Page 8, The Herald. Frida. Decercer .& “7: JEWELLED CROWN An ancient relic still a mystery BUDAPEST (AP) — One million people have seen St. Stephen's crown since it was returned to Hungary from the United States, but ne one knows yet if it is Wau. the real thing. Hungarian National Museum expert Dr. Zsuzsa Solt-lovag plans to make a detailed study of the cen- turies-old relic. Hungarians have never agreed on how much, if any, of the gold, jewelled and enamelled crown ;.aily goes back to the year 1001 and King Stephen, the country's first Christian monarch. “It's unlikely that any of it really goes back that far," says Dr, Solt-Lovag, an expert in the medieval era. The crown fell into the hands of the U.S. Army at the end of the Second World War. After being taken from Budapest by its special guards, it and other treasures were taken out of Hungary to keep them from the invading Soviet army. Post-war Hungary became a Communist country and the Americans kept the crown and other captured royal regalia locked up for more than three decades in Fort Knox, the U.S. gold depository, After slow impravement in relations between the two countries, and over the objections of anti- Communist Hungarian ex- iles in the United States, the Americans returned the crown'last Jan. 6, With it came a 12th- century sceptre, a royal sword dating from the 16th century and an orb believed to have been made almost 600 years ago. . The oldest royal relic was a coronation cape which some say King Stephen himself donated to a cathedral in 1031. All are now. nearing the end of the longest public viewing they have ever had in Hungary. They have been displayed since January, 1978, in an opulent marble room of the National Museum, closely. guarded around the clock. Topped by its mysteriously bent golden cross, the crown has been a symbol of govern- mental legitimacy in Hungary for at least six. enturies, one reason its return to a Communist government was opposed. The last major Hungarian study of the crown was in 1880 by members of the Hungarian Academy of Science, There is some feeling, Dr. Solt-Lovag says, that they may net have done a very good job of putting the bent cross back on the headpiece exactly as they found it. Experts have long ac: cepted that the top and the bottom of the crown are of different ages. The two parts are joined in a way that obscures two enamelled panels on the headband, and x-rays Will be used to see if that part of the crown can be safely disassembled for study. ; The new study is expected lo take the crown out of public view for a maximum of about two months, Dr. Solt-Lovag says. And itis not expected to solve the mystery of how the cross was bent. It was hit by something or dropped,” she says. ‘It shows the marks,” In warm summer months, museum officials say, the crown was drawing 4,000 to 5,000 visitors a day. Even in the chilly damp of central European winter, about 300 people often wait outside the doors on a weekend morning. At their peak, the crowds stood in lines stretching about 200 metres from the display room, down the museum's stone staircase and back through its en- trance hall to the front door. Heading the list for restoration work is the cape, - which was damaged by alterations made for the 1867 coronation of Austro- Hungarian monarch Franz Solt-Lovag, noting that n long before the alterations,-it had spent nine years buried. during one of the politica] the regalia into hiding. = "Tt was soaked completely: through when it was dug ufé again,” she says. “It had: been buried in land that was: flooded every spring.” 1 FROM THE — CHURCH | by Frank Johnson In the conflict between good and evil, one event has perplexed many a sincere soul. Why are faithful, devout Christians sometimes cut down in premature death? These deaths constitute nat only a public loss but a church loss. The last four verses of Isaiah 56 sheds some light on this confusing issue, The prophet speaks of the ‘‘beasts of the field” coming to devour God's people. This symbolizes the foreign nations that would attack Judah because of her sins. Yet God’s watchmen were blind to this fact. The times in which these words were written were perilous, and the prophet declared that God in mercy permitted the death of certain of the righteous. tn order that they might be delivered “fram great evils, they were laid to rest. Perhaps-the worst punishment God could have placed upon a sinner would be eternal life in our - present world. Although death is reqarded as an enemy, and soitis, many with a deep experience in the things of Gad do not tear it, and some even welcome it. The humiliation and scrrow of death are fully compensated by immortality. at the glorious resurrection. ; So when you see a pious, useful, and talenied Christian laid to rest, white some person who Is a problem to society and himself — a cumberer of the ground — still lives, do nof question why. There could be at least two answers. The one who lives may be in need of more probationary time, and the one who dies will be spared sorrow, pain and strife. ; One concluding thought. Isaiah declares in chapter §7 verse 1 that ‘'The righteous perish, ‘and no one takes it to heart.” (N.E.B.) There is one who always takes it to heart, and that is our ‘Saviour. Man may not care, but God always “takes notice of the death of His people. So live day and every day in such a way that when death knocks at your heart's door you will nol ar the Grim Reaper, for your life is hid vith hrist In God, MORE JAILED Sons of Freedom continue to fight NELSON, B.C. (CP) — Be- fore a packed courlroom listening to the sentence of a county court judge, the five women in the prisoner’s dock wept and stripped them- selves naked. oo They were joined by about a dozen of the audience. Mary Braun, Olga Huodichoff; .Pauline Berikoff, and Marilyn and Naida Stoochnoff, all con- vieted of arson, wept and leaned: over the prisoners’ dock to hug relatives here Wednesday before, being carried bodily oul of the courtroom to serve jail terms of up to two years less a day, Once again the members of the radical Sons of Freedom Doukhobors sect had acted out the bizarre ritual that has become almost commonplace in this West Kootenay community. But the futility of thescene was spelled out by a sobbing Marilyn Stoochnoff, one of the accused facing nine months in jail. . ; "This is not the answer,” she pleaded. sO “We have watched cur parents go through this and our children must wateh us.. When will it all end?’’- The crowd, some ‘stripping’ off their clothes in sym- pathy, had earlier sung” hymns praising God in Russian, Later, “Bon't hurt them,” one cried out as court staff earried the still-naked women in their chairs: to minus-13-degree weather. The court was jammed with about 100 relatives and sons ied— their weeping mothers away. _ friends as the senlencing started. The five women had arrived, one in custody and already naked, to face charges of arson and con- spiracy to commit, arson in the May 19 attempt to burn the home.of their leader, Stefan Sorokin. It was a case marked by evidence af buildings: being put to the torch and threats of a curse that would last to the seventh generation, —. . The five women told court they acted under threat of the seven-generalion curse by Orthodox Doukhobor leader John J. Verigin, a holder. of the Order of Canada, whe was charged Dec. 19 with conspiracy to commit arson. He was remanded to Jan. 8. During the trial, the five _had accused Verigin of or- dering .the- burning of . his -Tival’s home, as well as several buildings belonging to his own sect, Only the eldest of the women, Mary Braun, who was sentenced lo two years less a day in jail, was naked during the hearing. The “ather four, all in their ‘Ws, wore head scarves and -eouls. Bul as soon as Kamloops Judge D. M. MeDonald sen- tenced them to nine months in jail, the other accused _ began to undress. i, Looking at the elderly men and women in the public “gallery it was difficult to “picture them as members of a sect blamed for bombings afd arson in the mountain police cars wailing outside.in” valley of southeastern B.C, «for more than half a century. 4, Judge, MeDonald said he faced a difficult task in deciding how to deal with the women. Speaking through «a Russian interpreter, he tald them that while he accepted their evidence of the Verigin curse, other Doukhobors had to be protected. “Cilizens are, entitled and must be protected from those who would burn down their homes,” he said. “The fact that these women are not criminals: in the accepted sense—they are deeply religious people— cannot constitute an excuse for acts of arson." . When the case ended, six older women slaged a nude sitin in the public gallery. They refused to move and were carried bodily by sheriffs and police who dumped them _umice- remoniously on the icy side- walks. The .strange court ap- pearance was not the first of its kind in Nelson Wed- nesday. That morning, four men and four women aged bet- ween 40 and 72 also stood: naked in the dock. ‘They faced charges of at- tempted arson and wrongful intimidation following the attempted fire-bombing of an Orthodox Doukhobor home in nearby Brilliant last week, : All were remanded in custody until Jan, 19. The number of cases cur- rently befare the court, some involving younger Sons of Freedom, has led to speculation that the days of “dark work’’ by radical sect members may be returning. In the fast four years, about $4 million in damage Zion Baptist Church Corner Sparks and Keith Pastor Paul Wohninger Office 635-2407 Home 635-5309 Sunday School 9:45 a.m, _ Morning Worship 11:00 a.m. _ ATTEND THE CHURCH Uplands Baptist Church a Corner of Halliwall and W. Thomas 9:45a.m, Bible Teaching OF YOUR CHOICE | THIS SUNDAY Sunday School 11:00 a.m. Morning Worship Service 7:30 p.m. Singing and Bible Study Wednesday 8:00 Home Bible Studies *¥ou Are Welcome at Uplands" 4830 Straume Avenue, Terrace 635-2312 SATURDAY EVENING SUNDAY MASSES 9-00.01. Wesaacm Ap n 740 pm St Matthew's Auglican Church | 4126 Lazelle Avenue 635-9019 Sunday Services Sunday School. Adults Discussion. Christian Reformed Church Sparks Street and Siraume Avenue Reverend S. Van Daalen Sunday School - Terrace 10:00a.m, Sunday School -Remo1:00 p.m. 11:00 a.m. Warship Service 5:00p.m. Worship Service 10:00 a.m. 11:00 a.m. Holy Communion tor the tamily Minister: DACWEW WEAN DALIT Reverend Lance Stephens 635 5855 Mennonite Brethren Church 4907 Lazelle Avenue Minister Reverend Dave Martyn Sunday School Senior 12and up 10:00 a.m. Under 12. 11:00a.m. Worship Service 11:00.a.m. KNOX UNITED CHURCH 11:00.a.m. Family Worship Service 7:30 p.m. Ladies Home League Fellowship SALVATION ARMY ~~ 4637 Walsh Avenue SUNDAY ri i 9:30a.m. Christian Education Hour 3406 Eby Street 635-3015 10:00 a.m. Sunday School a 14:00 a.m, Family Worship Service 7:30 p.m. Evanglistic Salvation Meeting Weleomes TUESDAY NIGHT . 7:30 p.m. Bible Study and Prayer Meeting ‘You To WEDNESDA * Y Worship SATURDAY 7:30p.m. Youth Group Christian Counselling - Emergency Weltare Spiritual Resources 635-5446 or 635-2626 | CHURCH OF GOD 3941 River Drive Terrace, B.C. 638-1561 Morning Worship 11:00.a.m. Prayer Service Wednesday 2.30 p.in. CHRIST LUTHERAN CHURCH Corner Sparks Street and Park Avenue Reverend Rolf Nosterud 636-5882 Morning Service 11:00 a.m. Church School 9:45 a.m. Sunday School, Contirmation Youth and Adult Classes Reverend A.L. White Sunday School 10:00. a.m Reverend R.L. While Evening Worship 7:30 p.in. has been caused lo Doukhobor property by arson. Arson has been a recurring fact of life in ihe Doukhobor community since the 1920s, It has been associated with the Sons of Freedom wha reject materialism, education and some Hovernment regulation. Sociologists believe ‘the sect members strip naked as aaymbolic demonstration.of innocence as well as an actiof protest against the system aimed at disconcerting neighbors. Observer editor passes TORONTO (CP) — Rey, Alfred C, Forrest, the editor of the United Church QOb- server since 1955 who died Tuesday of a heart attack. once said choir women “have no business wearing ear-rings or other flashy jewelry in’ choir loft or chancel al ll a.m, Sundays.” Forrest, 62, gained a reputation of not mincing words in editorials on con- traversial topics. : In 1962 he criticize Canada’s immigration policies. saving they favored Roman Catholies. But when he was an observer at the second Vatican council later that vear, he praised the — “fresh air of renewal .., blowing through the Catholic Church and said most Protestants had much to learn from Catholics. He once called Pope John XXIII the) = best’ = pope Protestants ever had. In 1968 he took a 10-month leave of absence to report on - the Middle East for the Ob- server . Pope John to travel TOROATO \CP! -- Pope John Paul Ti will not tolerate being cooped: up in the Vatican for ‘long, says a Polish prelaie who has known him for 15 years. - Msgr. Marian Qles. a member of ‘the? Vatican diplomatic carps for 11 years and now a member af the Congregation for Bishops. deseribed John Paul as a perfect all-round man. at in- tellectual. sportsman and a determined practical man with a flair for people. “The Vatican City is toa stall for him.’ Msgr. Oles said in an interview in Toronto where he spent Christmas “Sooner or later fw Mill inst an going to purishes every Sunday." Msgr less said the SecuTIty surreunding the pon wall give Wak to John Paul's wash to get clase ta the people