Archbishop

The two third graders, dressed all in white, stood in the vestibule of St. Philip Neri Roman Catholic Church, their faces almost as pale as their First Communion outfits. Emily McNichol and Michael O'Donnell were all spiffed up and waiting to meet Philadelphia Archbishop Anthony J. Bevilacqua to present him with a spiritual bouquet of prayers on behalf of 14,700 schoolchildren in Montgomery County. They couldn't even speak, they were so nervous. And then he walked in, his face all smiles beneath the miter with the tall peaks.

Woody Harrelson - yes, that one - has inserted himself into a controversial instruction by Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey who says it's OK for parents to discipline kids with a "gentle slap. " Last week Carey, father of four and grandfather of five, said the slap was fine "as long as it is done with love and with firm discipline within the family setup. " In a letter published yesterday in London's Independent newspaper, Harrelson wrote: "I was wondering, now that my oldest daughter is nearly 4 years old and gaining strength, how long I have to wait before I can start slapping my newborn.

Anthony Joseph Bevilacqua, the son of Italian immigrants and the current bishop of Pittsburgh, was named yesterday by Pope John Paul II to succeed Cardinal John Krol as archbishop of Philadelphia. Bishop Bevilacqua sat at Cardinal Krol's side yesterday morning as the 77- year-old cardinal said that, more than two years after he reached retirement age, his resignation had finally been accepted by the Pope. "Philadelphia deserves much better service than I am able at this stage of my life to give," Cardinal Krol said during the news conference at his residence at 5700 City Ave. "They tell me that after you're 70, six months can make a big difference.

Msgr. Arturo Rivera y Damas yesterday charged that the FBI mistreated a key witness to last month's slayings of six Jesuit priests, forcing her to recant her testimony. In one of his strongest criticisms of U.S. officials, the San Salvador archbishop said in his weekly homily that witness Lucia Barrera de Cerna had been submitted to "aggressive and violent . . . psychological torment. " U.S. Ambassador William Walker strongly denied that there was any effort to discredit the witness or that she was mistreated in any way. "The United States government and the FBI do not mistreat people, do not torture people they are trying to get information from," Walker said in an interview yesterday.

Cardinal Georg Sterzinsky, 75, who stepped down as Berlin's archbishop this year, has died. The Berlin Archdiocese said Cardinal Sterzinsky died early Thursday. It did not give details, but the cardinal had long been ill. In February, Pope Benedict XVI accepted his resignation. Cardinal Sterzinsky was born in 1936 in what is now Poland and studied in communist East Germany. He became bishop of Berlin, then a divided city, in 1989 and was later promoted to archbishop and cardinal.

Philadelphia Archbishop Anthony J. Bevilacqua called for compassion for AIDS victims yesterday in a rocky, first-ever prayer service by the prelate for those suffering from the disease. But about 100 gay activists at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, well within earshot of the archbishop, chanted "Bevilacqua's full of s-," to protest the church's opposition to condom distribution in Philadelphia public schools. And in the midst of Bevilacqua's homily, a member of the group Act Up stepped up to the pulpit and laid wrapped condoms next to the archbishop's hands and sprinkled them at his feet.

NEW ORLEANS - Former Archbishop Philip Matthew Hannan, who gave the eulogy for President John F. Kennedy and later served more than three decades as the head of the New Orleans Roman Catholic Archdiocese, died yesterday. He was 98. Hannan was the 11th archbishop in New Orleans history and one of the most active. When he turned 75 and had to retire as archbishop, he became president of WLAE-TV, the public television station he founded. Assigned to New Orleans in 1965 from Washington, where he had been auxiliary bishop since 1956, he found that the old St. Louis Cathedral, in the middle of an area of the French Quarter swarming with tourists, street performers, tarot card readers and musicians, had a unique pleasure for a churchman.

Ed Cooley, one of the "roughnecks" from Sister Grace's eighth-grade class at St. Thomas parochial school, was there. Clara Pugliese, 77, a dear friend of the family and confidant of his deceased mother, was there. Sister Mary Isabel, of the Sisters of Mercy, who worked with him in the immigration office in Brooklyn and who sewed his bishop's miters by hand, was there. So was his oldest brother, Michael, and his other brothers, Angelo, Rocco and Frank, and his sisters, Isabella, Virginia, Mary Jo, Gloria and Madeline, the "baby.

Just before 3 p.m., the procession entered the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. Pastors from the 288 parishes walked in pairs as some of their members waved. About 1,400 people stood in front of pews and folding metal chairs. They had come to the Mass of Thanksgiving to honor the 10th anniversary of Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua as Archbishop of Philadelphia in the same place where he was consecrated on Feb. 11, 1988. Since then, the cardinal has restructured the administration of the archdiocese, created regional offices to alleviate some of his duties, closed and consolidated parishes and spoken out against racism.

The pilgrim said, "Mazel tov. " As Cardinal-designate Anthony J. Bevilacqua left the altar of a chapel near the Vatican after an evening service yesterday, Rabbi Bernard Frank grasped his hand and offered the traditional Jewish greeting of congratulation. Rabbi Frank said his journey to Rome had its beginnings in a visit by Bevilacqua to Frank's congregation, Temple Beth Torah, in Northeast Philadelphia, to speak at Friday night services last March. "I said this is the year that he would become a cardinal," explained Frank, a Reform rabbi.

A break in accounting class Tuesday at Archbishop Wood allowed Joe and John Santospago to continue their friendly sibling rivalry. This time, it played out in an impromptu arm-wrestling match. "I took him down," John said with a laugh. "He's way stronger than me, but I think my forearm strength was the difference. It's from all the years being a catcher. " Joe's take on losing the contest? "He got lucky," the outfielder said. "I'm confident I can win the next go-round. " The good-natured competition between the Santospago brothers has benefited Wood's baseball squad, with each trying to outdo the other at the plate.

With the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the seventh inning, Archbishop Ryan senior Matt Graber looked for his second hit of the game. His dribbler down the third base line was just enough to score the winning run, as the Red Raiders walked off with an 11-10 victory over visiting St. Joseph Prep in a Catholic League game Thursday afternoon. Archbishop Ryan rallied for three runs to tie the game in the sixth inning before Graber's hit in the seventh. The first baseman went 2 for 4 and drove in his only run in the game's last at-bat.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has permanently removed three more parish priests from public ministry over allegations of sexual abuse or misconduct around minors, including one whose accuser killed himself in 2009, allegedly after church officials first declared his claim unsubstantiated. That priest, the Rev. Joseph J. Gallagher, has been deemed "unsuitable for ministry due to violations" of church standards, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia said Sunday. A second priest, the Rev. Mark Gaspar, was removed for the same reason, officials said.

Archbishop Ryan High School in the Northeast and Holy Family University today unveiled a new partnership that includes a dual-credit program. Archbishop Ryan students who complete Holy Family courses offered on Ryan's campus on Academy Road will receive both high school and college credits for their work. "Today marks an historic moment in our school's 47-year history," Ryan's President Michael McCardle said at a signing ceremony carried live on the websites of both Ryan and Holy Family University.

Three-time returning state champion Archbishop Wood couldn't hold onto a nine-point halftime lead in a loss to Lancaster Catholic in a Class AAA second-round game at Reading. Lancaster Catholic used a 22-point third quarter to come back and win, 54-46. The game was a rematch of last year's state final, when Archbishop Wood won, 52-33. Senior guard Porscha Speller led Lancaster Catholic and all scorers with 24 points. Colleen Young led Archbishop Wood with 11 points. Speller, who didn't score at all in last year's state final, scored 10 of her points in the game's crucial third quarter.

Derrick Jones would no doubt like to see Archbishop Carroll play more of its boys' basketball games at Colonial Elementary School. Earlier this season, the sophomore racked up 22 points, 17 rebounds, and seven blocks in a nonleague triumph over host Plymouth Whitemarsh. Tuesday, back in Plymouth Meeting for a PIAA Class AAA second-round playoff against Pope John Paul II, Jones produced 19 boards, 16 points, eight rejections, and two assists as the Patriots advanced with a 57-40 victory.

VATICAN CITY - On the day when three different-size white cassocks were unpacked and placed in the room next to the Sistine Chapel for the next pope, there was talk that a cardinal from the United States could end up wearing one of them. It's the first time Americans have been considered serious contenders, particularly if voting for the leading candidates becomes deadlocked. "The idea of an American pope was essentially taboo until now," said John Thavis, the longtime Rome bureau chief for Catholic News Service and author of Vatican Diaries . The specter of an inconclusive first few rounds of secret balloting remained high, with no clear front-runner heading into Tuesday's papal election and a long list of cardinals still angling to discuss the church's problems ahead of the vote.

Derrick Jones no doubt would like to see Archbishop Carroll play more of its boys' basketball games at Colonial Elementary School. Earlier this season, the sophomore racked up 22 points, 17 rebounds, and seven blocked shots in a nonleague triumph over host Plymouth Whitemarsh. Tuesday, back in Plymouth Meeting for a PIAA Class AAA second-round playoff against Pope John Paul II, Jones produced 19 boards, 16 points, eight rejections, and two assists as the Patriots advanced with a 57-40 victory.

ACCRA, Ghana - Often cast as the social conscience of the church, Ghana's Cardinal Peter Turkson is viewed by many as the top African contender for pope. The 64-year-old head of the Vatican's peace and justice office was widely credited with helping to avert violence after contested Ghanaian elections. He has aggressively fought African poverty, while disappointing many by hewing to the church's conservative line on condom use amid Africa's AIDS epidemic. Turkson's reputation as a man of peace took a hit recently when he showed a virulently anti-Islamic video, a move now seen as hurting his papal prospects.

Jim Ricci and his Archbishop Wood girls' basketball players don't play basketball for the games in December. And they don't play for the games in January, or even in the first week or two of February. So that opening-season win over Bishop Ford? Yeah, it was nice. And losing only once during the Catholic League regular season? That was good, too. But the Vikings have bigger things in mind, such as defending their Class AAA state championship. Saturday at Archbishop Carroll, they took their first step toward that, defeating Pope John Paul II, 60-39, in the opening round of the PIAA tournament.