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Article: Riot breaks out as pope greets Haider.(Pope John Paul II)(Jorg Haider)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- National Catholic Reporter
- Article date:
- January 5, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 National Catholic Reporter. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Protesters, police clash, ending Holy Year in blast of teargas
When Pope John Paul II opened this Holy Year on Dec. 24, 1999, in St. Peter's Basilica, no one anticipated it would end in a hail of smoke bombs and tear gas canisters a few hundred yards away. As it turned out, while the Jubilee year officially ends Jan. 6, many Romans will remember Dec. 16 as the day the year's holiness evaporated in two hours of ferocious urban warfare.
The late afternoon melee on the Via della Conciliazione, the broad avenue that leads into St. Peter's Square, was triggered by the pope's welcome of Jorg Haider, Austria's enfant terrible on the far right. By far the most ...