ADDENDA - Cardinal John J. O'Connor undergoes surgery; Martin Sheen wins award from Catholics in Media; Holy Angels School rebuilt in Indianapolis, IN; other church news - Brief Article

National Catholic Reporter, Sept 17, 1999

CARDINAL JOHN J. O'CONNOR of New York had a small tumor removed from the surface of his brain, but doctors "determined that no other areas of the body were affected," according to a statement released Sept. 4 by the cardinal's spokesman, Joseph Zwilling. The statement said the cardinal had been released earlier that day from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in Manhattan. But it also said the cardinal would begin radiation therapy shortly and continue it "over the next several weeks."

ACTOR MARTIN SHEEN will receive the lifetime achievement award from Catholics in Media at the group's annual award presentation, scheduled for Oct. 3. Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles will celebrate Mass at the Universal Sheraton Hotel in the Los Angeles suburb of Universal City prior to the awards luncheon. "Joan of Arc," the CBS miniseries, which captured 13 Emmy nominations, will receive an award in the television category. The movie "Down in the Delta" has been named to receive the feature film award, and Paulist Fr. Ellwood "Bud" Kieser will receive the group's Board of Directors Award.

252 CHILDREN arrived for the first day of classes Aug. 30 at Holy Angels School in Indianapolis. Their school, which nearly dosed 12 years ago, was completely rebuilt, making it the only known Catholic innercity school to be built in the country in the past 40 years. Of the funds for the $3.2 million building, $1.2 million came from the archdiocesan Building Communities of Hope campaign. Another $1 million came from Lilly Endowment; $1 million came from individual donors.

ARCHBISHOP OF CANTEBURY George Carey has succeeded in ensuring Britain's official millennium celebrations will begin with a Christian prayer, according to a report in the Sept. 6 Telegraph newspaper. Earlier this year, Carey threatened that church leaders would boycott the celebrations in the Millennium Dome in Greenwich if there were not a significant Christian component.

MEDIA AND SPORTS TYCOON Rupert Murdoch has donated $10 million to the Los Angeles archdiocese to help fund the construction of a new 3,000-seat, $163.2 million cathedral. Murdoch, labeled a "nominal Presbyterian" by the Los Angeles Times, said, "The cathedral will serve the people of Southern California as a whole. Although it is being built to assist the Catholic church, it will clearly serve as a center for ecumenical, interfaith and cultural endeavors."

A 700-YEAR-OLD RUIN found along China's ancient Silk Road route is believed to be the site of the earliest Catholic church built in Asia, according to the state-run Xinhua News Agency, which reported the finding Sept. 2. The ruins are located in the Inner Mongolian town of Abinsm, 380 miles northwest of Beijing. Catholic missionaries traveling along the Silk Road, which passes from China through Central Asia, were among the first Westerners to visit China.