Brooklyn Diocese Forgives $118M

NEW YORK (AP) â€” A Roman Catholic diocese has forgiven $118 million that was lent over 40 years to keep more than a hundred schools and churches afloat. <br><br>The debt cancellation, done in the spirit

Friday, December 22nd 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) â€” A Roman Catholic diocese has forgiven $118 million that was lent over 40 years to keep more than a hundred schools and churches afloat.

The debt cancellation, done in the spirit of Pope John Paul II's decree to cast aside obligations by those less fortunate, is the largest of its kind nationwide.

The gesture was announced at a Mass on Wednesday by Bishop Thomas V. Daily, who heads Brooklyn's diocese, comprised of 1.6 million Catholics in the Brooklyn and Queens boroughs of the city.

The pope earlier this year made a plea to forgive the debt of developing nations, regardless of religion, as part of Jubilee.

Jubilee is a yearlong Catholic celebration derived from ancient Hebrew law ordering slaves freed and debts erased every half century. The modern church holds it every 25 years in hopes each pope may preside over one.