c. 19).

The pope has maintained silence on the recently renewed tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. But in a careful diplomatic response to the flare-up, the Vatican said in a statement that the two men dedicated part of their meeting to”an exchange of news and views on progress between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators and on the situation of the people in the autonomous territories.” The pope has previously urged both sides to stick to the Middle East peace accords, which require the gradual redeployment of Israeli troops from West Bank villages in return for Palestinian security guarantees.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has essentially halted the troop withdrawal since his election six months ago, and has promised to expand settlement activity in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Arafat has said the expansion is a clear violation of the accords.

Despite its general reluctance to get pushed into the middle of the dispute, the Vatican does sympathize with the Palestinians.

The statement noted that the pope and Arafat gave”particular attention to the climate of tension and suffering in the Arab part of Jerusalem.” The Vatican has called for international protection of Jerusalem as a holy city sacred to Christians, Muslims and Jews, and has said that East Jerusalem belongs to Arabs and Jews alike.

However, while the future of Jerusalem technically remains to be resolved in future talks, Israelis have proposed building housing for Jews in East Jerusalem.

Arafat, wearing his traditional Arab headdress and green military uniform, embraced John Paul upon arriving at the Vatican. The two men had a brief meeting in the pope’s private study before Arafat met with Vatican diplomatic officials.

In addition to the peace talks, the two men discussed planned Christian celebrations in the year 2000 for Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus. The pope has said he would like to visit the holy sites of the Middle East on or before the next millennium.

As head of the Palestinian territories, Arafat would host such a visit.

Poll: Chicago Catholics want continuity with Bernardin policies

(RNS) Chicago’s Roman Catholics want their next archbishop to continue the late Cardinal Joseph L. Bernardin’s”common ground”project that seeks to bring the oft-feuding liberal and conservative factions in the church together, according to the Rev. Andrew Greeley, a University of Chicago sociologist.

Greeley, an RNS columnist, novelist and a vocal progressive gadfly in the church, said in a report made public Thursday (Dec. 19) that the Roman Catholic Church is beset by its own”culture war”between those seeking change in the church, whom Greeley labels”pluralists,”and those who oppose change, whom the priest calls”fundamentalists.” According to his report, based on a telephone poll of a representative sample of 501 Catholic respondents in the archdiocese, less than 1 percent of those polled were consistently fundamentalist. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent. The Vatican is currently considering appointing a successor to Bernardin, who died Nov. 14. Ninety-two percent of those surveyed said they want a new archbishop who would work to bring together different factions in the Catholic Church; 8 percent said they favored an archbishop who would exclude those who disagree with what the pope says. Greeley said Chicago Catholics approved of Bernardin’s”common ground”initiative, which aims to promote dialogue among Catholics who disagree on such issues as priestly celibacy and the role of women in the church. Bernardin’s project, administered by the National Pastoral Life Center in New York, drew sharp criticism from some top U.S. church officials, including Cardinals James Hickey of Washington, D.C., and Bernard Law of Boston, both of whom expressed concern that the project would encourage dissent.”Chicago Catholics explicitly opted for the `common ground’ policy of the late cardinal in overwhelming numbers, although the policy was denounced by the East Coast cardinals who are likely to choose his successor,”Greeley said. According to the survey, more than eight in 10 support expansion of dialogue within the church and with members of other religions; expansion of the role of women in the church; continuation of the services of general absolution from sin at Christmas and Easter; and tolerance for people who use artificial birth control. Additionally, the poll said that 64 percent oppose the church cracking down on politicians who do not fight against abortion; three-fourths said they believe there should be tolerance for those who support the ordination of women, which the Vatican forbids. Greeley said the strongest support for pluralism is to be found among women _ those between 30 and 60 years-old _ and among whites, the Irish, suburbanites, those who graduated from college and those who go to Mass less than weekly. Mormon survey: America’s families happy but anxious (RNS) Most Americans are happy with their family life but many are concerned about the future and large numbers believe the nation is headed in the wrong moral direction, according to a survey commissioned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. According to the survey, conducted by the Gallup Organization, 73 percent of the respondents described their own family life as either”extremely”or”very”happy. The survey is based on a nationwide sample of 1,008 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percent. But 76 percent said they believe the nation’s moral direction is worse now than when they were children; 62 percent said life is worse for children today compared to when they were growing up. And those polled were sharply divided on what the future holds, with 48 percent saying they were optimistic about the future for families, and 50 percent saying they were either neutral or pessimistic. Among the pessimists, 94 percent said they believe the nation’s moral direction is worse today than in the past. Update: Mother Teresa released from hospital (RNS) A spunky Mother Teresa, saying she was well enough to box with her doctor, was released from a Calcutta hospital Thursday (Dec. 19), nearly a month after suffering a mild heart attack. But doctors warned that the 86-year-old nun still had to be careful and arrangements were made to provide oxygen, a special chair and chest massage equipment at her home in the Missionaries of Charity complex in Calcutta. She had earlier refused a doctor’s suggestion that she install an air conditioner in her room. Dr. Devi Shetty, chief heart surgeon at the B.M. Birla Heart Research Center where the Nobel Peace Prize-winning nun has been hospitalized, said he visited Mother Teresa in her room shortly before she left the hospital. Shetty said he found her standing and she told him,”See, doctor, I am so strong now that I can box with you.” Mother Teresa suffered a mild heart attack on Nov. 22, but her recovery was slowed by poorly functioning kidneys, a bout of pneumonia and an irregular heartbeat. South Africa officially closes Robben Island as a prison (RNS) Closing a chapter in its apartheid-era history, the South African government of President Nelson Mandela on Thursday (Dec. 19) formally closed the notorious Robben Island as a prison. Mandela, the leading symbol of the long struggle to end South Africa’s system of racial separation and rule by its white minority, served 18 years at the Robben Island facility. His release from prison on Feb. 11, 1990, signaled the beginning of the end for the apartheid system. Robben Island was used to hold political prisoners, many of them religious figures, including Archbishop Winston Njongonkulu Ndugane, elected the Archbishop of Cape Town earlier this year to succeed Nobel Peace Prize winner Desmond Tutu. Ndugane was one of the first political prisoners held on the island, serving three years (1960-1963) there, and he helped build the prison in which Mandela was jailed. In a ceremony on the island, South Africa’s corrections department officially shifted control of the island to the country’s arts and culture agency. Officials said the prison will become a museum devoted to the struggle against apartheid. Quote of the day: the Rev. Jesse Jackson (RNS) On Wednesday (Dec. 18), civil rights and religious leaders announced they were halting a boycott of Texaco after the oil giant made a pledge to improve its treatment of women and minority employees. Earlier, the company had agreed to pay an estimated $176 million to settle a race discrimination suit. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who as head of the National Rainbow Coalition called for the boycott of Texaco last month, praised the company for its statement outlining the steps of its diversity goals and programs:”Texaco is on a journey from tragedy to triumph. The journey is incomplete, but they have changed their course.” MJP END RNS