Pope Benedict May Shake Off Misconceptions

       One of the best things to come from Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States will be that people will get to know him.

            There’s a lack of awareness of who he is for three reasons:

            He follows Pope John Paul II, who revolutionized the papacy. Before his election, the papacy had basically been a stay-at-home job. When John Paul with his fine stage presence set out globe-trotting, he captured the world’s imagination. With telecommunications, John Paul took the office public as no one before him. His is a hard act to follow.

            Pope Benedict’s 24 years in his previous job typecast him. He was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the church’s faith and morals watchdog. He was arbiter of what was acceptable for theologians to write and teach. His statements were heard worldwide and often drew controversy. When he spoke of revealed truth, he was painted as a man wedded to the past. Despite his kindly nature, he was typecast as stern. Many made up their mind about him even before his election.

            He is a scholar and introvert, not given to encourage a cult of the papacy around himself. He comes from the world of academia and of scholarship, where study, writing and thought are prized.

            Those who know him think many Americans will come to appreciate him when he journeys across the Atlantic. A recent survey reports he has an 80 percent approval rate. It will be even higher after his visit.

            Pope Benedict, when he was elected, quickly told the cardinals inviting him to the United States that he wasn’t much into travel anymore. Doctor’s orders, he said, and his age. He was 79 then. Nevertheless, when he accepted the papacy he accepted all that comes with it, including his position as a world leader. When the United Nations Secretary General invited him to speak to the UN General Assembly, he accepted and prepared to bring his frequent call for peace, especially in the Middle East, beyond St. Peter’s Square, where he’s raised the subject many times. With his UN forum, people will see a man with a vision for peace rooted in respect for the intrinsic value of the individual. They will hear of the significance of faith and reason and his concern that often modern society is “deaf to the divine.” One can expect similar conversation when Pope Benedict visits the White House, the second pope to do so. John Paul visited there in 1979.

            Pope Benedict knew that he could not visit only the United Nations and its delegates. Having come so far, he knew he had to visit the 63 million Catholics as well as all the other people of the United States. With the aid of mass media, he will do that with trips to the Archdioceses of Washington and New York. In these archdioceses he will see people of every nation, in some ways, glimpse a picture of the entire world, and certainly of the entire United States.

Sister Mary Ann Walsh, Director, Office of Media Relations