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.”

Seeing the Pope in Person

Seeing the Pope in person is a dream for many. In the upcoming week we'll see a lot more local stories from those who are traveling (some great distances) just to be in the Pope's presence. I've spoken to some folks locally who will be in attendance at the New York Mass. Many of them have said the same thing - "It may be our only opportunity, so we don't want to miss the chance."

This Daily Press story profiles some from the Diocese of Richmond who will be attending. It also receives kudos for passing the J.C. Survey. The story is one of few that actually mentions the theme of the Pope's visit.

This story, from the CantonRep, tells of high school junior Chris Cugini, who will be in attendance at the welcoming ceremony for the Pope on the South Lawn of the White House. The headline overstates it, saying that Cugini will meet the Pope and the President. More than likely, he'll be in a group of several hundred in attendance.

The St. Louis Review has this article about those who will be traveling from St. Louis. It's filled with profiles of those who will be attending.

Here's a story about Northeast Iowans who are making the trek. And another, about 100 folks from Maine.

Diocese of Gary, Ind. Youth will Attend Youth Rally

Five members of the Youth for Truth group at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Laporte, Ind. are traveling to New York to attend the Youth Rally at St. Joseph's Seminary.

From the article in the NWI Times: Lucia Bim-Merle said her son and the other members of the youth group respect the pope's traditional role as head of the Catholic Church and successor of the apostle St. Peter. But they also see him as a source of inspiration and hope for the young people of this country.

"They all feel he is their spiritual father," she said.

J.C. Survey: No mention of Jesus Christ or the theme, "Christ is Our Hope."

Will the Pope Meet "Regular" People?

Two writers published in Los Angeles' The Tidings have offered some interesting perspectives on the upcoming papal visit. First, Liz Quirin, editor of the Diocese of Belleville, Illinois' The Messenger, legitimately laments that the Pope's schedule is so tightly packed with dignitaries and official meetings with the Church's powerful vying for his attention, that he will have no opportunities to listen to the concerns of regular folks, Catholic families, or the common Catholic "Joe" or "Josephine" sitting in the pew.

She writes: "While this visit gives us a chance to see and hear Pope Benedict in person, I wish he would have scheduled some time to engage in a dialogue with families, with youth, with the elderly with some of the people in the pews, people who want to believe the church's leaders are truly Christ's earthly representatives, especially the successor to Peter.

She adds: ...a little attention to more personal contact with the folks could produce far-reaching results and leave lasting memories here."

Then Tom Sheridan, former editor of the Archdiocese's The Catholic New World, opines that whatever the Pope has to say at the various venues it will please some and not others.

Sheridan says that the Pope will "play the middle," and ends by saying: Despite the almost certain bumps in the road, that's the primary role of the papal visitor to these shores: To give a sense of hope, to remind people of the centrality of faith, of the assurance of the love of God and to call them to better respond to that love.

As an aside, if we were to apply the J.C. Survey to these two pieces, Quirin would receive kudos for mentioning Christ twice. Sheridan speaks of "hope," but doesn't actually use the official theme of the Pope's visit. His essay tends to focus on how the pope's messages will be received politically, without mentioning Christ.

"The J.C. Survey" - Are Reporters Afraid of Christ?

Julia Duin has an extremely interesting post over at the Washington Times Papal Visit blog, regarding one reporter's feeling that it's "incredulous" that she would have to enter "ChristOurHope" in as the I.D. to gain access to the media materials online. Reminder: The Pope and the USCCB are Catholic.

This reminds me of a story from covering World Youth Day in Cologne. During the boat trip that I blogged about earlier, where all of the media were stuck on a boat separate from the Pope's boat, media personnel were reduced to interviewing one another about the Pope's trip down the river. A Canadian radio journalist asked if she could ask me some questions.

"Sure," I replied.

The interview began normally enough, with questions about who I was and the outlet I worked for. Then discussion turned to the Pope's arrival.

She asked, "Why would he come on a boat?"

"Well, there's a precedent," I responded. "The Pope represents Jesus Christ, and Christ himself spent some time on boats, even preaching from a boat."

At the very mention of Christ, I could see something in the reporter's eyes change. After I answered the question, she thanked me, shut off her recorder, and concluded the interview (which I suspect was never used on air).

That story got me to thinking about something.

Recently, I conducted a very unscientific survey - I'm calling the J.C. Survey - of the news articles that have so far appeared on the Papal visit. Amidst so much of the coverage of "politics and the Pope," "the Mystery man," the "WOCHA" mantra, and "the CUA address," I wondered how many articles even bother to mention the theme of the Pope's Journey - "Christ is Our Hope," or mention Jesus Christ, since that is the primary focus of Pope Benedict and the Catholic Church?

Curiously enough, of the approximately 20 random articles that I surveyed, not one of them mentioned the theme of the Pope's visit - the very words the reporter above didn't want to type into her computer for media access - "Christ is Our Hope." Of the same 20 articles, about 50% of them reference Jesus Christ or Christian, but usually by way of a quote from someone who is describing the Pope or what the Pope will say or do while he's here. That's an interesting observation, don't you think?

Duin also notes in her post that, "there's been a lot of gnashing of teeth from those who didn't get the spots they wanted."

I had an interesting phone call today from a reporter with a large paper whom shall remain nameless. She told me about some publications who were unhappy because they received either one or no spots. The truth is, no one is ever completely happy with the assignments that they receive. We always want more - myself included. But, with more than 5,000 media applying for only 1,100 spots, it's simply not possible. We need to be happy with whatever we get and roll with it.