A Tale of Two Cities...Two Public Masses...Two Stadiums...Two Days

Just two days to go from the Pope's arrival and expectations are high for Pope Benedict XVI's historic visit. The visit will give Americans their first up-close view of Pope Benedict. They are eager to see him and hear what he has to tell them. His visit is not merely to another head of state, or to the U.S. Bishops, or to the U.N. (even though that was his primary reason for visiting), but rather a visit for the universal Church on America's shore. It's easy to think, given the various audiences, that the Pope's visit is for particular groups within the Church. Yet, his message, whether it's to a group of Catholic university presidents, or ecumenical leaders, is intended for all of us. Will we listen?

The inevitable polls have started surfacing. The Associated Press reports this morning on the "Sacraments Today: Belief and Practice Among U.S. Catholics" survey conducted by the U.S. Bishops and the Center for  Applied Research in the Apostolate, which has mixed news.

Among its findings:

- For Catholics who attend Mass at least once a month, an overwhelming majority of the young and older generation believe Christ is present in the Eucharist.

- Younger, regular Mass-goers surpass their elders in observing Lent, with nearly all saying they abstain from meat on Fridays and receive ashes on Ash Wednesday. The young people are also more likely to consider devotion to saints very important to their faith.

- Sixty-eight percent of all Catholics surveyed said they agreed that they believed they could be in good standing with the church without going to weekly Mass.

- Nearly one-third of the nation's 64 million Catholics attend Mass in any given week. That figure has remained the same in the last five years, according to the report.

- Thirty percent of the respondents said they go to confession less than once a year and 45 percent said they never go.

The Worcester Telegram and Gazette passes the "J.C. Survey" with flying colors by publishing a piece which focuses on the theme of the Pope's visit - "Christ our Hope."

Here's a key paragraph from the article.

“There’s a weariness and restlessness in our society. We’ve had five years of war and there’s terrible concern about the impact of the economy on families,” said the Most Rev. Robert J. McManus, bishop of Worcester. “Wherever he goes, the pope is going to remind us that Christ is our hope. That’s the theme of the trip. People will be asked to rediscover Jesus. The message couldn’t be timelier.”