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By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome

Thanking the press for its interest in his election, but also gently chiding reporters for “inventing” stories and “creating drama,” the new leader of the 20,000-strong Jesuit order made his public debut today in Rome.

Fr. Adolfo Nicolás, 71, a Spaniard who has spent most of his career in Asia, met with the press today at the Jesuit headquarters, just off St. Peter’s Square. Elected last Saturday on the second ballot by the Jesuits’ 35th General Congregation, Nicolás made brief remarks to reporters but did not take questions.

Today brings to a close the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, and I'm in Rome watching an all-star ecumenical cast mark the occasion. Although there's been no historic breakthrough on the path to reunion, collectively the week's events have offered a more hopeful counter-point to perceptions of an ecumenical "big chill."

By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome

A senior Vatican official has called for more clear provisions in the Code of Canon Law to underscore the duty, and the authority, of bishops to defend the Catholic identity of church-run charitable agencies.

The comments, made yesterday in Rome, come amid new tensions over the religious identity of Catholic charitable agencies, this time in Colorado. It's a dispute which, among other things, threatens to pit the Archdiocese of Denver against the Anti-Defamation League, a major Jewish civil rights organization.

By DENNIS CODAY
NCR Staff

ALBUQUERQUE — Jesuit Fr. John Dear was sentenced Jan. 24 to six months probation, 40 hours of community service and $510 in fines and fees for actions during an anti-war protest at the Santa Fe office of U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M.

Dear said in a statement sent to NCR that he would not pay the fine, do the community service nor cooperate with the probation.