News stories from Sunday August 27, 1978
Summaries of the stories the major media outlets considered to be of particular importance on this date:
- Pope John Paul I began his first full day as head of the Roman Catholic Church by displaying informality and openness in his noonday blessing on 150,000 pilgrims in St. Peter's Square. But later, among the cardinals in the closing of the conclave that had elected him, he put stress on the role of the family, decried ideologies of hedonism, called for a continuation of the direction taken by the Second Vatican Council, pledged himself to the maintenance of discipline, and generally charted a cautious course for the papacy. [Chicago Tribune]
- Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the Roman Catholic prelate who was in open revolt against Pope Paul VI, said that the new Pope's choice of John Paul as his name was "not a very favorable augury." He said that if it meant that the new Pope intended to follow the reforms of his immediate predecessors, the church "will continue to destroy itself." But other lay and church leaders lauded the election of the new Pope, with President Carter cabling congratulations to the Vatican, as did Queen Elizabeth of England. [Chicago Tribune]
- A 30-member U.S. scientific team has received permission to examine the Holy Shroud, believed by many to be the burial cloth of Jesus Christ, church officials said. The U.S. Research Conference for the Shroud, which has been trying for years to get permission to study the linen cloth, will have 24 hours beginning at midnight Oct. 9 to subject the cloth to scientific analysis. [Chicago Tribune]
- A world chess championship match organizer rebuked challenger Viktor Korchnoi, still reeling from a shocking fourth loss, for threatening to punch a Soviet mind control expert. The 47-year-old Soviet defector had exploded in anger at the start of Saturday's game upon seeing Dr. Vladimir Zoukhar in the fourth row of the gallery. He accused Zoukhar of trying to put a hex on him by long-range hypnosis. Match organizer Florencio Campomanes told Korchnoi in a terse note that he would no longer tolerate such outbursts. [Chicago Tribune]
- Postmaster General William Bolger met with the heads of three postal unions but refused to reopen contract negotiations to head off the possibility of an economically-crippling nationwide mail strike this week. Bolger talked at Postal Service headquarters with presidents of the three unions. He predicted that the postal workers would stay on the job and eventually accept his demand that the wage dispute be put to binding arbitration. [Chicago Tribune]
- President Carter is cutting short his vacation to return to Washington to fight for his embattled natural gas bill and other domestic legislation, the White House announced. Press Secretary Jody Powell, who said Carter would return to Washington on Wednesday instead of Friday, said the dispute over the natural gas pricing "has a tremendous import for the country and we don't intend to lose it, if there is any possible way, any thing we can do." Powell said the early return to Washington was not meant as a theatrical gesture. [Chicago Tribune]
- Former President Richard Nixon, who had already been moving back into the public, edged back into GOP politics as host at a fundraising reception for Orange County Republicans. [Chicago Tribune]
- The Shah of Iran named Jaafar Sharif-Emami prime minister, and Sharif-Emami promptly ordered police to shut all casinos in the country. The Shah had instructed Sharif-Emami to make major concessions to religious and political opponents. Political sources said X-rated movie theaters, liquor stores and nightclubs may be the next targets. [Chicago Tribune]
- In Managua, Nicaragua, anti-government demonstrators fought a gun battle with National Guard troops and fired at helicopters taking out the wounded from earlier clashes north of the capital. Earlier in the day the Nicaraguan Chambers of Commerce announced their support of a three-day-old general strike designed to force the resignation of President Antonio Somoza. [Chicago Tribune]
- Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin seemed to harden his negotiating position for the Camp David Middle East summit next month by saying he would reject Arab sovereignty in the occupied Jordanian West Bank and the Gaza Strip even after a five-year trial of his official peace plan. [Chicago Tribune]