A Mass of Security Assembled for Pope : Protection: The pontiff arrives in New York this week to help mark U.N.’s 50th year. Thousands of law enforcement officers are gathered and trained.

The largest security force in U.S. history is being assembled to protect Pope John Paul II this week and more than 140 heads of state who will be attending the 50th anniversary of the United Nations on Oct. 22.

When the pontiff steps off his plane at Newark International Airport Wednesday, he will be enveloped in a huge protective cocoon.

Almost 3,000 federal agents and New York City police detectives, many of whom received special training at a National Guard camp in Upstate New York, will augment a massive Secret Service detail and thousands of uniformed police officers. Some 1,700 recruits attending the New York City Police Academy also will be pressed into service. The Vatican is sending a contingent of its Swiss Guards and other security agents.

Marine helicopters will ferry the pontiff to some masses. On other occasions he will ride in an armor-plated Mercedes-Benz with a bulletproof bubble top. On East 72nd Street in Manhattan, where the Pope will be residing at the Vatican’s observer mission to the United Nations, hundreds of residents of the block will be escorted by police to their apartments each time they return from work or run errands.

The papal visit and U.N. anniversary “are the two most important events in department history, back-to-back,” said Police Chief Louis Anemone.

During his five-day visit to the New York metropolitan area and Baltimore, the Pope will address the United Nations, conduct a series of religious services--the largest in Central Park--travel to a soup kitchen, address seminarians and meet with leaders of other faiths.

The Secret Service has primary responsibility for guarding the 75-year-old pontiff, as well as the world leaders who are scheduled to arrive two weeks later, including Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin, Cuban President Fidel Castro, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Authorities are nervous about possible reprisals should Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, a militant Egyptian cleric, and nine followers be found guilty on federal charges of plotting to bomb the United Nations building, two commuter tunnels linking Manhattan with New Jersey and the New York field office of the FBI. A jury in New York is considering their fate.

Prosecutors charge their alleged actions were part of a broader scheme of urban terrorism against the United States--including the 1993 bombing of New York’s World Trade Center, which killed six people and injured more than 1,000.

In recent months, the trade center case entered a new phase with the arrest and extradition to New York of three additional defendants, including Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, accused of engineering the attack on the twin towers, and Abdul Hakim Murad, who was seized by police in an apartment in the Philippines. They were accused of planning to assassinate the Pope when he visited Manila in January.

Police searching the Philippines apartment said they found Roman Catholic vestments, tailored to match the clothing worn by the Pope’s traveling companions, complete with replicas of papal buttons.

As part of the security in New York, stores that sell religious clothing were visited by law enforcement authorities who questioned the shopkeepers about any suspicious purchases.

Authorities are also concerned about the presence in a Manhattan federal prison of Musa abu Marzuk, political leader of the Palestinian extremist group Hamas. He was stopped July 25 at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport as he was seeking to re-enter the country after spending five months in the United Arab Emirates. Israel is seeking his extradition, accusing him of conspiracy to commit murder.

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The Catholic Church in America

THE NUMBERS

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1994 1984 Catholic population 56.4 million 52.4 million Priests 49,434 57,891 Sisters 93,106 118,027 Parishes 19,395 19,118

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FINANCES (1993)

Donations from parishes: $6.7 billion

Revenue from schools: $5.1 billion

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CHARITY

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Catholic Relief 1993 1983 (spent overseas) $282 million $336 million Catholic Charities USA (domestic) Cash donations $1.9 billion $680 million Government contract revenue $1.3 billion $332 million Social service beneficiaries 3.8 million 2.0 million Emergency service beneficiaries 6.8 million 2.6 million

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Sources: Catholic University, Catholic Charities USA, Catholic Relief, Catholic Almanac

Compiled by D’Jamila Salem / Los Angeles Times