More Miracles Attributed to Mother Teresa

THE PRESS TRUST OF INDIA, Aug. 26 — The 94th anniversary of the birth of Blessed Mother Teresa was marked Aug. 26 by word from her religious order that Vatican authorities are investigating alleged miracles that would lead to her canonization.

“Only one more miracle is necessary,” Missionaries of Charity superior general Sister Nirmala told reporters at the order's mother house in Calcutta. “The postulator's office in Rome has received some testimonies …They are going through the testimonies and will have to select the best.”

Mother Teresa was beatified last October, on the basis of a confirmed miracle involving an Indian woman who was cured of an abdominal tumor after seeking the Albanian-born nun's intercession.

Sister Nirmala said the Missionaries of Charity have received accounts of other miracles that have not yet been sent to the Vatican for investigation. Promised Sister Nirmala, “We will do so soon.”

Jailed Palestinians Appeal to John Paul

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, Aug. 24 — A Bethlehem-based Palestinian prisoners' association has appealed to Pope John Paul II to intervene on behalf of thousands of Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli prisons, the French news service reported.

In an Aug. 24 letter to the Pope, prisoners' association president Issa Qaraqea said the inmates are being subjected to “a campaign of repression and unjustifiable violence.”

The letter said, “The policies of the Israeli government are designed to leave the prisoners to die by ignoring their demands and repressing them.”

At the time the letter was sent, approximately 4,000 imprisoned Palestinians were entering the second week of a hunger strike. The prisoners' demands include visiting rights and an end to “intrusive” body and cell searches.

Milosevic Blames Vatican for Balkan Wars

DEUTSCHE PRESSE-AGENTUR, Aug. 31 — In the opening statement of his defense against war crimes charges, former Yugoslavian president Slobodan Milosevic said the Vatican was partly responsible for the ethnic conflict that led to the breakup of the Balkan nation in the 1990s.

Milosevic, 63, is being tried in The Hague, Netherlands, by an international tribunal on charges stemming from the civil wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo .

Milosevic, who is Serbian, accused the Vatican of harboring a longstanding anti-Serb prejudice, citing alleged Vatican actions against Serbia in World War I. He also accused Germany and the United Nations of conspiring against Serbian interests, Deutsche PresseAgentur reported.

Presiding judge Patrick Robinson told Milosevic not to spend too much time on history, as little of it would count as admissible evidence in the trial.

Robust Pope Prays for Persecuted Christians

ANSA ENGLISH MEDIA SERVICE, Aug. 29 — Addressing pilgrims gathered in the courtyard of his summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, Pope John Paul II offered prayers Aug. 29 for persecuted Christians, whom he said were heroes in their everyday lives.

According to the ANSA news service, “The Pope looked decidedly better than in recent weeks: He smiled frequently and spoke in a clear voice as he addressed the faithful.”

The report said, “The Pope appeared extremely happy when a group of pilgrims from his native Poland chanted a new version of a traditional song, ‘sto Lat,’ wishing him a life of 100 years.”