Roman Column

Readers of dozens of newspapers in the U.S. and elsewhere may have been puzzled last week at the premiere appearance of a new syndicated columnist: Pope John Paul II. Rome was not amused. A spokesman for the Vatican press office, Monsignor Giulio Nicolini, denounced the so-called column, which in fact was a hodgepodge of writings by John Paul on apartheid and other topics, as "inadmissible." No one, stated Nicolini, could claim exclusive, commercial rights to selections from John Paul's pronouncements. - The column was to be the first in a series of John Paul's statements compiled by Alfred Bloch, a native of Poland, who is co-editor of an anthology of the Pope's philosophical treatises.

The column is being marketed by two Rupert Murdoch syndicates. Murdoch's New York Post managed to report the fuss without mentioning that the Post was carrying the column. Late last week News America Syndicate President Richard Newcombe said that E.A.V. Associates Inc. (a U.S. firm that licenses Vatican art reproductions) originated the column and apparently had not got the proper clearances. After conferring with the Vatican communications director, Archbishop John Foley, Newcombe announced that future columns would carry source references for John Paul's statements and that Foley's office would screen all the editing.