Parish Housekeeper Honored by Pope

THE HAMPSTEAD AND HIGHGATE EXPRESS, Feb. 10 — In Kent, England, a devoted 62-year-old parishioner and housekeeper at her local Catholic church was hit by a happy bombshell as she said goodbye to her pastor one Sunday.

In front of 200 other lay people at Our Lady Help of Christians, the priest announced that rectory housekeeper Joan Cooney had been granted a medal by Pope John Paul II.

The award, the Bene Merenti, was issued to recognize her 46 years of service to the parish, including work for the homeless.

Cooney was flabbergasted. She told The Hampstead and Highgate Express: “I was so shocked. I couldn't believe I was worthy of such an award. … I was totally, absolutely gob smacked. I don't know how I walked up to receive it; I'm still shaking now just thinking about it. … I love this parish and I have always said it is my heaven on earth. I will continue do the best I can for the parish until they decide to get rid of me.”

Insult the Pope, Go to Jail

REUTERS, Feb. 7 — A former press agent for Poland's old Soviet-bloc government, Jerzy Urban, has reinvented himself as a caustic critic of Pope John Paul II, who is still wildly popular in his native land.

Now Urban faces legal trouble for insulting the Holy Father in print, calling him “senile” and suggested he should “go to bed, or gobble caviar” instead of visiting Poland.

Under that nation's laws, offending the head of a sovereign foreign government — such as Vatican City — is punishable by up to three years in jail.

“His article abused the legally admissible rules for freedom of speech,” prosecutor Maciej Kujawski told Reuters. “It used offending, ridiculing words aimed at humiliating the Pope.”

Vatican Seeks Common Ground With Greek Orthodox

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Feb. 10 — The Holy See has dispatched Church leaders to Greece this month to encourage cooperation between Catholic and Orthodox churchmen on issues of peace, social justice and human rights, according to the AP.

Greek Orthodox leader Christodoulous invited this visit in return for a visit by Orthodox prelates to Rome last month and as a follow-up to Pope John Paul's historic visit to Athens in 2001.

Cardinal Walter Kasper, the Vatican's leader in ecumenical efforts, heads the delegation.