I've been surprised by the amount of news coverage that the Pope's visit to America has received. As a Catholic, I know the Pope is a big deal to our religion, but I'm not used to everyone being as interested in him as we are.
JP2 had a big following, and I guess I could understand why he was so popular among Catholics and non-Catholics alike. He had charisma, he did a lot to bridge gaps between religions and countries, and he appealed to a lot of young people. Up until now, I thought if people liked the pope, it had more to do with JP2 than it did with the position itself.
Now I'm not so sure. Every major news channel, including CNN, broadcast the entire Papal Mass yesterday. That's several hours of continuous coverage on just one event. That's amazing to me. Why the interest in the Pope? Why are people from all religions and backgrounds interested in his visit to America? No other religious or political dignitary has ever gotten this kind of press or coverage. No president, no religious leader, no one. What gives?
Maybe it's a mystique around the office. Maybe it had something to do with the sex scandals in the Church. Maybe there's just nothing else going on in the world at this moment.
What is it about a Pope that garners so much interest? Yeah, the Catholic religion is one of the oldest and there's a lot of history (good and bad) with the religion and its leader. Maybe it's that few other religions have a head person like this, but still...there were CNN reporters - non-Catholics - who attended the Mass in Yankee Stadium and whose responses were those you'd expect to hear from someone who was Catholic. What is it about this one man - about this office - that generates this excitement?
It sounds like his visit went really well, and hopefully the first steps were taken to really heal the wounds of those victims and those of US Catholics. It will be interesting to see how his visit energizes our faith. And, it will be interesting to see if this visit will energize the rest of America, even those who just see him as a Pope.
1 comment:
As a non-Catholic (I'm protestant), the attention given to the Pope by Catholics has always fascinated me.
I'm with you- I don't quite understand the non-Catholics attention to him, yet I'm part of it.
Here's my thinking: I'm not too familiar with his role in the church (except my bare bones understanding that he is apparently appointed by God and the way through which Catholics can communicate with God??), but I figure this: If he's that revered, I don't care if he's appointed by God or not, I'm not taking any chances and questioning his authority!
He's the Pope, so I'll give him all due respect.
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