Pope Blesses Parking Lot for Jubilee

REUTERS, June 2-The Vatican, bracing for a flood of pilgrims coming to mark the Great Jubilee Year 2000, unveiled an underground car parking lot that will ease congestion, according to the wire service.

“Pope John Paul II personally blessed the state-of-the-art parking lot, which will be open to Holy See staff and residents of the tiny city state,” said Reuters.

In an address to the Pope to mark the inauguration, Cardinal Edmund Szoka, president of the Pontifical Council for the State of the Vatican City, thanked God for allowing work to proceed without problems.

Cardinal Szoka said the new car parking lot was not intended to encourage more motorists to drive into the clogged streets of Vatican City, said Reuters.

Even Poles Can Mispronounce Polish

THE NEW YORK TIMES, June 7-Pope John Paul II used one of the stops on his latest trip to Poland to enjoy a light moment with his fellow countrymen. Reported Alessandra Stanley:

“At one point in Elblag, [the Pope] playfully told the crowd that was shouting ‘Niech Zyje Papiez!’ or ‘Long Live the Pope!’ that their chant reminded him of a time when a follower mistakenly cried out, ‘Eupiez,’ which in Polish rhymes with ‘Papiez,’ but which is actually the word for dandruff.”

Stanley reported that the Polish visit was also the occasion for “a rare public mention of the Pope's [physical] suffering.” In an address of welcome to Pelpin, Bishop Jan Bernard Szalga said, “The faithful came here to be together with you, Holy Father, who have been bearing a cross every day.”