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	Ex-Gangster to Meet Pope at Randwick CathNews July 2, 2008 http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=7915 Ex-gangster, Briton, John Pridmore, will appear with Pope Benedict during the evening vigil service at Randwick racecourse. The Pope will hear the former criminal describe how God dramatically changed his life, a Fruit of the Vine media release announces. Forty four year old Pridmore was once an enforcer in the London underworld. His life revolved around stabbings, guns, vicious criminal gangs and major drug deals. But in 1991 he underwent a profound spiritual experience after nearly killing a man in a fight outside a bar. As a result, his life changed radically. Since then, he has spoken to an estimated one million people in parishes, schools, prisons and universities in Europe and the USA. His life story, From Gangland to Promised Land, has become a best seller. Controversy over extraordinary powers Meanwhile, The Australian reports the Catholic Church asked the NSW Government to give police extraordinary powers for World Youth Day and to protect more than 500 sites from ambush marketing. While Premier Morris Iemma said no "special deal" had been done for this month's event, regulations passed last week go beyond last year's APEC forum. According to The Australian, the Government acted after a meeting of the Local Organising Committee of the Catholic Church on May 23. The committee, chaired by Cardinal George Pell, was concerned not only with quarantining protesters but also with protecting revenues from merchandise sales and advertising. The Government gazetted the regulations, which carry fines up to $5,500, without their detail being discussed in parliament. The Sydney Morning Herald says talkback radio, online forums and the Herald's letters page were flooded with criticism of the new rules. "That we have had our right to protest effectively snuffed out is a mockery to those of us who have been harmed by the Catholic Church," wrote Stephen Kilkeary, who said he, his siblings and his late mother suffered "horrendous abuse at the hands of the Catholic clergy." Police have begun arranging meetings with a range of possible protesters and pranksters, from anti-homophobia and pro-contraception activists, to victims of abuse, and even comedians from The Chaser. The Opposition Leader, Barry O'Farrell, said the Government should reveal who requested the regulations. The Catholic Church said "neither the Catholic Church nor Cardinal Pell asked for the additional police powers," adding "we understand some people may want to protest and they have the right to do so peacefully and lawfully." The Minister for World Youth Day, Kristina Keneally, said the Government framed the laws on advice from police and after consulting the Church. She stressed they were not drafted at the behest of Cardinal George Pell. Abuse victims And victims of sex abuse in the Catholic Church have been instructed by police on how they should behave if they decide to protest at the World Youth Day in Sydney, The Age reports. But one of the victim support groups contacted by police told the paper it did not intend to protest during the festival. Yesterday Broken Rites wrote to 150 parishes across Melbourne asking them to offer their church as a vigil site for victims during the festival. President Chris MacIsaac slammed Australian bishops for being silent when it came to a papal apology. "We would like to see some support (for victims)," she said. "If the bishops and Pope won't support them, then maybe the clergy will." The letter tells parish priests that agreeing to a vigil in their church "would demonstrate that the old days of cover-up are over, at least in your parish." "A negative response to the Broken Rites request would indicate that the days of cover-up are not yet over," it says. The Ballarat Courier adds that two victims of Church-related sexual abuse in Ballarat have backed calls for an apology from the Pope. Stephen Woods was sexually assaulted by three Catholic priests at St Alipius Primary School and St Patrick's College between 1972 and 1975. When contacted by The Courier yesterday, the now Melbourne-based Mr Woods said the Pope "should absolutely apologise" during his visit to Australia. "It would be the least he could do," Mr Woods said. "But I don't think it's likely he will because he's here for World Youth Day and it was youth who were assaulted so the relationship between the two may be too far an inconvenient truth for him." "David", who was sexually assaulted while a student at St Alipius Primary School in the mid 1970s, called for a full apology backed by a state inquiry. "There's no excuse not to have one," David said.
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