Balkan talks
EUROPEAN church leaders this week visited war-torn Yugoslavia in the hope of finding a way out of the country's civil strife. The visit was the second stage of the European churches' effort to convene a round table conference of Yugoslavia's religious denominations to help heal the deep ethnic divisions between Catholic Croats and Orthodox Serbs.
POLAND'S bishops have accused the country's news organisations of blasphemy, saying that they had "lost elementary sensitivity to the most important problems facing the nation". The statement was read to parishes across Poland on Sunday. Most newspapers criticised the church stance on abortion when the issue was brought before Poland's parliament earlier this year.
A CATHOLIC priest convicted of sexually molesting four altar boys in the United States has been released from prison in Columbus, Georgia, after serving just two years of a sixyear sentence.
AN ancient harbour from biblical times has been uncovered by the Sea of Galilee in Israel. The discovery, made when low waters caused by drought revealed the 2,500 year-old harbour, has so far yielded sailing equipment, coins and bronze utensils.
JUDGE Clarence Thomas, the 43 year-old black conservative lawyer nominated by President George Bush to the US supreme court, this week failed to clarify his stance on abortion despite increasing pressure from lobbyists on both sides. Before the senate judiciary committee Thomas said that to make his position known would compromise future cases.