TRIMBLE AIDE WAS LEADING REPUBLICAN

A TOUGH-talking Dubliner who was once a leading Republican has become the right hand man of Ulster Unionist chief David Trimble.

Eoghan Harris, who began his political allegiances as a member of Official Sinn Fein, has been helping to steer the UUP since 1998. He has worked behind the scenes to guide Trimble through crises, including the leadership challenge.

The newspaper columnist is widely regarded as a political guru and has been active in the arena for more than 30 years. He has advised Trimble and senior colleagues on issues such as decommissioning and the confrontations at Drumcree.

Harris, famous for his nerves of steel, is also believed to have played a big part in helping the UUP leader to his historic victory at the party's ruling council.

SHARED

The thumbs-up from 480 of 858 delegates paved the way for devolution - and allowed Trimble to go into government with Sinn Fein. For the first time in Ulster's history, republicans and unionists sat around a Cabinet table. Two months earlier, Harris was asked by party chiefs to take part in a hush-hush political think-tank at a Scottish hotel.

A spokesman said: "The party invited respected political columnists to the private talks to give their independent assessments to members and to stimulate debate."

Harris first made his move to help Trimble during the violence at Drumcree in 1997. He wrote to the leader with "position papers" while watching events unfold. Since then he has made it his priority to restyle Trimble and transform him from sash-wearing hardline unionist - holding Ian Paisley's hand aloft in Portadown - to media-man.

The way Harris is moving can be seen in recent quotes.

He has said: "Why does the UUP get such a poor press? After all, David Trimble is an architect of the Good Friday Agreement. And Trimble, and his Assembly party, have shown tremendous courage in promoting the peace process although assailed on all sides."

"The UUP slogan has been 'no-guns, no-government' and for many months that was the media consensus too."

He added: "What British or Irish leader would take the political representatives of a private army into government?"

"If Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern wouldn't do it, why should David Trimble? Poll after poll showed that most people felt it should be guns before government."

ARMED

"Guns before government was a good slogan but it was doing David Trimble no good."

"Supporting the Good Friday Agreement is an implicit acceptance of the status quo, so I concluded the old war was over."

Harris's close involvement with Trimble is also revealed by the fact he wrote chunks of the leader's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech.

His political career began with Official Sinn Fein but he has advised many strands of politics. He was the brains behind the brilliant campaign to elect Mary Robinson as President of the Republic. He also advised Fine Gael leader and former Taosieach John Bruton. But the relationship fell apart when a stunt he organised at an Ard Fheis fell flat.

COMMENT

"For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed" - (ISAIAH 9:16)

"Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord that take counsel but not of me" - (ISAIAH 30:1)

"Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help ..... but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel nor seek the Lord" - (ISAIAH 31:1)

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Politicians across the political divide this week welcomed the announcement that a North Belfast man will head the Civil Service. Born in Ardoyne, Gerry Loughran attended Holy Cross Boys and St Malachy's before going on to Queen's where he studied economics and politics.

In recent years the 58 year-old spearheaded first the Environmental Planning and later the Enterprise, Trade and Industry department where he was regarded as having played a crucial role in the regeneration of Belfast and in particular the Laganside and Castlecourt developments.

Gerry Loughran also oversees the influential 2010 strategy which will set out the development plans for Belfast over the next decade. Describing the decision as a very positive move in the right direction SDLP Assemblyman Alban Maginness said that Gerry Loughran's appointment was a sign of a new beginning.

"While there is no doubt that Gerry Loughran was chosen because he is the right man for the job it is also important that the public see that Catholics are no longer excluded from the highest positions of the Civil Service."

"This is a powerful message that the new political institutions can and will work."

"On a personal note it shows people in North Belfast that hard work and dedication can get you to the top of your career. I feel confident that Gerry Loughran has the leadership skills to ensure that the Civil Service plays its part in the new political dispensation."

Backing the appointment North Belfast MP Cecil Walker said that he had no doubt that Gerry Loughran was the right man for the job.

"I have known Gerry Loughran for many years stretching back to the 1970's and can say with my hand on my heart that he is the right man for the job. If there is one man who has worked between the two communities in the north of the city it is Gerry Loughran. Gerry is North Belfast through and through and if ever we needed a friend within the Civil Service we could always rely on him. While he is a man who has always done things strictly by the book he has always been more than fair to the people of North Belfast."

"Gerry Loughran's appointment to the head of the Civil Service is a welcome boost to North Belfast and shows our young people that if you work hard and are determined you can get to the top of your career."

"He is the local lad made good and we should all applaud what he has achieved."

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(RNS) The Vatican has denied that a luxurious Lancia limousine presented to Pope John Paul II from "the world of Italian labour" carried a price tag of $1.6 million.

The Vatican was clearly embarrassed by reports that the pope had accepted so expensive a gift only two days before the Christmas Eve start of a Holy Year that he has asked Roman Catholics to celebrate with simplicity and aid to the poor.

Paolo Fresco, president of Fiat, owners of Lancia, and managing director Paolo Cantarella presented the prototype of Lancia's new Dialogos line to the pope Wednesday (December 22) as "a tribute from the world of Italian labour." Quattroruote, a monthly auto magazine, reported that the bulletproof limousine, which has a six-cylinder, three-litre engine and 24 valves, cost an estimated 3 billion Lire, or about $1.6 million.

Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls called the figure "erroneous information that must be corrected." He added that if the Vatican had been told in advance of the published cost, the limousine "might not have been accepted."

"I don't know the actual cost of this automobile," he said. But, he said, "the automobile in question is a prototype of a series that will be produced soon. To attribute to the proto-type donated (to the pope) the costs of research for the entire line is erroneous and misleading."

The spokesman did not deny, however, that the limousine has been customised to fit the pope's needs.

Seventeen feet long and weighing three metric tons, it has a black metallic finish, a top that slides forward to allow the pope to wave to crowds along his routes and a low gear that allows it to move at a walking pace

There are two seats in front but only one passenger seat, especially designed for the pope's comfort.

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LAKEPORT, Calif. - Hanging in the front office of Holy Family Elementary School, a polished brass plaque reads: "First Catholic school in Lake County. Congratulations! Nov. 11, 1.998."

But next month, Holy Family will become the first Catholic school to close in Lake County - victim of a sex-and-money scandal involving the former bishop that left the Diocese of Santa Rosa $15 million in debt and left Northern California parishioners feeling betrayed

"If you want to see who's paying, we're paying," said 'Tom Lincoln, whose 9-year-old daughter will be among those without a Catholic classroom when Holy Family shuts down.

A new bishop, Daniel E. Walsh, was appointed last month to lead the diocese back to fiscal and spiritual stability.

Trouble in the diocese surfaced early last year when the Press Democrat of Santa Rosa reported that then-Bishop G. Patrick Ziemann had covered up the 1996 theft of church money from St. Mary of the Angels parish in Ukiah by the Rev. Jorge Hume Salas.

In July 1999, Father Salas filed a civil lawsuit in which he charged that the bishop had coerced him into a two-year sexual relationship in return for keeping quiet about the theft. Bishop Ziemann abruptly resigned, admitting the affair but claiming it was consensual.

Late last month, the diocese settled with Father Salas for $535,000. Those bombshells were followed by the discovery that years of reckless spending and hefty payouts on other sexual misconduct cases had left the diocese $15 million in debt.

"It was horrible. It was one of those situations where you picked up the paper and saw the headlines and you said, 'This can't be.' But it was," said Mr. Lincoln.

"It is unbelievable," agreed Monsignor John Brenkle, a St. Helena pastor recruited to help lead the diocese out of its financial troubles. "Somebody said if you took our story to Hollywood, they'd throw you out."

The fallout has buffeted parishes across the diocese. Many churches and schools lost their savings and special funds.

The St. Rose parish in Santa Rosa lost about $1.9 million, mostly money raised for a new building at the parish school. Some had come from schoolchildren who donated their allowances.

In Eureka, about 200 miles north of San Francisco, parents and community leaders scrambled to raise $1.6 million to keep St. Bernard High School open after the diocese yanked a promised subsidy of about $600,000.

Eureka benefactors demanded that their contributions not go into diocesan bank accounts, but into a special fund under administration of a nonprofit community organisation.

Parishioners vented some of their hurt and betrayal in a series of town meetings led by Monsignor Brenkle and other members of a volunteer financial-cleanup crew in February.

"We've given you the broom," a Petaluma parishioner said at one of the meetings. "Get rid of the old regime."

The diocese plans to launch a $600,000 fund-raising campaign to try to recoup losses. Monsignor Brenkle said he'll be happy if the diocese gets half that amount. He noted that giving is good - and up in some cases - at individual parishes, something he interprets as a sign people haven't given up on their own churches.

On a mild April day, Lake County's first Catholic school is alive with the shrieks and laughter of youngsters playing tag on a grassy field that backs up into rounded hills splendid in spring greenery.

Many of the students know they won't be coming back in September, said the principal, Sister Judith Ann Wright. "Everybody's sad," she said.

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(RNS) The Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa, Calif., has reached a $535,000 settlement with a priest who sued the diocese and accused a bishop of forcing him into a sexual relationship.

The diocese, in a settlement announced Monday (April 24), agreed to pay the sum to the Rev. Jorge Hume Salas, who alleged that Bishop G. Patrick Ziemann demanded sex in return for covering up Salas' theft from his church in Ukiah, Calif.

Zlemann resigned suddenly after Salas filed suit last July. The bishop acknowledged the affair but claimed it was consensual.

In a joint statement, lawyers for both sides said they disagreed about the merits of the case but "each side recognises the legal complexities involved, the pain already imposed on the Catholic community by the issues in this case, and the need to bring the matter to a close and move on," the Associated Press reported.

As part of the settlement, Salas will resign from the diocese. However, he will continue to be a priest. His attorney said Salas, who is from Costa Rica, does not plan to stay in the United States. Maurice Healy, spokesman for the Diocese of San Francisco, which released the settlement, said, "When he goes to a new diocese anywhere else, his record will follow him."

On the weekend before the settlement was announced, a letter of apology from Ziemann was read at Masses throughout the six-county diocese.

"I acknowledge with deep regret my responsibility for the current state of affairs about which you are justly angry," said Ziemann, who retains the title of bishop despite being stripped of his administrative authority.

"I cannot express to you enough the deep remorse and repentance I feel for letting you down." Ziemann also asked for forgiveness.

"I urge you not to lose faith in God or in your church because of me," he wrote.

The remarks by Ziemann marked his first public comment since his resignation. Revelations in subsequent months showed a diocese deeply in debt due to overspending during Ziemann's leadership and payments for counselling and settlements related to priestly misconduct. Interim church administrators led by Archbishop William Levada of San Francisco learned that Ziemann had misappropriated $16 million entrusted to the dioceses by local churches and schools.

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Roman Catholic prelate says his trial is a political witch hunt

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

KIGALI, Rwanda - A Roman Catholic bishop accused of helping to plan the 1994 genocide in Rwanda denied the charges against him at the start of his trial Tuesday.

Bishop Augustin Misago is accused of attending high level meetings that organised the killing rampages in which an estimated 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed.

The five charges against him include sending about 30 schoolchildren and three priests to their deaths at the hands of a mob of Hutu extremists.

"I deny all five of the charges against me," Misago, 56, told the court in opening remarks.

Misago, who could face the death penalty if found guilty, was led into court wearing a prison uniform of pink shorts and shirt. He wore a large crucifix around his neck.

Misago shook hands with senior church members, including the archbishop of Kigali and the papal nuncio, who had front-row seats. Journalists, genocide survivors and members of the public packed low wooden benches.

Misago said he was a victim of a political witch hunt and compared himself to Jesus bearing the cross, and the Virgin Mary. The comment drew laughter from the crowd.

He said he tried to protect three priests who sought refuge in his parish by bribing militia members who came to arrest them. The prosecution accuses Misago of colluding with the militia to have the priests murdered.

The case, which has soured relations between the Vatican and Rwanda, is seen as an important examinationof the role played by the Catholic Church during the genocide. Genocide survivors and human rights groups have bitterly criticised the Catholic Church for its silence during the 100 days of killings and an apparent lack of remorse afterward.

Two priests have already been sentenced to death.

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH (September 15, 1999)

How is it, that from Rwanda to Croatia, from Latin America to Northern Ireland, where there is Civil War, Bloodshed and Genocide, we find the hand of Rome? The answer is found in REVELATION 17: 5-6

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OSWEGO, N.Y - On March 9, 1999, the plaintiff in a sexual abuse lawsuit against the Diocese of Syracuse and Msgr. Francis J. Furfaro settled out of court, with the victim agreeing to "release" Furfaro, and the diocese from "any and all claims, actions, law-suits, injuries, demands, obligations, actual legal fees and expenses, losses, costs, losses of services, expenses, attachments, garnishments, liens and compensations of any nature whatsoever, whether direct or derivative, under federal or state statutory or common law."

A short time later, Furfaro, 80, one of the most prominent priests in this old shipping city on Lake Ontario, disappeared. His absence was unexplained, even in the parish bulletin, and it was widely rumoured by people close to him that he was sent away for treatment of a nervous disorder and depression.

Thus ended Furfaro's (at least) 40-year career as a child molester in Oswego, according to two women now writing a book on what they call a "paedophile-protection racket" involving priests, the police, a former district attorney, judges, a probation officer, teachers, a former mayor, a "Big Brother" at the YMCA and others.

For the last ten years, these two women, one in her 40s, the other in her 50s - the latter the mother of sexually abused sons - have conducted an intensive investigation, including interviews with victims, and assembled a picture so horrifying that Catholics in this heavily Catholic city insist on ignoring it -just as local state, and national law enforcement agencies are.

THE WANDERER, April 6, 2000

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An 88-year-old Jesuit priest was jailed for two years yesterday after admitting the systematic abuse of children from three devout Catholic families.

Father John Pearson, who entered the dock at Preston court with the aid of a walking stick, was told that neither his age nor his infirmity would prevent him being imprisoned. Judge Peter Openshaw, the Recorder of Preston, told him: "it is self-evidently the gravest possible breach of trust."

Pearson, of Preston, pleaded guilty to 26 offences of indecent assault and gross indecency committed against four boys and three girls between 1969 and 1987. The children were aged between six and sixteen at the time.

Daily Telegraph 26. 5. 2000

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