Now Tourists Can Confess En Español

ASSOCIATED PRESS, May 26 — Catholic officials in the popular Malaga region of Spain have prepared a booklet for non-Spanish-speaking tourists seeking the sacrament of penance, the wire service reported.

The booklet translates from English, French, Italian and German into Spanish. People can tell the priest what they need to confess, or simply point to the items. The booklet, which has been sent to 50 parishes, includes translations for the penances given by the priest.

U.S. Urges Probe of French Sect Legislation

WASHINGTON TIMES, May 25 — The American chairman of the international human-rights monitor Helsinki Commission warned that France's anti-sect legislation represses religious freedom and should be investigated.

The measure, which aims to rid France of 173 “dangerous sects,” disbands listed sects if any members of a listed group receive two convictions of any kind. Similar lists have been drawn up in Belgium and Germany, and Hong Kong is considering a sect law aimed primarily at the Falun Gong.

The 173 groups named in the French legislation include Baptists, Buddhists, Catholic charismatics, Hasidic Jews, Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Quakers, Scientologists and the YWCA.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., who heads the Helsinki Commission, was hissed last year by French delegates at the commission's hearings when he charged that the law would aid formerly communist countries in repressing religion.

Polish Bishops Apologize for Wartime Massacre

ASSOCIATED PRESS, May 28 — Poland's bishops made a historic apology for a 1941 massacre of Jews in northeastern Poland, and for other wrongs committed by Polish Catholics against Jews during World War II. About 100 bishops participated, led by Cardinal Jozef Glemp. About 2,500 Poles attended the ceremony.

The event was originally intended to focus only on the 1941 massacre in Jedwabne, where as many as 1,600 Jews were killed. Recent investigations found that Poles, not Nazi troops as most Poles had believed, committed the murders.

The bishops said they were “following the call and the example” of Pope John Paul II.

No Communion for Cohabitors, Irish Priests Stress

THE TIMES OF LONDON, May 22 — Almost a third of Ireland's parish priests believe that Church teachings barring unmarried partners from receiving Communion should be followed, the London daily reported.

Although the rule is rarely followed strictly, one-fifth of priests surveyed said that they refused Communion to unmarried couples. This typically meant telling parishioners privately, and then blessing the parishioners at Mass rather than giving them Communion.

The Church in Ireland has recently seen an upswing in attendance at Sunday Mass and a slight rise in vocations. Several of the priests surveyed said that parishioners often did not know the facts about what Communion is and when they could receive.