Papal Enclosure
Benedict XVI comes to the United States.
For anyone my age, when we were little, popes rarely left the Vatican, in fact, the first reigning pontiff to visit the U.S. was Paul VI, the “first” so-called pilgrim pope and most well travelled pope ever. Then JPII came along and no one could manage to keep him home. Indeed, if the pope would have visited the U.S. when I was little - meaning either Pius XII or John XXIII, the nuns would have needed some sort of anti-anxiety medication to handle their excitement - although such drugs weren’t available back then.
Now days, a pope leaving the enclosure of the Vatican, Rome, Italy and/or surrounding regions is no longer unusual. Like I said, JPII was never home. I think the hoopla over Benedict’s visit hearkens back to what it might have been like if Pius or John would have made the trip. Benedict is already a pope of a different color - he is decidedly a brilliant, contemporary theologian and religious leader, in touch with the modern world, yet he is just as rooted in tradition as the pre-councilar popes. (In my half-educated opinion, that is.) In other words, he seems to me to be a sort of “renaissance pope” for the renewal of the Catholic religion throughout the world.
“Sent by Jesus Christ.”
Naturally everyone is speculating with extraordinary excitement on their blogs and in the rest of media about the pope’s visit taking place this week. I think it is wonderful, since it allows the general population to better understand our religion, and is a sure sign of our hospitality for the Holy Father. Although I haven’t written about the pope’s visit because so many other people have - and they are doing a much better job of it than I could.
Indeed, I’m looking forward to his visit. I love this pope like a dad. I love John Paul II as well - my gosh! - he played a special role in my 2nd conversion! Yet I think Benedict seems much more personable than JPII. That said, such comparisons to his predesesor will be repeated more often than they ought to be. As a Catholic, I know the current pope’s predecessors are dead, but the papacy is not - and Benedict XVI is the reigning pope.
The man in the pope.
It really isn’t about the man, but the Vicar of Christ - he is “sent by Jesus Christ”. Hopefully, non-Catholics will get that amidst all of the hoopla.
