BLESSED ALOJZIJE STEPINAC BELL ARRIVES IN PETRINJA

( Editorial: --> 8963 ) PETRINJA, Oct 16 (Hina) - A bell which sounded for the first time on October 3 in the Marian shrine at Marija Bistrica was on Friday delivered to Petrinja. The bell, which first rang when Pope John Paul II beatified Zagreb Cardinal Alojzije Stepinac, is the product of the privately owned "Metal-Product" from Zagreb and was donated to the Petrinja church by the owners of the company. It will now hang in the newly reconstructed church in Petrinja, which was totally razed to the ground during the Homeland War. Today at midday, the bell rang for the last time at its current site in Marija Bistrica when it was taken over by Petrinja's parish priest Ivica Sestak. The bell will be mounted as soon as possible in Petrinja's St. Lawrence church, he said. "Metal-Product" also forged a similar but smaller bell which was hung at Znjan in Split during the Pope's visit. This bell will be taken to the St. Domnius Split Cathedral. (Hina) sp/rml 161547 MET oct 98