After Threats, Pope Asks Prayers for His Trip

Pope John Paul II requested prayers Sunday for the success of his upcoming 11-day trip to three European countries, where threats against his life have spawned tight security precautions.

The pontiff, target of an unsuccessful assassination attempt in May, 1981, made the request to 30,000 pilgrims and tourists gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his regular Sunday blessing.

During his appearance, the Polish-born Pope made no mention of the threats. Instead, he simply asked for prayers from the faithful, a request he makes before all his foreign tours.

“For myself, I ask your prayers during my apostolic pilgrimage, my visit, to Holland, Belgium and Luxembourg that begins this Saturday,” John Paul said. “I beg you for your prayers, the prayers of everybody, of the whole church.”

Four Dutchmen were arrested April 17 in Amsterdam on suspicion of hanging posters throughout the city offering a $4,400 reward to anyone who “liquidates” the Pope during his stay.

Two days later, a poster was pasted on a church in a suburb of Antwerp, Belgium, offering $16,500 for the Pope’s assassination. Police have made no arrests.

The Netherlands, a stronghold of independent Roman Catholic thinking, has been a center of protest against the trip.

Dutch theologians--most of them liberals--have recently differed with their more conservative counterparts in the Vatican on many issues, including birth control, the position of women in the church and priestly celibacy.