OCT 3 1998 PROCLAIMED 'CARDINAL STEPINAC DAY' IN CHICAGO

( Editorial: --> 5290 ) CHICAGO/ZAGREB Oct 3 (Hina) - Richard M. Daley, Mayor of the City of Chicago, has proclaimed October 3,1998 to be "Cardinal Stepinac Day" throughout the city of Chicago. The Mayor has also ordered that Princeton Avenue be renamed "Cardinal Stepinac Way", the Mayor's Office reported on Saturday. The Chicago Mayor made those decisions in honour of the beatification of late Croatian Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac by Pope John Paul II in Marija Bistrica, Croatia's premier Marian shrine, on Saturday. Croatians, and all Catholics and citizens of Chicago, take great pleasure in being able to honour the beatification of Cardinal Stepinac, Daley's Office said in a statement. In Princeton Avenue, to be renamed "Cardinal Stepinac Way", are the Croatian Catholic Church of St. Jerome and the Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac Croatian School. In a speech prior to passing the decisions, Mayor Daley outlined the basic facts from Stepinac's life, from his birth in 1898 to 1993, when an autopsy revealed that during the 16 years of his imprisonment he had been systematically poisoned, and had died a martyr in 1960. Carrying the Mayor's proclamation, the statement from his Office said that "the Croatian-American community, which comprises approximately 150,000 individuals in the city of Chicago, seeks to honour the memory of Cardinal Stepinac by designating Princeton Avenue Between 26th and 33rd Streets as "Cardinal Stepinac Way". "Now, therefore, I, Richard M. Daley, Mayor of the city of Chicago, do hereby proclaim October 3, 1998, as Cardinal Stepinac Day in Chicago, in recognition of his lifelong dedication to the cause of political, religious and human rights that has made him a symbol of greatness to the Croatian-American community, and to the city of Chicago". (hina) it jn/ha 031416 MET oct 98