WORLD

National Catholic Reporter, Jan 5, 2001 by Teresa Malcolm

In expressing his sorrow for the bombings' victims, Darmaatmadja, chairman of the Indonesian bishops' conference, noted that they include not only Catholics and Protestants but also Muslims.

Saleh Saaf, spokesman for the office of the senior superintendent of Indonesia's national police, said the Christmas Eve blasts occurred in six provinces in Indonesia.

Police defused 16 out of 31 bombs, but 15 others exploded. The bombs, Saaf said, were planted in 21 public locations, 18 of them outside churches.

Darmaatmadja told the press that Christmas and the Muslim feast Id al-Fitr call on Christians and Muslims "to be pure and pious and not to commit violence." Id al-Fitr, the feast that ends the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan, was expected to begin Dec. 28 with the anticipated sighting of the new moon.

The cardinal called the bomb blasts on Christmas Eve "inhuman acts that victimized innocent people."

Din Syamsuddin, on behalf of the Indonesian Council of Islamic Scholars, read a statement saying that the bombings were aimed at provoking Christians and Muslims to fight each other. The statement urged all believers, particularly Muslims, to remain calm and maintain unity with other religions.

Christians comprise about 10 percent of Indonesia's 210 million population.

Italian cardinal cleared of loan shark charges

The Vatican welcomed an Italian court decision to clear Naples Cardinal Michele Giordano of charges of complicity in loan sharking.

The Dec. 22 ruling, following a two-year investigation, "left no margin for any doubt regarding the cardinal's innocence, which could have been proclaimed immediately," said Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls.

Prosecutors had accused Giordano of funneling more than $500,000 to a usury ring run by his brother and embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from archdiocesan bank accounts.

The cardinal repeatedly protested his innocence. His lawyers noted that he authorized magistrates to examine the transaction histories of his bank accounts, including those at the Vatican bank.

Navarro-Valls, in a Dec. 23 statement, said Giordano's innocence "appeared certain from the beginning of the proceedings."

"At the conclusion of the process, one cannot but deplore the fact that someone, now recognized as innocent, had to be put through such a serious and prolonged investigation," he said.

The spokesman also reiterated the Vatican's view that the investigation, which involved a search of the Naples archdiocesan offices and phone taps, violated a treaty governing church-state relations.

Giordano declined to comment on the verdict, saying only that he was as "serene" as he had been from the beginning of the investigation because his conscience was clean.

Prosecutors said they planned to appeal the decision.