In rare Catholic ceremony, New York woman turns down sex for Jesus

By: Associated Press | Saturday, October 7, 2006 6:36 PM PDT ∞

EAST AURORA, N.Y. -- She stood at the altar in a white gown and veil, but she was there for no earthly man. Lori Rose Cannizzaro was dedicating her virginity to Jesus.

Saturday's rare Catholic ceremony, one her own pastor didn't know existed, turned the 42-year-old into a "consecrated virgin." Fewer than 200 women in the United States and 2,000 worldwide have declared their perpetual virginity this way, according to U.S. Association of Consecrated Virgins.

"There are people who think I'm nuts," Cannizzaro said.

The ceremony was a revival of one of the church's oldest rituals.

The rite is available only to virgins, who agree to abstain from sex so they can dedicate their lives to Jesus Christ in what the association describes as a mystical marriage and a profound spiritual blessing. Each woman wears a band on her left ring finger as a symbol, much like a wedding band.

Cannizzaro, who is not a nun, will continue to live on her own and work as a cook at Christ the King Seminary in a Buffalo suburb.

She said she has plenty of support from family and friends.

"It is a good and holy thing to want to be in a virginal state," she said.

The ceremony was just the second of its kind performed in the Diocese of Buffalo.

The idea of consecrated virgins faded in the Middle Ages, but Pope Paul VI restored the rite in 1970. Only a bishop can perform the special Mass. Bishop Edward Kmiec led Cannizzaro's ceremony at her home parish, Immaculate Conception.

Cannizzaro, who spent the past two years taking seminary classes in preparation, said she knew more than a decade ago she would be better off single.

"Dating wasn't working. I wasn't connecting," she said. "Not that I never wanted to be married or never wanted children."

On the Net: http://www.consecratedvirgins.org/

Madonna visits another orphanage in Malawi amid rumors about adoption


LILONGWE, Malawi (AP) -- Madonna visited another orphanage in Malawi on Saturday amid persistent rumors that she plans to adopt a boy who lost his parents to AIDS.

It was the pop star's third visit to an orphanage in as many days. She arrived in the impoverished country Wednesday and Malawian government officials have said repeatedly she was planning to adopt a boy there. But Madonna's spokeswoman has denied the rumors.

Madonna and her husband, film director Guy Ritchie, traveled Friday to the small village of Mchinji near the Zambian border where she distributed copies of her book "The English Roses" and listened to children sing.

Alick, a boy of about 12, said it was the second time Madonna had visited the Home of Hope orphanage. Several residents said they heard she was going to adopt a boy named Davie and had been in discussions with the boy's guardians to take him to the U.S. But there was no confirmation of that.

Officials at the church-run home refused to speak to journalists, who were kept away from the brick building by bodyguards. Madonna was whisked away in a convoy of sport utility vehicles after the visit.

Malawi government officials have said they have been informed Madonna plans to adopt a boy in the country. But they say she has not yet filed any papers yet.

Madonna's spokeswoman, Liz Rosenberg, has denied the rumors, saying the visit to Malawi is motivated by humanitarian aims to set up orphanages.

Malawi is among the poorest countries in the world, with rampant disease and hunger, aggravated by periodic droughts and crop failure. Just over 14 percent of the 12 million population are infected with HIV, and an estimated 1 million children have been orphaned. In many villages, grandparents or older siblings struggle to feed orphans.

Madonna's visit has been shrouded in secrecy and she failed to show up for a scheduled meeting Friday with a top government minister, apparently because she was tied up visiting another orphanage.

Security officials indicated she was planning on staying for a while.

"We are not leaving soon," said Madonna's chief bodyguard, who gave his name only as Steve. "We are here for a while."

Madonna and her entourage have taken over a posh guesthouse called Kumbali Lodge, situated on a cattle and horse ranch in a well-to-do part of the capital, Lilongwe. It is near the presidential palace -- and not far away from poor settlements of mud huts, which are home to the vast majority of Malawi's population.

Madonna was seen jogging around the lodge early Saturday before traveling to meet representatives of a local charity that is working with Madonna's own organization, Raising Malawi.

The project aims to set up an orphan care center to provide food, education and shelter for up to 4,000 children. It will have projects based on Kabbalah, Judaism's mystical sect, which counts the 48-year-old singer among its devotees.

Madonna and Ritchie have a son, Rocco, 5, and the singer also has a daughter, Lourdes, 9.

On the Net:

http://www.raisingmalawi.org

Going once, going twice, to where no auction has gone before


NEW YORK (AP) -- Star Fleet Capt. Jean-Luc Picard commanded it. Now some Trekkie owns it.

A model of the Starship Enterprise used in the pilot and title sequences of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" sold for $576,000 Saturday at an auction of costumes, sets and props from 40 years of the "Star Trek" sci-fi franchise.

The 78-inch-long miniature of the "Enterprise-D," built by Industrial Light and Magic, debuted in 1987 in the episode "Encounter at Farpoint," and then was used in many subsequent episodes, as well as the film "Star Trek Generations."

More than 1,000 items from the archives of CBS Paramount Television Studios went on the block over three days at Christie's auction house, and by early afternoon on Saturday fans of the series had forked over more than $4.9 million for set furniture, pointy Vulcan ears and other props.

Some Christie's employees taking bids by telephone wore Star Trek uniforms, and a live feed of the auction was carried on the History Channel's Web site.

Other top sellers on Saturday's action included a replica of Capt. James T. Kirk's command chair from the bridge of the spaceship on the original "Star Trek" series.

The painted wood chair was only a re-creation for a 1996 episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" that mixed action from that newer series with old footage, but it still sold for $62,400.

On the Net:


Christie's: http://www.christies.com/

Amish mourn gunman who killed 5 girls in 1-room schoolhouse


GEORGETOWN, Pa. (AP) -- Dozens of Amish neighbors came out Saturday to mourn the quiet milkman who killed five of their young girls and wounded five more in a brief, unfathomable rampage.

Charles Carl Roberts IV, 32, was buried in his wife's family plot behind a small Methodist church, a few miles from the one-room schoolhouse he stormed Monday.

His wife, Marie, and their three small children looked on as Roberts was buried beside the pink, heart-shaped grave of the infant daughter whose death nine years ago apparently haunted him, said Bruce Porter, a fire department chaplain from Colorado who attended the service.

About half of perhaps 75 mourners on hand were Amish.

"It's the love, the forgiveness, the heartfelt forgiveness they have toward the family. I broke down and cried seeing it displayed," said Porter, who had come to Pennsylvania to offer what help he could. He said Marie Roberts was also touched.

"She was absolutely deeply moved, by just the love shown," Porter said.

Leaders of the local Amish community were gathering Saturday afternoon at a firehouse to decide the future of the schoolhouse, and of the school year itself.

The prevailing wisdom suggested a new school would be built.

"There will definitely be a new school built, but not on that property," said Mike Hart, a spokesman for the Bart Fire Company in Georgetown.

Roberts stormed the West Nickel Mines Amish School on Monday, releasing the 15 boys and four adults before tying up and shooting the 10 girls. Roberts, who had come armed with a shotgun, a handgun and a stun gun, then killed himself.

Roberts' suicide notes and last calls with his wife reveal a man tormented by memories -- as yet unsubstantiated -- of molesting two young relatives 20 years ago. He said he was also angry at God for the Nov. 14, 1997, death of the couple's first child, a girl named Elise Victoria who lived for just 20 minutes.

Hart is one of two non-Amish community members serving on a 10-member board that will decide how to distribute donations that have come in following the global news coverage. One stranger walked into the firehouse Saturday morning and dropped a $100 bill in the collection jar.

The condolences flowing into the Bart Post Office filled three large cartons on Saturday -- two for the Amish children and one for the Roberts clan.

"(It's) envelopes, packages, food and a lot of cards," clerk Helena Salerno said.

More than $500,000 has been pledged, some of which is expected to cover medical costs for the five surviving girls. They remain hospitalized, and one is said to be in grave condition.

As the Sabbath Day approached, close friends expected to spend Sunday paying visits to the victims' families.

The funerals for the five slain girls -- Marian Fisher, 13; Anna Mae Stoltzfus, 12; Naomi Rose Ebersol, 7, and sisters Mary Liz Miller, 8, and Lena Miller, 7 -- were held Thursday and Friday.

One Amish woman, an aunt to the Miller girls, set out Saturday to retrieve some of the flowers dropped near the school and bring them to the families.

She was traveling on an Amish scooter and tried to balance two potted plants before going home and returning for the task with a child's small wagon.

The massacre sent out images to the world not only of the violence, but also of a little-known community that chooses to live an insular, agrarian way of life, shunning cars, electricity and other modern conveniences.

By Saturday, the hordes of satellite trucks and stand-up reporters had mostly left the country roads, and a semblance of routine returned. Early in the morning, Amish farmers hauled farm equipment past the boarded-up school.

"It was just getting to be too much," said Jane Kreider, a 48-year-old teacher's aide in Georgetown. "It was just, 'Get out of dodge, get out of our town and we'll pull together."'

Thai snake charmer puckers up to cobras for world record attempt


PATTAYA, Thailand (AP) -- A Thai snake charmer kissed 19 highly poisonous king cobras in an attempt to set a world record Saturday.

One by one, the cobras were released onto a stage set up in this Thai beach resort town, as the snake charmer, Khum Chaibuddee, kissed each beast and then moved on to the next.

Four additional snake charmers flanked the stage at each corner and a medical team waited on the sidelines with serum in case one of the snakes snapped, said a statement from Thailand's Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum, which organized the event.

The museum's manager, Somporn Naksuetrong, said Ripley's planned to submit the record attempt to the Guinness Book of World Records to overtake a previous record set in 1999 when American Gordon Cates of Alachua, Florida, kissed 11 venomous snakes in 1999.

Khum, a part-time snake charmer for more than 12 years, urged children and onlookers not to try the feat on their own.

Colorado high school football player dies after collapsing on field during game


COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- A 17-year-old high school football player died shortly after collapsing during a game.

Fermin Vialpando, a 6-foot-1, 210-pound center for Harrison High School, was running down the field in the third quarter Friday night when he collapsed, The Gazette newspaper reported.

Vialpando had a heart condition, said Dawn Miller, El Paso County deputy coroner. Further tests were needed to determine the exact cause of death.

His mother, Sundae Vialpando, had told The Denver Post on Saturday that he had no known health problems.

Vialpando, a senior, tried to call a huddle just before he collapsed, Harrison cornerback Miki Eltagonde said. "He was running down the field and he just stopped and fell. He tried getting up and then fell back again and it happened again," Eltagonde said.

A teammate yelled to coaches that Vialpando was having a seizure, and the game was halted. A doctor was on the field within a minute, athletic director Dave Hogan said.

Vialpando died at a hospital.

Chaplains were called to help grieving players and friends.

"Everybody's in shock," Hogan said, choking back tears. "You see what you think is a healthy young person. It's a hard thing."

John Mark Karr, TV producers stopped after Karr seen near school


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- John Mark Karr, a one-time suspect in the slaying of JonBenet Ramsey, was briefly stopped by police on Friday when the former schoolteacher was spotted wandering near the classrooms of a school where he briefly worked years ago.

Sgt. Steve Mannina said a limousine carrying Karr, 41, and two producers from ABC's "Good Morning America" show was stopped shortly after the reported sighting. Police took the names of Karr and the producers but no one was arrested because no laws were broken.

Police said an employee of the Convent of the Sacred Heart school in San Francisco, where Karr worked briefly as a teacher's aide in 2000, called police when she spotted Karr near the school.

"He stepped out of the limo and stood (outside the school) for two or three minutes, walked down the sidewalk, went up to the door and looked in the window," Mannina said of Karr.

Karr was giving the ABC producers a tour of the neighborhood where he used to live and work when he suddenly exited the limo and approached the school, said Jeffrey Schneider, senior vice president of ABC News.

"His behavior gave us serious pause and ABC decided not to proceed with the interview," Schneider said.

Karr was released from jail Thursday after Sonoma County authorities lost critical evidence in a 5-year-old child pornography case. He was released a little more than a month after DNA evidence cleared him of suspicion in the slaying of child beauty queen JonBenet, whom he claimed to have been with when she died in Colorado.

Police say SoCal man stole 5-year-old son's identity


SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) -- A Simi Valley man was arrested for investigation of identity theft after police said his 5-year-old son received a bill from a collection agency.

Roy Langhammer was arrested after police who searched his home Thursday said they found identity theft related items, including computer programs, and a small amount of methamphetamine.

Langhammer, who was booked for investigation of identity theft, receiving stolen property and possession of a controlled substance, was ordered to appear in court Tuesday. His phone number is unlisted and he could not immediately be reached for comment.

Police said they began investigating Langhammer, 38, after hearing last July from authorities in Mesa, Ariz., that his son, who lives there, had received a bill from a collection agency. In August they spoke with a Simi Valley woman who said a man identifying himself as Langhammer fraudulently used her credit account to purchase airline tickets to Arizona.

New Orleans woman who lost dog during Katrina sues family to get pet returned


DOYLESTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- A New Orleans woman who lost her dog during Hurricane Katrina is suing the suburban Philadelphia family that adopted it and two kennels that processed the animal.

Sheila Combs said in the lawsuit that she wants Rocket, her 10-year-old son's pet, returned home. The suit also seeks unspecified damages.

The suit, filed Friday in Bucks County Court, names as defendants Lynne and Joseph Welsh, who adopted the dog, and kennels Holiday House Pet Resort and Molly's Country Kennels. The suit alleges the kennels "wrongfully adopted out" Rocket after the dog was sent to Pennsylvania following its hurricane rescue.

The suit also claims that the Welshes reneged on promises to return Rocket.

The Welshes took in the now 2-year-old chow-Finnish spitz mix last November and named him Rusty. Lynne Welsh then posted a report of a found dog on a Web site dealing with lost Katrina pets, according to the suit.

A member of Stealth Volunteers, an organization that reunites owners with lost pets, saw the report and had a flier posted at the ruins of Combs' demolished home about Rocket's recovery. When Combs returned there in June, she saw the flier and contacted the group, which sent an e-mail to Lynne Welsh, the suit alleges.

Combs contacted Welsh and requested she return Rocket, but Welsh refused, according to the suit.

Veterinarian Ransome Weis, owner of Holiday House Pet Resort, said his business acted in good faith.

The Welshes and Molly's Country Kennels did not respond to requests for comment.

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