Vatican: Pope will visit Mexico, Guatemala

Vatican: Pope will visitMexico, Guatemala
VATICAN CITY -- Despite worries about his health, Pope John Paul II will visit Guatemala and Mexico after marking the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day in Canada next month, the Vatican said Tuesday.
Top Vatican officials had recently suggested that the 82-year-old pope might drop the stops in Guatemala and Mexico City because of his feeble condition and return directly to Rome from Canada.
The Vatican said the pope will leave July 23 for Toronto, arrive in Guatemala on July 29, fly to Mexico the following day and depart for Rome on Aug. 1, arriving the following morning.
John Paul suffers from symptoms of Parkinson's disease and knee and hip ailments.
The trip to Canada was never in doubt. Hundreds of thousands of young people from around the world are expected in Toronto for the event.
The other stops are for canonizations: In Mexico, for Juan Diego, an Indian said to have had a vision of the Virgin Mary in 1531; and in Guatemala, for Pedro de Betancur, a 17th century missionary.
Archaeologists uncoverRoman stadium
JERUSALEM -- On the shores of the Sea of Galilee, Israeli archaeologists have uncovered what they believe are the remains of a Roman stadium from the time of Jesus, where thousands watched horse races, track events and boat races on long, man-made pools.
The Romans may also have used the Jewish-built stadium to hold thousands of Jewish prisoners after they lost a battle, archaeologists said, quoting the writings of an ancient Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus.
The stadium was uncovered near the city of Tiberias, an ancient city built by Jews. Most of it has yet to be unearthed, but Moshe Hartal, the archaeologist overseeing the dig, said Monday that it was probably about 200 yards long.
The large size of the structure, the semicircular shape of its walls at one end and the foundations used for seats led to the conclusion that the first-century building was a stadium and most likely one written about by Josephus, Hartal said.
Hartal believes boat races and water war games were held in one section of the stadium at a later period, probably the third century, since signs of mud were found there.
The structure was also apparently the site where, according to Josephus' writings, 37,000 Jewish prisoners were held in A.D. 67 after they lost to the Romans in a naval battle on the nearby Sea of Galilee, Hartal said. The old and weak prisoners were executed and the stronger ones sold off as slaves, according to Josephus.
Judge rules Utah canprosecute polygamist
SALT LAKE CITY -- Avowed polygamist Tom Green can be tried for child rape for having sex with his 13-year-old wife in 1986, a judge ruled Monday. A trial is scheduled for next week.
"I'm probably going to lose," John Bucher, Green's lawyer, told The Associated Press after hearing of the decision.
Green and Linda Kunz admit they had sex in 1986 when she was 13 -- their son Melvin's age, 15, proves it.
Green's defense had argued that the couple conceived their son while on vacation in Mexico and that Utah authorities lack the jurisdiction to prosecute.
But 4th District Judge Donald Eyre said there is evidence that Green and the girl's mother, who had approved of the marriage, hatched a "criminal conspiracy" in Utah, so prosecutors in this state can pursue the charges.
Amtrak accident
BALTIMORE -- An Amtrak train and Baltimore-to-Washington MARC commuter train derailed just outside Baltimore's Penn Station at the height of rush hour, leaving several passengers with minor injuries.
The trains, Amtrak Silver Palm train 90 from Miami and MARC train 437 traveling to Washington, apparently brushed together late Monday afternoon as they came alongside one another, Baltimore Fire Department officials said. The second and third cars of the seven-car MARC train went off the tracks about 6:20 p.m., according to Suzanne Bond, an MTA spokeswoman.
The cars did not overturn. One person was taken to a hospital. A few other were slightly injured but did not require medical treatment, the spokeswoman said.
An Amtrak spokeswoman said train traffic between Wilmington, Del., and Washington would be disrupted until the tracks in Baltimore were cleared. Repairs to the track were under way late Monday, as were efforts to bring the derailed trains onto their tracks.
Associated Press