St. Johannes Cemetery Alliance SJCA eNews Monday, October 3, 2005 (This newsletter has been sent in RTF format) FAA APPROVES O'HARE PLANS - NORTH RUNWAY CONSTRUCTION BEGINS - FOR ONLY A MOMENT OR SO! As you may have heard from press reports, the FAA issued its so-called "Record of Decision" with respect to the expansion of O'Hare Airport. This was fully expected. In advance, the attorneys for the Church had taken steps to be prepared to take the Church's complaints back to the courts. The attorneys filed a request for what is called a "Stay", to prevent the taking of any action with respect to the Record of Decision. This request was made to the Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. On Friday afternoon, just hours after the City of Chicago and the FAA began celebrating the issuance of the Record of Decision, the request for a Stay was granted by the Court of Appeals. Although the Stay was granted on a temporary basis, this was a good first step. In the near future, the Church's attorneys will be asking for more permanent protections for the Cemetery, pending full resolution of the various constitutional and statutory issues that are involved. The Church's attorneys remain hopeful that the courts will ultimately rule in favor of the Church's various positions. Unfortunately, there can be no guarantees, and we must continue to be vigilant and to express our opposition to our governmental officials. We obviously understand the high level of anxiety and emotional distress that the periodic pronouncements of the City of Chicago can cause. In particular are the City's statements that they would be beginning construction immediately after issuance of the Record of Decision. Due to the Stay, no such activity is taking place. For those of you familiar with the Airport, also note that the initial activity will be on the North Side of the Airport, far away from St. Johannes. Finally, even if the courts were to rule against us, based upon wording in the FAA's Record of Decision, we currently expect that there will be at least a 6 month period of notice to the family members before any activity would occur at the Cemetery. We obviously continue to hope that it will never come to that. However, at this very initial stage of the court fight that has just started, we thought that such information might provide some comfort. Some of you have already sent comments regarding the interview that the Chicago Tribune published with respect to its conversation with Mayor Daley. In the interview, while continuing to dodge a variety of questions about the Cemetery, Mayor Daley indicated that the City is "working closely with the families", and that the desecration of St. Johannes Cemetery would be "good for the families". To our knowledge, although this process has gone on for over four years now, the City has made no efforts to work with the Church or its families toward coming up with a way to avoid the desecration of St. Johannes Cemetery. Further, we obviously can not figure out how Mayor Daley feels able to speak for the families of those at rest at St. Johannes, when he has never spoken with any of them. For those who are interested in seeing the thoughts of Mayor Daley for themselves, please see: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050930daleyohare,1,2430641.stor<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-050930daleyohare,1,2430641.stor> y If you would like additional information regarding the recent court activities or to review a copy of a letter sent to President Bush, please see the news items regarding the Cemetery on the Website of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty at www.becketfund.org<http://www.becketfund.org/>. In the meantime, we will continue to do our best to keep you informed of any developments. Obviously, as always, your prayers for St. John's Church and for all of the family members involved are greatly appreciated. OUR SINCERE APPRECIATION This Report has been prepared for SJCA eNews readers by Bob Sell, Esq., friend and spokesperson for St. John United Church of Christ. As always, our sincerest of thanks go out to Bob for all that he has done to help protect St. Johannes Cemetery.