This weekend finds us preparing to welcome our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, on his first visit to the United States of America and to the spring meeting of the General Assembly of the United Nations at their World Headquarters in New York City. It seems that the impetus for this visit was initiated by the courtesy call that the new Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, made to Pope Benedict shortly after the respective elections that elevated both of them to their new positions. The Secretary General asked the Holy Father to consider accepting an invitation to address the General Assembly of the United Nations as soon as it was feasible.
At the same time, the Roman Catholic Church in the United States was preparing to observe a significant anniversary. In the beginning of our country, the center of governance was with Bishop John Carroll. He shepherded the only Catholic diocese in the U.S., and it was situated in Baltimore, the capitol of what had been the "Catholic" British colony of Maryland. The diocese embraced all of the original 13 states. By 1808, the new country had grown so significantly that four new dioceses were established that year in New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Bardstown, Ky. (Our part of the U.S. had only been recently added through the Louisiana Purchase of 1804.) Those planning for the 200th anniversary of those four dioceses were also hoping that Pope Benedict XVI could take a significant part in the celebration.
These two moments were the catalyst that brings us now to the eve of our Holy Father's arrival next Tuesday in Washington, D.C. It takes me back to recalling the first papal journey to our shores, when Pope Paul VI made a whirlwind visit in October of 1965 to speak at the U.N. and to celebrate Mass at the fabled Yankee Stadium. As I have mentioned here previously, that visit took place on the day I arrived in Rome as a seminary student to begin my last four years of preparation for priesthood ordination. Pope Paul's stirring plea still echoes in the halls of the United Nations, "Jamais plus la guerre!" - War never again!"
The next papal visit of which I have strong personal memories was the historic first pilgrimage of Pope John Paul II to our country in September of 1979. I accompanied Cardinal John J. Carberry of St. Louis as his secretary during that papal visit. Pope John Paul arrived in Boston (directly from a wildly enthusiastic visit to Ireland) and celebrated Mass on the Boston Commons in the midst of a driving rainstorm. The rains blew out to sea by the time the Pope arrived in New York to visit the U.N. and one of his first big youth rallies in Madison Square Garden. Then it was on to Philadelphia, Des Moines, Chicago and Washington, D.C. I particularly recall the throngs assembled in Grant Park on the shore of Lake Michigan for Pope John Paul's Mass in Chicago as well as his Mass on the Mall in Washington, D.C., and President Jimmy Carter's reception for the Pope on the South Lawn of the White House (a "miracle" about to be repeated next week).
After two refueling stopovers in Alaska in 1981 and 1984, Pope John Paul's next significant visit to the United States occurred in 1987. By then, I was serving as chancellor of the Archdiocese of St. Louis and our Archbishop, Most Reverend John L. May, was serving as president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Along with the entourage from the Vatican, Pope John Paul was accompanied by Archbishop May on all of his stops during that extensive visit. Pope John Paul arrived in Miami and then went to Columbia, S.C., New Orleans, San Antonio, Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Detroit. I accompanied some friends from St. Louis to the Pope's Mass in Phoenix. It took place in the football stadium in Tempe. I especially recall that Erma Bombeck and Joe Garagiola were the lectors at that Mass.
During Pope John Paul's visits in 1993 for World Youth Day in Denver and in 1995 to Newark, New York and the U.N, and to Baltimore, I enjoyed watching the events unfold from the television set at St. Gerard Majella Rectory in Kirkwood, where I was the pastor. But none of us from the Diocese of Jefferson City will soon forget Pope John Paul's last visit to our country. It took place in 1999. By then, I was your bishop and Pope John Paul spent those two days in January (remember the resort-like weather?) over in St. Louis. The Pope's youth rally at the hockey rink and his Mass at the football stadium put all in awe of his tenacious stamina in dealing with a body that was progressively failing him.
For Pope Benedict's first pontifical visit, the various media will be even more capable of giving everyone as much access to this historic moment as they wish. The Pope's representative to our country is the Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Pietro Sambi. When he was asked in a recent interview what the Pope's message would be when he arrives, the Archbishop replied, "There have been many failed prophets who have tried to anticipate what the Pope will say here and there. I can tell you only that what the Pope will say, the Pope himself knows, and nobody else."
If you wish to avoid listening to all of the vapid commentators, there will be a direct online live stream of events courtesy of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. It can be accessed through the official website for the Pope's visit: www.uspapalvisit.org
