South Bend, September 1, 1975
Kissinger’s Triumph
After incessant and tenacious negotiations in a tireless “shuttle diplomacy” between Tel Aviv and Alexandria, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger succeeded in achieving an interim agreement between Israel and Egypt. The agreement was signed today in Jerusalem and Alexandria. The U.S. Congress still has to agree that the United States will establish an early electronic warning station in the buffer zone on the strategically important Mitla and Gidi passes as well as to staff it with American civilian observers. However, there seems to stand nothing in the way anymore for signing the agreement in Geneva.
September 4, 1975
The Sinai Agreement was signed by Israel and Egypt in Geneva. Thereby, a constant trouble spot in the world has been appeased. As Anwar Sadat pointed out, the prospects for a peaceful co-existence in the Middle East between Israel and its Arab neighbors look promising.
South Bend, September 5, 1975
The Risk
In front of the Capitol in Sacramento, California, an attempt on the life of President Ford was made. It occurred during a campaign rally for the presidential election 1976, which is already underway. Shortly after the incident and still under shock, President Ford declared that he will not let himself to be deterred from mingling among the people and shaking hands. In election years, the American president has no choice but to confront the electorate, mingle among the people, and possibly risk an attack on his life. This is the risk of an open democracy, which America is ready to take.
South Bend, September 14, 1975
An American Saint: Mother Elizabeth Seton
Today, in a Mass in St. Peter’s Square in Rome, Pope Paul VI canonized Mother Elizabeth Seton (1774 - 1821). The foundress of the Sisters of Charity is the first saint of the Catholic Church born in America.
[Elizabeth Ann Bayley was born 1774 in New York. She married the merchant William Seton in 1794. When her husband died in 1803, she was left behind as a widow with five children. After she had converted to Catholicism in 1805, she devoted her life under great difficulties to caring for and educating children. She established several Catholic schools in Maryland and founded the Order of the Sisters of Charity, which quickly spread throughout America. Leading the Order, she became known as Mother Elizabeth Seton. She was beatified in 1963 and canonized 1975.]