Terrorist ‘Kingpin’ Aimed at Pope

BRITISH BROADCASTING CORP., March 3 — The mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States is in custody, according to the BBC. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was captured in a combined CIA-Pakistani raid March 1 near Islamabad, Pakistan.

Other sources, including Reuters news service, have linked Mohammed with a reported attempt on Pope John Paul II's life in 1995. The suspect is said to have been part of a cell of radical Islamists who planned to use a suicide bomber to murder the Holy Father as he visited the overwhelmingly Catholic Philippines eight years ago — a plot foiled by local authorities.

Pakistan will continue to hold the 37-year-old Mohammed, although U.S. authorities are also involved in interrogating him.

The U.S. government has called Mohammed one of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden's “most senior and significant lieutenants.”

His bloodless arrest delighted President George W. Bush, who responded, “That's fantastic!” when told of the news.

Officials Prepare for Mother Teresa Beatification

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESS, March 3 — Church officials say work is already moving swiftly on the scheduled October beatification of religious foundress Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Her order, the Missionaries of Charity, has created a Web site, www.motherteresacause.info, which supplies details on how to get tickets to the Oct. 19 ceremony, Agence France-Press reported.

Last year, the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints accepted as miraculous the cure of an abdominal tumor, which an Indian woman in Bengal attributed to Mother Teresa's intercession. This made possible the early beatification — only six years after the foundress’ death.

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (later Mother Teresa) was born on Aug. 26, 1910, in Skopje, Macedonia, to Albanian parents.

The French news service called the beatification “highly symbolic,” noting it falls near the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II's installation and on the closing day of the year of the rosary.

For Italians, Religion Replaces Reality TV

REUTERS, Feb. 26 — Even as American television programs, “Survivor” knockoffs and action movies dominate entertainment in much of Europe, in Italy viewers are turning to religious programming, according to Reuters news service.

A TV movie on the martyr St. Maria Goretti drew some 10 million viewers in February — including 35% of Italian homes. Other religious shows also compete successfully against secular shows — and everything else except soccer, Reuters noted, pointing out that sociologists have found the trend surprising, since surveys show church attendance falling consistently in Italy.

Last year, Italian TV featured a film starring Ed Asner as the beloved Pope John XXIII, which drew viewers from more than 50% of Italian households.

TV programmers are currently planning projects on the lives of Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa of Calcutta.