Word: pontiff
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...most wanted terrorists in the world. Italian authorities say he was an accomplice of Mehmet Ali Agca on that fateful day in May 1981 when Agca tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II. He may in fact have fired at least one pistol shot at the Pontiff before fleeing from St. Peter's Square. But for the past four years, the shadowy Oral Celik, 25, has remained on the loose, his whereabouts a mystery. Says one Italian official involved in the investigation of the papal shooting: "We know nothing...
...delicately balanced, catechistic course. In homily after homily he warned his audiences against the seductive appeal of liberation theology, which in its more radical forms filters the Christian message through a Marxist- influenced social analysis of the class struggle. In a teeming Lima slum last week, the Pontiff declared that the church seeks "authentic liberation" through moral teaching that will set in motion forces to bring about change. But, he said, the church has a limited role in solving "concrete problems." If that was less than progressive priests and nuns would have liked, they were nonetheless cheered by the Pope...
...dispel any lingering doubts about his rigorous stance, the touring Pontiff stressed again and again the need for a disciplined church that is attentive to official teaching. To an audience of 400,000 in Caracas he issued another in his series of traditionalist condemnations of birth control, abortion, euthanasia and illicit sex. The morning after saying Mass in Maracaibo, he moved on to Merida, where he urged a throng to accept church teachings "with meekness" and not to be "dragged away by ideologies contrary to Catholic dogma...
Although papal authority has emerged as the overriding issue, there are also important debates about church involvement in contemporary social matters. John Paul has led the way, denouncing economic injustice and insisting on the rights of the downtrodden. Taking their lead from the Pontiff, American bishops are issuing strong moral stands on their nation's nuclear arms strategy, the U.S. economic system and the evil of abortion. Bishops in Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Uganda, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and other lands have boldly denounced human rights abuses by their governments. In South Africa, white Archbishop Denis Hurley will go on trial...
...Gutierrez affairs are quite likely to continue. However successful the Pope has been so far in fixing the limits of church orthodoxy, an informed Jesuit in Rome acknowledges that "the church in Latin America is changing, and everyone accepts that a long-term process has begun." For the Supreme Pontiff, the task of defining liberation also may be a long...