The Pope's Effect
In the fall of 1979 Pope John Paul II visited Chicago. The one and only time a Pope has visited my hometown.
I was in that audience of hundreds of thousands of people in Grant Park that day, not because I was all that religious and a devout Catholic, I wasn't, but because it was a once in a blue moon chance to take part in such a historic event for the city. As it turned out, being in the presence of such a large gathering, on a brilliant sunlit October day, participating in ancient spiritual rituals of surpassing majesty , was profoundly moving. There was a peace that passeth understanding that came over the throng, and one could sense it as real as one's own breath.
All of the cable news networks are featuring extensive coverage of Pope Francis' visit to Washington D.C. today, including analysis from various "experts" on Catholicism , and religion in general. It is tempting to say that the entire country is Catholic today, and you might get that impression from the wall-to-wall news coverage, but of course that is hardly true. They say there are 60 million Catholics in the U.S. , or roughly 1 in 5 Americans. Many other countries have a larger percentage of Catholics. Nonetheless it is hard to imagine any other religious leader getting the kind of coverage a papal visit gets from the media. What is it about the Pope?
The Pope has been long considered the leader and head of the Christian world, presumably based on the historic tradition dating back to St Peter, who was said to be the "rock" upon which Jesus would build his church. The line of succession has been more or less maintained, even through many centuries of blatant corruption ( to put it mildly perhaps) in the papacy.
In the "modern world" post ww2, the Catholic Pope is recognized as the voice for morality , according to large parts of the world's population. The Pope speaks for the poor, the neglected, the abused, the downtrodden, the oppressed. This is seen as the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ that survived all the corruption , political machinations, papal materialism and abuse. The weight and strength of that Gospel message is the Pope's offering to the world.
President Obama met with Pope Francis. Obama, a non catholic, will undoubtedly talk about the spiritual presence of the man, and the sense of peace and goodness inevitably associated with the papal presence. Mass hypnosis ? The congenital longing of human beings to feel the reality of something greater than themselves? Yes.
In this world of so much hate and pain and distress, the Pope represents the teaching of Jesus. Love unconditionally and treat every human being, even the most abandoned and hopeless,with dignity and respect. It is the most powerful and true message of all time, and that is why the Pope is special, even when the earthly efforts of the Church and Christianity in general fall woefully short.
The power of the message is why people, some of whom are not Catholic, will feel in a special place when the papal cavalcade passes by.
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I was there. I had also seen the Pope pass by the day before when he toured through certain Chicago neighborhoods.
Whatever people think of Catholicism or organized religion, the Pope is a holy man, and he definitely gives off that vibe through a large crowd, which is not easy to describe. The pope is not some grubby little conniver figuring out how to hoard gold and molest children. He is literally a holy man, and it rubs off on people.
And of course the message. Papal pronouncements on morality and world affairs are rarely very specific. Rather they are broad, calling on the people to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ and apply them to the specific world problems.
That's a great picture.
Cable news on all three major channels have shown little else today. That is why.
I would not expect you to reply in any other way than you did though. It's all good.
Beats the hell out of when all of the channels were Trump 24/7....
He is funny, that's true. Especially when he's not trying to be.