Americans Capture Saddam's Adopted Monastery

L.A. TIMES-WASHINGTON POST NEWS SERVICE, April 11 — It seems deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had a fondness for monasteries — at least for one Greek Orthodox establishment, which he visited for 90 minutes in 1980 and decided to adopt.

He paid for the reconstruction of the medieval complex and created for himself a lavish two-story private suite, which he'd intended to use as a private retreat.

Saddam, who built dozens of palaces for himself, never actually returned to St. Matthew's Monastery, which was founded in the fourth century. A vibrant Christian minority — both Greek Orthodox and Chaldean Catholic — still exists in Iraq.

U.S. special forces and American-backed Kurdish troops arrived at the monastery on Maqlub Mountain near Mosul on April 10, according to the Los Angeles Times and The Washington Post, and captured it without damaging any of buildings or causing much disturbance to the three Orthodox monks and Bishop Loqa Shaya, who reside there, according to Brother Polus, 71, a blind monk who has been at St. Matthew's for 42 years.

“We were living in the same way before the war, during the war,” he said, “and we will remain the same after the war á praying for peace.

Officers Seize Nativity Scene Made of Cocaine

ANANOVA.COM, April 4 — Someone's dreaming of a white Christmas.

The news site Ananova.com reported that customs officials at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport had seized a nativity scene shipped from Peru — and found it was made of pure cocaine.

The set, which its intended recipient, a 50-year-old native of Rome, called “a unique artwork from South America,” contained 3 kilograms of the drug worth more than $2 million.

According to police, the manger, ox, donkey and all human figures in the set were made of the illegal stimulant.

Iranian Woman to Travel Around World for Peace

FIDES, April 11 — Poupeh Mahdvinader, a 29-year-old woman from Iran, is about to cycle around the world on a pilgrimage from St. Peter's in Rome to the Mecca in Saudi Arabia, reported Fides, the Vatican missionary agency.

The cyclist will pedal up Italy across France to Britain, then fly to the United States, cycle across America, fly to Japan and on to New Zealand, China, India, Oman and finally to Saudi Arabia and the Muslim holy place of Mecca — along the way trying to spread a message of peace and friendship among peoples and collect money to help orphaned children.

The young social worker, who is a Muslim, visited the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace on April 11, where she was welcomed by its president, Archbishop Renato Martino.