Lincoln E. Steed
Once upon a time, Protestant America held a deep suspicion of the papacy and the Church of Rome. It was not altogether unfounded. As the history sections of The Great Controversy recount so well, the Roman Catholic Church slipped ever further from the simple truths and lifestyle of the early Christian church. It became preoccupied with power and prestige. At times it showed a most unchristlike zeal in persecuting those who worshiped differently.
There is a curious series of letters between former presidents Adams and Jefferson, carried on till they died on the same day—July 4, 1826—exactly fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Among other topics they discussed Christianity in the new republic. Jefferson saw its decline, but Adams thought not. However, Adams wrote on July 16, 1814, “Cabalistical Christianity, which is Catholic Christianity, and which has prevailed for fifteen hundred years, has received a mortal wound, of which the monster must finally die. Yet so strong is his constitution, that he may endure for centuries before he expires.”
Prophecy does indeed speak of a “mortal wound,” for an apostate beast form of religion. But it also predicts the healing of that wound, and a rapprochement with its “errant” flock in the New World. There can be no doubt that recent events surrounding the April visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United States underscore this renewed vitality.
The timing for the visit was curious. It interrupted one of the more engaging political contests in a generation—no, it eclipsed the primary battle in many ways. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown came to Washington the same week and seemed content to bask in the reflected papal glory. Something very political was on view: the power of a little principality named Vatican City, magnified by millions of supporters and its own claims. President Bush met the Pontiff’s plane at Andrews Air Force Base—a first for any head of state. And in speaking at the United Nations later in the week the pope said that “the Holy See has always had a place at the assemblies of the Nations” and “according to the dispositions of international law, helps to define that law.” Surely this is springtime for the papacy!
The six-day visit to the United States revealed a settled comfort with the ever-enhancing role of the papacy. Benedict of course conducted masses for the Catholic faithful—one for the religious orders at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, New York, another at the Nationals Park in Washington and to as many as 60,000 at Yankee Stadium in New York. He met with the 350 Catholic bishops at the National Shrine and spoke to Catholic educators at the Catholic University in Washington, D.C. He also made a point of speaking to a rally of young Catholics.
All of these occasions confirmed the modern appeal of the papacy. Benedict has not the telegenic personality of John Paul II but he has inherited the good will, and is even able to induce swooning at masses. Amazingly, while his predecessor sometimes couched his conservatism in Public Relations, Ratzinger makes no effort to undo his doctrinal toughness, and seems to need only to pass the test of appearing “human” for approval. At the Yankee Stadium Mass he was able to urge Catholics to submit to the authority of the church, and still come off as grandfatherly. Where the visit broke new ground was:
Meeting with other faith leaders at the John Paul Cultural Center. To the Protestants he rapidly seems to become chairman of the board. To the Moslems he is signaling that they must enter into dialog and come to some modus operandi or risk being cast aside by a global faith coalition.
His visit to Ground Zero in New York, and his reception of some of the survivors/heroes of that day was a clear bid to appropriate the secular sanctity of the event.
In meeting with victims of abuse and their families he reached out as never before on this issue. “No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse,” he said in a curious truism that avoided culpability. Some were not impressed and it remains to be seen how the Vatican will deal with an issue that involves criminal sexual abuse and cover-ups by bishops. Many do hold the pope responsible for not dealing with it structurally.
A telling end piece to the visit came several weeks later in the amazing retraction of anti-Catholic statements by media evangelist John Hagee. He had been prone to identify Rome as the apostate figure of the church in Revelation—in other words, a historic standard Protestant interpretation. When he received the apology letter from Hagee, William Donahue, President of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights said, “Well, miracles do happen. If I wasn’t a believer before, I sure am now.” Indeed that was the prevailing Catholic response in various publications to the papal visit. There was amazement at how Benedict was lauded and feted. Apparently, even the sex abuse scandal is not enough to prevent a once deadly wound from healing.
Overall it was an amazing visit. Benedict has the sympathy of most. Pew Forum statistics show a clear uptick in papal approval as a result. The pope’s doctrinaire ways are neatly obscured by his calls for a crusade against moral relativism and secularism. In a sense this visit was his investiture as the senior religious figure for the free world. We will see where he takes it.