By Richard C. Dujardin
Providence Journal
April 13, 2008
http://www.projo.com/news/content/pope_visit_04-13-08_U29O1FP_v26.33d014c.html
He's leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics, and even before he was pope had been widely acknowledged as the Vatican's top theologian.
Yet for all his influence, Pope Benedict XVI has remained a mystery to a large segment of America's 67 million Catholics. Though a Zogby poll released this month shows 70 percent of U.S. Catholics believe he is doing a good job leading the Church, a great many say they would like to know more about him.
Americans will probably learn much more this week as the man who took on the shoes of the fisherman after the death of Pope John Paul II embarks on his first United States pastoral visit as pope.
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| More than 200 Rhode Islanders will be seeing the pope at Yankee Stadium on April 20, including, from left, Our Lady of Fatima student Paul Boucher, teacher Deborah DeAngelo, and students Lisa DArcangelo and Bridget Taylor. Photo by Richard Dujardin |
One thing that should quickly be obvious after Shepherd One touches down Tuesday at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, to be greeted by an entourage that will include President Bush and the first lady, is that however deeply Benedict shares the theology of his predecessor, he is not one given to hopping off the plane and kissing the ground.
John Paul, drawing on years as an actor and playwright, had a flair for the dramatic, winning over people with iconic gestures. Benedict, more a man of letters, has been more quiet and shy, a man whose influence may well be defined by his words.
He comes in the middle of an American presidential campaign, kicking off his pilgrimage to the nation with the third-largest population of Catholics in the world. In his seventh trip outside Italy since becoming pope in 2005, he will mark his 81st birthday on Wednesday, the same day he meets with Mr. Bush at the White House.
With "Christ Our Hope" as his theme, the pope will have a busy schedule as he visits Washington and New York, stopping off to pray at ground zero, where the World Trade Center fell, celebrating televised Masses at St. Patrick's Cathedral and ball parks in Washington and New York, speaking at the United Nations, meeting with educators and bishops, making a pre-Passover visit to a Manhattan synagogue, and talking with ecumenical and inter-religious leaders.
Along the way, he is expected to address the clergy sexual abuse scandal and talk about issues that tend to make some politicians cringe — war, poverty, abortion and immigration.
But what may be the real eye-opener, in the view of some who have been studying Benedict's papacy, is the extent to which the man who headed the Catholic Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has emerged as a kindly and gentle man. "I think people will be surprised," says Aurelie Hagstrom, a professor of theology at Providence College who specializes in ecclesiology. "Many people have the idea that as soon as he steps off the plane, he will be wagging a finger at us."
Benedict, a strong believer in tradition, has pleased many conservatives by allowing more widespread use of the traditional Latin Mass. But Hagstrom notes that the pontiff's first two encyclicals, on themes of hope and love, point to a pope who wants to unify and who believes in dialogue, provided it is understood that any dialogue "must be grounded in truth."
"John Paul captured our imagination because he knew how to work symbolically. He was very photogenic, and was an actor after all. John Paul had a flair for the dramatic, kissing the ground, and coming out with one-liners: 'Open wide the doors to Christ' and 'Be not afraid'," said Hagstrom.
"Benedict doesn't do that. I think it will cause us to focus more on his speeches."
Bishop Thomas J. Tobin, who as spiritual leader of the Diocese of Providence heads the 28th largest diocese in the country in terms of numbers of Catholics, has met Pope Benedict just once before, at a general audience in Rome last fall.
The pope, he says, can sometimes be "very deep."
"But, amazingly, he can also be very simple, humble and childlike. He can be so clear in his teachings it is disarming. It's one of the reasons I think he is such an effective teacher."
More than 200 Rhode Islanders will be seeing the pope at Yankee Stadium, while a handful will see him at other venues. Those going to the Bronx got their tickets from the Providence chancery and will travel together by bus. The contingent includes three students and a chaperone from each of the state's Catholic high schools, as well as all 16 of the young men enrolled at the Diocese of Providence's Our Lady of Providence minor seminary, more than 50 members of the Knights of Columbus and a number of staff members who work at the diocesan chancery.
Particularly among the young, emotions are running high about the first visit to the United States by a pope since Pope John Paul II went to St. Louis in 1999. Take Lisa D'Arcangelo, Bridget Taylor and Paul Boucher, all 18-year-old seniors at the Our Lady of Fatima High School in Warren. All three are heavily involved in the school's liturgy club and are getting tickets for the Mass via their school.
"Of course it would be 100 times better if he was at Fenway Park instead of Yankee Stadium," Taylor said. "But I guess it's okay. We can sit in Yankee Stadium for one day if it's for the pope."
The students are particularly happy their religion and art teacher, Deborah DeAngelo, is going with them. DeAngelo said that when the school's principal, Sister Mary Margaret Souza, SSD, told her that she was going as their chaperone, she was overwhelmed.
"As a lifelong Catholic, I had been raised with the idea that one day I should try to go to Rome and see the Holy Father, but I believed that seeing him would be nothing short of a miracle because I'm not a world traveler. So when Sister Mary Margaret told me I would be going with them, I just went to the chapel on my knees and sobbed. I felt overwhelmed and felt humble, honored and privileged. I feel blessed."
Another Rhode Island pilgrim who is feeling blessed these days is Michael Wahl, a senior at Bishop Hendricken High School, in Warwick, who entered a "Words of Welcome" high school essay contest sponsored by the national Knights of Columbus and the Diocese of Green Bay, Wis. Wahl's essay, and accompanying welcome to the pope, took first place out of 2,767 entries nationwide. In addition to a $3,000 scholarship, Wahl's greeting may be used in welcoming Benedict to the United States.
There is some speculation as to what the pope's message will be.
"There are a lot of things the pope can say," says the Rev. David Gaffney, director of spiritual formation at the diocesan seminary. But the priest, who will be among those at Yankee Stadium, says he would be surprised if the pope doesn't talk about the war in Iraq or "tap into" the growing faith of young people by speaking to them in a special way.
"This is really a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," says the priest. "Older people who went to see [Pope John Paul II] in Boston or New York in 1979 still talk about how it caused them to rethink or strengthen their belief and get back to the faith. Vocations directors will say it sometimes even causes people to consider the priesthood."
The Rev. Joseph Escobar, pastor of Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Providence's Fox Point and president of the Priests' Council, has been invited to concelebrate Mass with the pope at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. He and Sister Simonne Camire, of the diocesan Office of Religious Education, received their tickets from Bishop Tobin. They will be the only two Rhode Islanders in the cathedral.
The two say everyone knows the church has been hurt by the clergy sexual abuse scandal and the pope needs to address it. "I'm sure," says the priest, "he will encourage us to be compassionate to the victims and to do our best not to allow it to happen again."
Monsignor Paul Theroux, the diocesan vicar general, was in charge of the planning for Pope John Paul's visit to New York, New Jersey and Baltimore in 1995 and knows how the speech-making process works.
Prior to the visit, local dioceses submit topics they think should be addressed and then talk with the Vatican's secretary of state about an outline. But typically, bishops here would not really know what the pope is going to say until a couple of hours before he steps to the microphone. "The popes have a mind of their own," the monsignor notes, "and will put their own imprint on it. I suspect that Pope Benedict, being the scholar he is, will do that even more."
Sister M. Therese Antone, president of Salve Regina University, in Newport, said she doesn't expect any surprises at the pope's meeting in Washington with educators, but she would expect him to be talking about things Catholic colleges and universities can do to strengthen Catholic identity. "If he doesn't speak about it, it would be a missed opportunity."
Bishop Tobin anticipates hearing the pope speak about the relationship between faith and reason, "the centrality of God in our lives and the fact that we are living in an increasingly secular and atheistic world."
He has no idea what the pope might say to the bishops, but has little doubt that somewhere along the way he will be speaking about immigration, given that the majority of U.S. Catholics are projected to be Hispanic by 2020.
"Is there anything he will be surprised by? No, first of all he knows the United States fairly well. And it is said he has a great deal of affection for the United States and a great deal of confidence in the church in the United States because we have learned this rather delicate balancing act of living our faith, but doing so in a free and democratic society."
Contact: rdujardi@projo.com
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