This week marks the first time that Joseph Ratzinger will visit
the United States as Pope Benedict XVI. Many faithful American
Catholics have longed for the Holy Father to address our problems,
not the least of which is a pervasive attitude of selective faith,
which is no doubt the result of poor stewardship by some U.S.
bishops. Some indeed had hoped his visit, long in the works, would
be prefaced with a “don’t make me come over there” message and, in
a way, it was.
Last year’s Motu Proprio on the Latin Mass — which allows
priests to celebrate that rite without the consent of their bishops
— sent a message to those bishops that he would go over their
heads if necessary to restore order. It is interesting that he will
be meeting with all of the U.S. bishops as well as 200 heads of
Catholic universities and colleges; in other words, those primarily
responsible for the formation of the faithful. Of all the addresses
and homilies he will deliver on our shores, these will probably be
of most interest to serious Catholics.
There has been much speculation as to the message the Pope will
bring to all the citizens of this country, and to the world via his
address at the United Nations. Most of our mainstream media have
naturally focused on the pontiff’s objections to the Iraq War and
expect him to deal harshly with President Bush who will meet him at
Andrews Air force Base.
Yet despite the Pope’s understandable aversion to the war, one
would think that this airport meeting will be a tad less
uncomfortable for this president than the one between his
predecessor and Pope John Paul II, when that pontiff chided Bill Clinton on abortion in 1993.
IT IS NOTEWORTHY that the president granted a rare interview to EWTN, the Catholic TV network. When asked
by interviewer Raymond Arroyo what he saw when he looked into the
eyes of the Pope, he quickly answered, “God.”
In some ways President Bush, a Methodist, is a better Catholic
than many actual Catholics in Washington. After all, in addition to
his commitment to the poor in Africa and elsewhere, he is in
agreement with the Church on its five “non-negotiable” issues:
abortion, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, euthanasia,
and homosexual “marriage.”
Compare his record on these issues with “cradle” Catholic
congressmen like Pat Leahy, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, or Nancy
Pelosi. Then consider the following letter to Cardinal McCarrick, former Archbishop
of Washington DC, entitled “Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion,”
written by then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 2004:
Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as
abortion and euthanasia. For example, if a Catholic were to be at
odds with the Holy Father on the application of capital punishment
or on the decision to wage war, he would not for that reason be
considered unworthy to present himself to receive Holy Communion.
While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war,
and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on
criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an
aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a
legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging
war and applying the death penalty, but not however with regard to
abortion and euthanasia.
Bush and Benedict also share concerns on radical Islam, though
their methods differ. The Holy Father will be visiting Ground Zero,
and many are upset over reports that he
will pray for the conversion of those behind the
attacks of 9/11.
He will demonstrate that the commands of Jesus Christ to love
our enemies and pray for those who hate us, are not just empty
platitudes. He will ask God: “Turn to Your way of love, those whose
hearts and minds are consumed with hatred.”
THERE ARE THOSE who feel these words will — if possible — further
inflame the world of radical Islam. Just this week, Hamas MP and
cleric, Yunis Al-Astal, declared: “Very soon, Allah willing,
Rome will be conquered, just like Constantinople was, as was
prophesized by our Prophet Muhammad…This capital of theirs will
be an advanced post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread
through Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two
Americas, and even Eastern Europe.”
Yet while Islamist hopes of stabling their horses in St. Peter’s
Basilica persist, last month at the Easter Vigil there, the pope
personally baptized Magdi Allam, an outspoken critic of both Muslim
extremism and Islam itself, and welcomed him into the Catholic
Church; much to the dismay of Islamists everywhere. Agree or
disagree with President Bush on his military approach to the War on
Terror, but this is a Pope who is truly battling evil with the
“armor of God.”
Pope Benedict’s first encyclical was entitled, “God is Love,”
while his second was “Saved By Hope.” Taken together and lived out
in faith, can there be a better message to a nation where many are
drowning in materialism, moral uncertainty and despair?
