Word: vaticans
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...Vatican tradition called the ad limina requires a Pope to meet privately and individually every five years with the presiding bishop of each of the world's 1,949 dioceses. It is a managerial tour de force, and it works especially well for Milwaukee, Wis., Archbishop Rembert Weakland, since it obliges the Pontiff to sit even with people whose opinions he abhors. "In the early visits," says Weakland cheerily, "one had the feeling if you were saying things he didn't like, he would just go silent on you. The last time I found it easier to engage...
...liberal apogee in 1977, Weakland by 1984 induced the Conference of Catholic Bishops to write a pastoral letter calling American poverty a "moral scandal." From then on, almost every year saw a bombshell lobbed at conservatism in general or--so it sometimes seemed--John Paul II in particular. Vatican ideological crackdowns had produced "much cruelty," Weakland wrote; many competent women "feel they are second-class citizens in a Church they love"; the Pope's decree that an all-male priesthood is divinely directed and unquestionable was "theologically suspect." And after six "listening sessions" with Catholic women who had resorted...
KILLED. ALOIS ESTERMANN, 43, commander of the Pope's Swiss Guards; and his wife Gladys Meza Romero, 49; shot by disgruntled Swiss Guard Cedric Tornay, 23, who then shot himself; in the first murders on Vatican land in 150 years...
...corporal Cedric Tornay, a 23-year-old noncommissioned officer in the pope's elite Swiss guard, disgruntled by lack of recognition, reprimanded for staying out all night, shot his new commander and the commander's wife before turning the gun on himself. But that was the tragic reality that Vatican City woke up to Tuesday morning, when the sleepy center of Roman Catholicism was rocked by its first murders in 150 years. "It was a fit of madness in a person with very peculiar psychological characteristics," explained Joaquin Navarro-Valls, a papal spokesman...
...urban reality have yet to be seen. But two things are clear: First, the pontiff has lost a very close and trusted aide -- Commander Alois Estermann was with him during the 1981 assassination attempt. Second, this in no way affects the City's conduct of internal affairs: A Vatican magistrate will conduct the investigation without requesting help from Italian authorities, Navarro-Valls said. Some things never change...