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to keep things to our liking. Some people are surprised to learn that
we have several full-time coordinators who work with our printers. Their
job is to make sure our publications are printed correctly, to specifi
cations and on time. We deal with over 20 different printers in the
United States alone. With a yearly budget of over $5 million dollars
that's a lot of paper and ink!
This trip was long overdue; my first in nearly a year and a half. Much
of our
u.s.
printing requirements are produced here in England, then
shipped to New York for distribution, so a very close working relation
ship is vital.
--Roger Lippross, Publishing Services
ON THE WORLD SCENE: THE ACTIVIST POPE
In his inaugural address last fall, Pope John Paul II said that "we
/the Papal plural7 have no intention of political interference, nor of
participation in-the working out of temporal affairs."
Something has obviously happened since those words were uttered. Accord
ing to a Reuter's dispatch of December 24, "the Pope has strengthened
in the past few days' the impression that during his reign the church will
be at the center of international affairs."
There are several reasons for this new assessment of the likely impact
that the 58-year old pontiff will have on world affairs. For one, Pope
John Paul on Christmas Day at St. Peter's read Christmas greetings to
"each and every human being" in 24 languages, including Arabic, Chinese,
Russian, and, of course, English.
A few days earlier the Pope confirmed that he would travel to Mexico next
month to attend a conference of Latin American bishops. Some experts
feel that the Pope may try to defuse the overtly Marxist "theology of
liberation" espoused by many in the Latin American clergy. He may use
his experience -- that of one who has lived and labored under Communism
-- to at least warn of the danger of collaborating with Marxist movements.
It is not felt however, that John Paul II will risk an open confrontation
with the "liberationist" priests.
The most interesting example of the Vatican's new activism in world
affairs, however, concerns the naming of a papal envoy to help mediate
a border dispute between Chile and Argentina. It is the first time in
nearly a century that a pope has attempted to settle an international
dispute. Pope Leo XIII adjudicated a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over
the Caroline Islands in the Pacific in 1885.
Regarding Chile and Argentina, the two Latin (and heavily Catholic)
neighbors have been threatening to go to war over the control of a group
of three tiny islands in the Beagle Channel at the tip of the South
American continent. Last year Argentina rejected an International Court
ruling that awarded the islands to Chile. The islands are virtually use
less of themselves but have strategic and commercial importance, since
the nation that controls them will claim large and rich fishing grounds
in the South Atlantic.