adamant opponent of communism and is widely credited with playing a key role in the election of his friend, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla of Poland, as pope in 1978.

In the United States, Krol served as president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops from 1971 to 1974. In 1973, when the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its landmark abortion ruling, Krol, on behalf of the bishops, labeled the decision”an unspeakable tragedy for this nation”that”sets in motion developments which are terrifying to contemplate.” In 1979 Krol, in highly publicized congressional testimony, sharply criticized the nuclear arms race. At a nuclear freeze rally in 1982, he said it was time for governments”to dismantle existing nuclear weapons.” Bishop Anthony M. Pilla of Cleveland, president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, called Krol”one of the greatest churchmen of the century. He was an ardent champion of the right to life of the unborn and an articulate and vigorous opponent of the arms race.” Krol was born Oct. 26, 1910, in Cleveland, Ohio. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1937 and named auxiliary bishop of Cleveland in 1953. He was named archbishop of Philadelphia in 1961 and retired in 1988.

Secular parties in Turkey form coalition to deny role for Muslim party

(RNS)-After months of bickering, negotiating and compromising, two rival secular political parties in Turkey have agreed to form a coalition government that will leave the Muslim-based Welfare Party in the opposition, The New York Times reported Monday (March 4).

The agreement was hailed by Turkey’s secular establishment as the best way to block Necmettin Erbakan from becoming the country’s new prime minister. The Welfare Party, which supports establishing some Islamic law in predominantly Muslim but secular Turkey, won the largest share of votes in last December’s election-21.4 percent.

The possibility of a Welfare Party-led government caused apprehension among Turkey’s business and intellectual elites who feared the party would end Turkey’s secular status.

But the party was unable to broker a coalition with any of the secular parties to create the majority it needed to form a government.

In addition to urging application of some Muslim-based law to Turkey, Erbakan has also called for Turkey to establish closer ties with other Islamic nations and called for cutting some of Turkey’s links to the West.

The secular coalition partners are the Motherland Party headed by Mesut Yilmaz, and the True Path Party, headed by Tansu Ciller, the current prime minister. Under the agreement, Yilmaz and Ciller will alternate as prime minister.

Catholic cardinal approves condom use to prevent AIDS

(RNS)-Roman Catholic Cardinal Adrianus Simonis, archbishop of Utrecht, Netherlands, has told a Dutch radio station that it is permissible for married couples to use condoms as a protection against the HIV virus, which causes AIDS.

In his comments, reported by Ecumenical News International, the World Council of Churches-based news agency, Simonis stressed that indiscriminate use of condoms remained”totally illicit because it encourages promiscuity.” He said that in a marriage where one partner was infected with the disease and the other was not, it would be legitimate to use condoms to save a life. He described such use as”a form of self-defense.” Simonis’ comments add fuel to a debate that was kindled last month when the Social Commission of France’s Roman Catholic bishops issued a report saying condoms could help prevent AIDS.

In a 235-page report, the commission said that”many competent doctors affirm that a good-quality condom is currently the only method of preventing AIDS. In this respect, it (condom use) is necessary.” The report also stressed, however, that abstinence from sex and fidelity in marriage remained the best means of preventing AIDS.

Early reports on the French statement suggested it created a rift between the bishops and the Vatican-a rift French bishops sought to downplay.

After the French report was released, Bishop Albert Rouet of Poitiers, head of the Social Commission, told Vatican Radio that the mention of condoms in the report appeared in a section concerning doctors and public health officials and did not necessarily commit the bishops to that point of view.

Update: China backs off demand Lutherans delay Hong Kong meeting

(RNS)-China has backed off on its demand that the Lutheran World Federation defer its next world assembly.

The meeting is scheduled to take place in Hong Kong in July 1997, just a week after China takes control of the British crown colony.

On Saturday (March 2), Zhang Junsheng, director of the official New China News Agency, which is China’s de facto embassy in Hong Kong, announced that the Lutherans would be welcome to meet in the city, Ecumenical News International, the World Council of Churches-based news agency, said Monday (March 4).

Last month, the Lutherans were given”verbal advice”not to meet in Hong Kong. That”advice”raised fears about the future of religious freedom in Hong Kong after it reverts to Chinese control.

Quote of the Day: Lisa Herdahl, mother in Mississippi school prayer case

(RNS)-More than two years after Lisa Herdahl filed suit, her challenge to government-sponsored prayer and other religious practices in the North Pontotoc (public) School District in Mississippi went to trial Monday (March 4) in U.S. District Court in Oxford, Miss. Herdahl, in a news conference before the trial began, said she and her children have been subjected to death threats and on-going harassment since she filed the suit.”It was my kids’ decision to go ahead (with the suit). I think I’m teaching my kids how to stand up. … I figured there were going to be some threats, but I had no idea that it was going to go this far. My kids have learned the hard way of what being the minority means.”

MJP END