Massive Ads Block View of Roman Churches

CHICAGO TRIBUNE, July 12 — A lovely 16th-century church sits atop Rome's famed Spanish Steps, but tourists visiting the Eternal City this summer aren't likely to notice it -because these days, it's draped in a massive ad for L'Oreal beauty products.

The L'Oreal banner is the latest in a series of controversial advertisements that obscure Roman monuments, the Tribune reported. The Campo di Fiori, the Piazza Navona and the Piazza di Spagna are among the other Roman landmarks currently sporting huge commercial ads.

A 1997 law authorized the sale of advertising on scaffolding to cover the costs of Roman restorations. Critics complain that scaffolding is often erected solely to make money, and such criticism escalated this May after a 2,000-square-foot lipstick ad featuring a huge pair of red lips was placed across the facade of the Trinita dei Monti Church above the Spanish Steps.

The cosmetics ad was subsequently toned down but remains in place.

Another building generating controversy is the 7th-century San Silvestrino Church, an English-language church owned by the Interior Ministry. While scaffolding has been up there for a year, restoration of the church facade remains nowhere near completion.

Said Father Dennis O'Brien, San Silvestrino's Irish rector, “It's been a very negative experience, and I don't know when it's going to end.”

Violence Erupts At North Belfast Parade

BBC NEWS, July 13 — Twenty-five Northern Irish police officers were injured July 12 after coming under attack from stone- and bottle-throwing nationalist youths in north Belfast.

The incident occurred when youths following a contentious Protestant Orange parade passed by a predominantly Catholic neighborhood, BBC News reported. None of the injuries were serious, a police spokesman said.

Nationalist leaders accused the Northern Ireland Parades Commission of helping to provoke the confrontation by allowing members of the Ballysillan Orange lodge to parade past the neighborhood of Ardoyne as they returned from participation in Northern Ireland's largest Protestant march in south Belfast .

To diminish the possibility of violence, the paraders were accompanied by a massive contingent of police and soldiers, BBC News reported. The security forces erected screens to shield the Orangemen from nationalist protesters, and Ardoyne shops were blocked by a line of police vehicles.

Thousands of Orangemen took part in the annual Twelfth of July celebrations across Northern Ireland. The Orangemen demonstrate each year to commemorate Prince William of Orange's Battle of the Boyne victory over Catholic King James II in 1690.

Hong Kong Wants to Host Vatican exhibit

UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL, July 12 — Hong Kong's Communist-controlled government has offered to host an exhibition of Vatican artifacts. If the exhibition takes place, it will mark the first time Vatican art is displayed on Chinese soil.

A spokesman for Patrick Ho, Hong Kong's Secretary for Home Affairs, said negotiations with the Vatican were initiated during Ho's trip to Rome in September, the South China Morning Post reported July 12. Final approval had not yet been given for the display but it appeared “highly likely,” the paper said.

The exhibition could occur as early as 2006.