September 14, 1987

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COVER

JOHN PAUL’S RESTLESS CATHOLICS

In Toronto’s Oratory Church of the Holy Family, the rumble of streetcars drifts through the open door, obscuring the soft chanted song of a Latin liturgy that has changed little over the centuries. The Sunday service—the only one still regularly conducted in Latin in Canada’s largest English-speaking diocese—usually attracts about 150 people.

COVER

A HEADY MIXTURE INFLUENCE

Toronto writer June Callwood once described Sister Mary Jo Leddy, 41, as one of the “brainiest and most compelling orators in the peace movement.” A tireless campaigner for peace, the Toronto-born Sisters of Sion nun was a spiritual leader on an expedition to Nevada last May in protest against the U.S. government’s nuclear test.

WORLD

Inside East Germany

The youths are known as gammler— “dropouts”—and they spend their days around the Alexanderplatz in East Berlin gossiping in conspiratorial undertones, shocking their elders with their ragged jeans, ill-matched jackets and long hair—the emblems of their dissent.

WORLD

A battle for sea lanes

Shipping executives in the United Arab Emirates port of Dubai did not have to look far last week for evidence of the latest flare-up in the Persian Gulf. From the office windows of major Gulf shipping agencies they could see the long line of newly damaged tankers and cargo vessels anchored just offshore, waiting for repair in Dubai’s busy drydocks. By ROSS LAVER4 min

CANADA

Turner’s counteroffensive plan

Smiling bravely, John Turner emerged from a 90-minute meeting last week flanked by two of his most loyal supporters, senators Alasdair Graham and Pietro Rizutto. Inside, the senators and Liberal House Leader Herb Gray had presented Turner with a list of proposals drawn up at a top-level Liberal strategy session on Aug. 30 in Ottawa. By HILARY MACKENZIE7 min

COVER

MAN BENEATH THE MITRE

To some he is a prince of peace and a compassionate humanitarian. To others he is an intolerant enforcer of orthodox theology, insensitive to change and to basic human needs. But despite the differing perceptions of Pope John Paul II and the controversy over his interpretation of Roman Catholic Church doctrine, observers agree that the pontiff is a tireless messenger of God’s word, ever-insistent on bringing that message directly to the people.

MUSIC

The Peter Pan of song and dance

The face is neither white nor black, male nor female, childlike nor mature. It is undeniably beautiful —but it is also simply unnatural. Yet that very quality, artifice, may be the source of its haunting power. The face, the reconstructed face of state-of-the-art show business, belongs to Michael Jackson. By NICHOLAS JENNINGS6 min

Hatfield’s toughest fight

Richard Hatfield is famous across the country for personal eccentricities. But as the New Brunswick premier began his campaign for a fifth term last week, he was relaxed enough to joke about his reputation. Explaining his choice of Tuesday, Oct. 13 as the day for a provincial election, Hatfield told supporters in the northeastern community of Miramichi Bay: “In politics, you can’t take any chances. By KATHRYN HARLEY4 min

ENVIRONMENT

New threats to the sky

At their Antarctic base camp on the frigid shores of the Weddell Sea, 1,500 km from the South Pole, a team of British scientists discovered an ominous phenomenon in 1977. The researchers were measuring the con centration of strato spheric ozone, and they said that the readings they received made them suspect that their instruments were mal functioning. By ANNE STEACY5 min