BOSTON--Atheist Madalyn Murray O'Hair, who in the 1960s successfully sued to ban compulsory prayers in U.S. public schools, asked a federal court Tuesday to stop John Paul II fron celebrating a mass October 7 on the Washington Mall.

O'Hair's was the third such protest within a week. Birth control and abortion advocate William Baird filed suit in the U.S. District Court to prevent the use of public funds and land for the religious ceremonies. Also, two protestant ministers joined representatives from the Civil Liberties Union at a City Council hearing to protest the use of public funds for the papal mass on the Boston Common October 1.

Violation

Monsignor John Foley of Philadelphia, here to arrange the papal visit, rejected arguments that a planned mass on government-owned property would violate the First Amendment's separation of church and state.

"It's ironic that the United States, which guarantees freedom of religion, should question these things when Communist Poland did not raise any objections," Foley said, referring to the Pope's eight-day visit to Poland in June.

Foley also said that he favored the Boston "formula" in settling the dispute over the costs of the visit.

On Tuesday the Boston Archdiocese announced that it would pay the estimated $150,000 cost of the platform and altars being built for the papal mass on the Boston Common.

The following day, the Boston City Council approved a $750,000 budget to provide police protection and traffic coordination to handle the one million people expected to attend the ceremony.