The Pope in the US

POPE Benedict arrived for his first visit to the US as Pope, receiving a warm, rousing welcome that spanned “from sea to shining sea.”

But he also had to traverse through tricky terrain and turbulent oceans. Even if he had to say big and challenging words, he managed to show his simplicity and gentleness. From a certain angle, he looked like a lamb amid wolves.

This papal visit is very significant because the US is without doubt the leading country in the world. What happens there has tremendous impact on the rest of the world, not only politically, but also spiritually, morally, culturally.

I am sure that the Pope had this in mind, and thus had to prepare a suitable armory of messages to infuse, if not resuscitate and heal the wounded Christian spirit not only in that land but also in the whole globe.

First was the issue of clerical sexual abuse which has caused great pain on everyone. It was very moving of him, amply showing his humanity and spirituality, to apologize for this ugly stain in the American Church .

He met with some of the victims and drew attention to his paternal hurt and affection for what happened to them. But he did not get stuck there. He said that the problem has to be seen and resolved in the wider context of everyone’s proper understanding of human sexuality.

He encouraged and dared the bishops to do their best to put a stop to this highly scandalous problem. He was happy to note that “you have been able to adopt more focused remedial and disciplinary measures and to promote a safe environment that gives greater protection to young people.”

He encouraged them to take care also of priests. He made it clear that it is far better to have holy priests than to have many priests.

His address to the bishops summarized the main challenges of the American Church today. While praising the generosity, vitality and creativity of the Americans, he indicated the problems to be tackled.

Posing the question of how in the 21st century can a bishop best fulfill the call to “make all things new in Christ,” and lead his people to “an encounter with the living God,” he enumerated the difficulties.

First are the subtle forms of secularism that make one inconsistent in his Christian life, professing his beliefs in Church on Sunday and then during the week to promote business practices or medical procedures contrary to those beliefs.

Or to ignore or exploit the poor, to promote sexual behavior contrary to Catholic moral teaching, or to adopt positions that contradict the right to life of every man from conception to natural death.

He wanted the faith to permeate every aspect of the people’s lives, never treating it as solely a private matter. He wanted it lived in the public fora also.

Another problem are subtle forms of materialism which, he said, can easily focus on the present perks at the expense of the eternal life which Christ promises in the age to come.

“It is easy to be entranced,” he said, “by the almost unlimited possibilities that science and technology place before us…This is an illusion. Without God, our lives are ultimately empty.”

“The goal of all our pastoral and catechetical work, the object of our preaching, the focus of our sacramental ministry should be to help people establish and nurture that living relationship with Christ,” he said.

He also mentioned the danger of individualism, a corruption of true freedom and autonomy. This makes people forget their abiding responsibilities towards others.

He told the bishops to give the laity a deep formation in the faith so as to make it impact on people’s lives and culture. He egged them to participate actively in public discussions and in shaping cultural attitudes, making use of the media.

His speech to the UN also tackled many important topics, ranging from human rights, defense of life, international cooperation and solidarity, etc.

It’s quite clear that the Pope has defined for us the challenges we have to face. Now we need to digest his words, and start converting them into strategies, then to action, and hopefully to life and abiding culture.