by JOE CULLEN

Crucifix Banned

THE WASHINGTON POST, Oct. 27 — Italian Judge Mario Montanaro ruled that school officials in the town of Ofena, Italy, must take down a crucifix that hangs in the classroom used by the children of a Muslim activist, the Washington daily reported.

Although it applies to a single classroom in only one school, the ruling “has set off a storm of debate and recrimination in Italy,” the Post said.

“I am speechless,” Cardinal Ersilio Tonini said. “The majority of the Italian people [are] offended by this verdict.”

“This is an outrageous decision,” said Labor Minister Roberto Maroni, commenting on behalf of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government. The justice ministry is ordering an inquiry into the legality of the judge's decision.

Oct. 16, 1978

THE WINCHESTER STAR, Oct. 24 — Christendom College President Timothy O'Donnell and his wife, Cathy, led a group of Christendom alumni to Rome for the celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's election, the Virginia daily reported.

The visit had special meaning for the O'Donnells.

“We were [in St. Peter's Square] the night the Pope was elected,” said Cathy O'Donnell about the evening of Oct. 16, 1978.

Timothy O'Donnell was a doctoral student in theology at Rome's Angelicum University at the time, and the recent Star article included a photo of the O'Donnells being received in audience by the vigorous John Paul during the first months of his papacy.

New Dean

THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA, Oct. 17 — Australian Salesian Father Francis Moloney, a well-known Bible scholar and author, has been named dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies, the university announced. He will serve in the post through the 2004-05 academic year.

Father Moloney, 63, has taught New Testament studies at the university since 1999. He is a long-serving member of the Vatican's International Theological Commission, and in 2001 he was the first non-American ever to be elected president of the Catholic Biblical Association of America.

He replaces Msgr. Stephen Happel, who died suddenly Oct. 4.

Student Leader

NATIONAL CATHOLIC STUDENT CONFERENCE, Oct. 22 — The coalition's executive board announced it has chosen Kimanh Nguyen, a junior at the University of Southern California, as its new chairman.

Nguyen is an active member of the Catholic community at her university, occasionally serving as lector at Mass.

The coalition, founded in 1982, works to represent the needs of students to campus ministry organizations and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Hardship Pregnancy

CHRONICLE.COM, Oct. 24 — Tara Brady has settled a lawsuit in which she accused Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., of dismissing her from its basketball team and rescinding her scholarship because she became pregnant.

Sacred Heart admitted no wrongdoing but agreed to include in student manuals an explanation of the “hardship waiver” that allows students to retain their scholarships despite a number of circumstances, including pregnancy.

Even though the university agreed to reinstate the scholarship before the suit was filed, Brady was not welcomed back to the basketball squad and she transferred to another school.