POPE JOHN PAUL II:
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Our Holy Father, Pope John Paul II, has a remarkable grasp of the American constitutional structure - its strengths, its weaknesses. He is keenly aware of our origins as "one nation under God," but does not hesitate to speak of these origins as an "experiment," cautioning us not to take our freedom for granted. He has called this to our attention on numerous occasions, most recently December 16, 1997, when the new United States Ambassador to the Holy See, H.E. "Cindy" Boggs presented her Letters of Credence. "Your Excellency…You represent a nation which plays a crucial role in world affairs today. The United States carries a weighty and far-reaching responsibility not only to the well-being of its own people, but for the development and destiny of peoples throughout the world…The Founding Fathers of the United States asserted their claim to freedom and independence on the basis of certain 'self-evident' truths about the human person: truths which could be discerned in human nature built into it by 'nature's God.' Thus they meant to bring into being not just an independent territory but a great experiment in what George Washington called 'ordered liberty'… "Reading the Founding documents of the United States, one has to be impressed by the concept of freedom they enshrined: a freedom designed to enable people to fulfill their duties and responsibilities towards the family and towards the common good of the community. Their authors clearly understood that there could be no true freedom without moral responsibility and accountability and happiness without respect and support for the associations through which people work in union with others. "The American democratic experiment has been successful in many ways…But its continuing success depends on the degree to which each new generation…makes its own the moral truths on which the Founding Fathers staked the future of your republic. Their commitment to build a free society with liberty and justice for all must be constantly renewed if the United States is to fulfill the destiny to which the Founders pledged their lives...fortunes...and sacred honour...Respect for religious conviction played no small part in the birth and early development of the United States." (emphasis in original) Pope John Paul II quoted the Chairman of the Committee for the Declaration of Independence, John Dickinson, who in, 1776, said: "'Our liberties do not come from charters for these are only the declaration of pre-existing rights. They do not depend on parchment or seals; but come from the King of Kings and the Lord of all the earth.' (cf. C. Herman Pritchett, The American Constitution, McGraw-Hill, 1977, p.2). Indeed, it may be asked whether the American democratic experiment would have been possible, or how well it will succeed in the future, without a deeply rooted vision of Divine Providence over the individual and over the fate of nations. "…It would truly be a sad thing if the religious and moral convictions upon which the American experiment was founded could now somehow be considered a danger to free society, such that those who would bring these convictions to bear upon your nation's public life would be denied a voice in debating and resolving issues of public policy. The original separation of Church and State in the United States was certainly not an effort to ban all religious conviction from the public sphere, a kind of banishment of God from civil society. "…The moral history of your country is the story of your people's efforts to widen the circle of inclusion in society, so that all Americans might enjoy the protection of law, participate in the responsibilities of citizenship and make a contribution to the common good. Whenever a certain category of people - the unborn or the sick and old - are excluded from that protection, a deadly anarchy subverts the original understanding of justice. The credibility of the United States will depend more and more on its promotion of a genuine culture of life and a renewed commitment to building a world in which the weakest and most vulnerable are welcomed and protected."1 "FREEDOM IS FRAGILE" The Holy Father's respect for our constitutional structure built around checks and balances has been expressed on earlier visits to our shores. Since his initial trip in 1979, he has repeatedly reminded Americans of our noble beginnings - beginnings we are in danger of forgetting. October 1, 1979 - Boston, Massachusetts
September 10, 1987 - Miami, Florida
October 4, 1995 - Newark, New Jersey
October 4, 1995 - Evening Prayer Service, Newark Cathedral
October 8, 1995, Homily In Oriole Park At Camden Yards, Baltimore, Maryland
~~~~~~~~ This is the heart of the message John Paul II has been bringing to the United States since his earliest visits. It embodies "the greatest of all political questions first identified as such by Aristotle: 'How then ought we to live together?' The question has an inescapable moral core disclosed in the verb 'ought.' And so in the Aristotelian tradition…politics is always an extension of ethics."2 As the distinguished nineteenth century British Catholic historian, Lord Acton stated: "Freedom is not a matter of doing what you like, but rather having the right to do what you ought."3 Duty and obligation, are implicit components of the verb ought and it is in this sense John Paul II uses ought as he did in the October 8th homily at Camden Yards. In his concluding remarks departing the United States on Dec. 8, 1995, the Holy Father thanked Vice-President Gore who was present, and spoke again of the United States as a model and pattern for other nations, cautioning:
On his return to Vatican City, Pope John Paul II once again voiced concern: "The United States, as a nation of rich ethnic and cultural diversity is being challenged to strengthen those truths and values on which the country was founded and without which a genuine democracy cannot prevail." THE YALTA AGREEMENT YEARS There are two events of significance that loom large in Pope John Paul II's evaluation of civil government: the American experiment in "ordered liberty," about which he talked to President Reagan in 1987, and the non-violent revolution of 1989 that culminated in the reversal of the 1945 Yalta Agreement Roosevelt and Churchill had entered into with Stalin. In the Foreword to his book, I Saw Freedom Betrayed, the U.S. Ambassador, Arthur Bliss Lane relates facts about the "tragedy of the Polish situation brought about not only by the intellectual dishonesty of the Soviet and Polish governments, but also the grievous errors which our own government had made in following a policy of appeasement in its dealings with Stalin."5 He tendered his resignation with the understanding he would tell the story as he had seen it. The views expressed in the book are solely his own, "a personal account of what he had seen and experienced" in his time as Ambassador to Poland from 1944 to 1947. "Inherent in the policy of dictators such as Hitler and Stalin is the aim of world domination, accomplished through the conquest, one by one, of the states of Europe until the turn of the United States is reached. The American people has therefore a vital stake in the fate of Poland and of all Europe. We cannot close our eyes to Communist imperialism without endangering our own existence."6 In the concluding chapter addressed "To All Free People," the American Ambassador stated: "The Polish people are almost all of one race, language and religion; they are closely knit by suffering and by tremendous devotion to their country…As long as they maintain a relative degree of freedom of religion their moral strength cannot be downed."7 (emphasis added) "It is therefore, the grave duty of the individual citizen, in every democratic nation, unceasingly to press upon his chosen representatives in all branches of government the folly of political opportunism and the wisdom of fearlessness based on moral integrity. The People must not fail!"8 Ambassador Lane's experience during the early Yalta Agreement years mentions the same concerns for moral integrity as had the young Karol Wojtyla, (the future John Paul II), who lived in Krakow during the Nazi and Communist occupation of Poland during the same years. In his encyclical, Centesimus Annus, promulgated to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Leo XIII's "immortal document," Rerum Novarum, Pope John Paul II devotes Chapter Three to the events of 1989. "An important, even decisive, contribution was made by the Church's commitment to defend and promote human rights" the Holy Father wrote. (n. 22) This commitment attacked the moral catastrophe of Yalta at its roots on issues pertaining to ethics, history and culture. Communism and particularly communist atheism, the Pope said time and again was directed against man. (emphasis in original) The Holy Father pinpointed "the violations of the rights of the workers" as "the decisive factor which brought about the great upheavals in Poland in the name of solidarity...It was the throngs of working people…who recovered and, in a sense rediscovered, the content and principles of the Church's social doctrine."(n. 23) "But the true cause of the new development was the spiritual void brought about by atheism which deprived the younger generation of a sense of direction and in many cases led them, in the irrepressible search for personal identity and the meaning of life, to rediscover the person of Christ himself as the existentially adequate response to the desire in every human heart for goodness, truth and life…Marxism had promised to uproot the need for God from the human heart, but the results have shown that it is not possible to succeed without throwing the heart into turmoil." (n. 24) THE HEROIC LEADERSHIP During the forty-four years which encompassed the Yalta Agreement, Polish Catholics under the heroic spiritual leadership of their bishops and despite every conceivable roadblock imposed by the atheistic communist regime, countered with peaceful determination to uphold their centuries-old Catholic faith. Of the many instances of this noble resolve, two are outstanding. During the three years of his internment by the Communist government, Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski, Primate of Poland, planned a "nine year program of National Spiritual Renewal" to culminate in 1966 with the rededication of the Polish nation to Mary, Queen of Poland, on the occasion of the "Millennium of Polish Christianity." This "Great Novena" included a thorough recatechization on the truths of the Catholic Faith and a continuous pilgrimage, province by province, by the Cardinal Primate during the Millennium Year and the nine years between 1957 and 1966. During this pilgrimage, the revered image of the Mother of God, the Black Madonna of Czestochowa, would be taken to every parish in every diocese where vigils of prayer and reconsecration would be held. This was more than the communist authorities could tolerate. They took the ikon of the Black Madonna back to Czestochowa, put a guard on it and decreed in could not leave the Jasna Gora monastery. "But this did not stop the cardinal and the bishops: They continued the Virgin's pilgrimage by sending the ikon's empty frame from parish to parish where it met the same fervor the Black Madonna herself had received… "The people knew Our Lady was there."9 The communist authorities blocked to the very end, Cardinal Wyszynski's plans for the Millennium of Polish Christianity. Pope Paul VI, whom Wyszynski had invited to come to Czestochowa in 1966 to receive the nation's vows of consecration, was denied a visa. At the Mass celebrating the millennium, the one million Poles who had come to the Jasna Gora monastery "could see the Pope's portrait on an empty chair wreathed in red and white roses."10 "Close observers of modern Polish history continue to regard Cardinal Wyszynski's Great Novena as a major turning point in the country's struggle against communism."11 With the election of the Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, as the Bishop of Rome, October 16, 1978, the morale and courage of millions of Poles was strengthened immeasurably. As Cardinal of Krakow, Wojtyla had planned a program of pastoral renewal in Krakow similar to Cardinal Wyszynski's Great Novena, but centered on a prayerful study of Vatican II documents, to culminate "in a 1979 celebration of the 900th anniversary of the death of St. Stanislav, Wojtyla's first predecessor in the bishopric of Poland's ancient capital…In the early days of his pontificate the new Pope made it clear that he wanted to visit his homeland to participate in the anniversary celebration" he had been working on for six years.12 The communist regime balked at the dates and after extensive negotiations a compromise was reached. "The Pope would not come for the two days celebrating the Stanislav commemoration in May, but for nine days in June during which he would visit six cities rather than just Warsaw and Krakow."13 These nine days marked the beginning of the end of the "Yalta imperial system." At a Mass celebrated in Warsaw's Victory Square, before hundreds of thousands of Poles, John Paul forcefully proclaimed the Christological core of his message: "Christ cannot be excluded from man's history anywhere in the world… Attempts to exclude Christ from man's history are directed against man. Without Christ it is impossible to understand the history of Poland…" The crowds agreed: the Pope's Victory Square sermon was interrupted time and again by chants: "We want God, we want God in the family circle, in books…in schools, we want God in government orders, we want God, we want God." To which the Pope replied, "People are preaching with me."14 "Thirteen million Poles heard John Paul speak the unspeakable during nine stunning days in June, 1979. Neither they nor the system which claimed to govern in their name would be the same again."15 "John Paul brought to the June 1979 pilgrimage the viewpoint of a philosopher and theologian convinced that communism's deepest flaw was in the arena of truth…and that its (other) failures were expressions of its fundamental errors about the nature of the human person…16 "The Pope's 1979 pilgrimage was the beginning of the end of Polish communism precisely because it was a great moment of national moral regeneration…."17 RELIGIOUS LIBERTY AND The Conciliar documents on which the Archbishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla, worked most intensively during the third and fourth sessions of Vatican II were Dignitatis Humanae and Gaudium et Spes.18 Both of these documents gave official Catholic status to the role of the constitutional state and religious freedom. There were many factors that brought this about, but the one "that has received relatively little attention in most Church histories is the fact of America."19 In 1887, when "the newly created James Cardinal Gibbons of Baltimore took possession of his title Church of Santa Maria in Trastevere he praised the benefits of American religious liberty." He stated "…we are indebted in no small degree to the civil liberty we enjoy in our enlightened republic." (emphasis in original) "Our Holy Father, Leo XIII in his encyclical on the constitution of Christian states, declared that the Church is not committed to any particular form of civil government…She has lived under absolute empires; she thrives under absolute monarchies; she grows and expands under the free republic…She has often been hampered in her divine mission…but in the genial air of liberty she blossoms like a rose! "…As a citizen of the United States, I proclaim with a deep sense of pride and gratitude…that I belong to a country where the civil government holds over us the aegis of its protection without interfering in the legitimate exercise of our sublime mission as ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ."20 During the 1940s and 1950s the American Jesuit John Courtney Murray had been delving into the rmifications of separation of church and state pertaining to the American constitutional system. With the growth of communism in central and eastern Europe the importance of religious freedom became a significant issue. "The American bishops under the leadership of Cardinal Francis Spellman of New York were determined to raise the issue of religious freedom at Vatican II. Their interest in defending the American arrangement happily intersected with the interests of the bishops from central and eastern Europe who wanted the Council to endorse the right of religious freedom in the face of continuing communist persecution. "Murray was brought to the second, third and fourth sessions as Spellman's personal peritus. He played a major role in shaping the council Declaration on Religious Freedom and its support for democracy against authoritarian and totalitarian regimes…The Declaration was the great American achievement at the Council."21 (emphasis added) The Catholic Church's defense of man (Defensor Hominis) is stressed again and again in The Declaration on Religious Liberty, December 7, 1965 as the following excerpts indicate:
Given the keen interest John Paul II has shown in our "American experiment" it seems not improbable to assume the American Jesuit and the Polish Cardinal were acquainted during the third and fourth sessions of the Vatican Council that produced the monumental documents, Dignitatis Humane and Gaudium et Spes which clearly articulated the Catholic teaching on human rights and religious freedoms. "Having been one of the intellectual architects of Gaudium et Spes (John Paul II) was a grateful heir of the Second Vatican Council, which he had worked to implement in Krakow in a serious, sustained way. He had been one of the most creative and successful priests and Diocesan bishops of his generation."22 Now Karol Wojtyla as the Bishop of Rome instructs and guides the Universal Church. SHEPHERDING THE FLOCK On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII's "immortal document," Rerum Novarum (New Things), Pope John Paul II promulgated Centesimus Annus on May 1, 1991. It was written not only to honor that cornerstone of the Church's social teaching, but to "look around" at the "new things" surrounding us which are "quite different from the 'new things' which characterized the final decade of the last century." Finally, Centesimus Annus was set forth "to 'look to the future'…when we can already glimpse the third millennium of the Christian era so filled with uncertainties, but also promises…which reawaken our responsibilities as disciples of the 'one teacher'…" (n.3) The Holy Father stresses a rereading of Rerum Novarum to "confirm the permanent value of such teaching" and "the true meaning of the Church's Tradition which, ever alive and vital builds upon the foundation laid by our fathers in the faith, and particularly upon what 'the Apostles pass down to the Church' in the name of Jesus Christ who is her irreplaceable foundation." (n.3) (emphasis in original) Then John Paul injects a personal note: "Like Pope Leo and the popes before and after him I take my inspiration from the Gospel image of 'the scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven,' whom the Lord compares to 'a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old' (Mt. 13:52.)." (n.3) (emphasis in original) "Among the things which become 'old' as a result of being incorporated into Tradition" John Paul cites the work of the countless numbers who, inspired by the social teachings, "represent a great movement for the defense of the human person and the safeguarding of human dignity." (n.3) (emphasis in original) Centesimus Annus "show(s) the fruitfulness of the principles enunciated by Leo XIII which belong to the Church's doctrinal patrimony and as such involve the exercise of her teaching authority. But pastoral solicitude," the Supreme Pontiff continues, "also prompts me to propose an analysis of some events of recent history. It goes without saying, part of the responsibility of pastors is to give careful consideration to current events in order to discern the new requirements of evangelization." (n.3) (emphasis in original.) Pope John Paul recalls the conditions that prevailed at the end of the nineteenth century, conditions that ignored the dignity of the human person stressed in Rerum Novarum. "The guiding principle of Leo XIII's teaching and of all the Church's social doctrine is a correct view of the human person and of the person's unique value - the only creature on earth…God willed for itself." (n.11) Changes were taking place. In politics - "a new conception of society and of the State; in economics - "a new form of property - capital; and a new form of labor - for wages … determined by the law of supply and demand" with no regard for the needs of the individual and his family. This resulted in a society "divided into two classes separated by a deep chasm," fueled by "ideals which were then called 'socialist.' As the conditions became more volatile Pope Leo intervened with a document which dealt in a systemic way with the 'condition of the workers'." (n.4) (emphasis in original) Pope John Paul comments: "What is the origin of all the evils to which Rerum Novarum wished to respond, if not a kind of freedom which, in the area of economics and social activity, cuts itself off from the truth about humanity?" (n.4) Among the "new things": Leo called attention to "the spirit of revolutionary change; a notable decline in morality; the conflict between capital and labor…In the face of a conflict which set man against man…the Pope did not hesitate to intervene…on the basis of the mission received from Christ …'to feed His lambs and tend His sheep.'" (n.5)(emphasis in original) Thus "the Church formulated a Corpus which enabled her to analyze social realities…and to indicate direction to be taken for the just resolution of the problems involved...(T)o teach and spread Her social doctrine pertains to the Church's evangelical mission and is an essential part of the Christian message…This doctrine is likewise a source of unity and peace…Today, at a distance of a hundred years, the validity of this approach affords me," John Paul states, "the opportunity to contribute to the development of Christian social doctrine." (n.5) Pope Leo XIII "affirms the fundamental rights of workers…the dignity of work; the right to 'private property.'" (n.6) "The 'natural human right' to form private associations, including…trade unions… which 'cannot be prohibited by the State,' because the State is bound to protect natural rights, not to destroy them…The encyclical affirms the right to the 'limitation of working hours,' 'to legitimate rest and the rights of children and women to be treated differently' as to 'the type and duration of work.'" (n.7) "To these rights Leo immediately adds 'another right' - the right to a 'just wage.'" (n.8) "Another right Leo adds which Pope John Paul mentions because of its importance is 'the right to discharge freely one's religious duties.'" Here, John Paul injects: "No one can take away this human right," which is based on a commandment and again quotes Leo: "No man may with impunity violate that human dignity which God himself treats with great reverence." (n.9) (emphasis in original) SOCIALISM, LIBERALISM, In Centesimus Annus, Pope John Paul develops the Leonine teaching on socialism and liberalism for "our times." Pope Leo did not expect "the State to solve every social problem. On the contrary, he frequently insists on necessary limits to the State's intervention…inasmuch as the individual, the family and society are prior to the State, and inasmuch as the State exists in order to protect their rights and not to stifle them." (n.11) On the 40th anniversary of Leo's remarkable document, the then reigning Pontiff, Pius XI, wrote in Quadragesimo Anno, May 1931: "When we speak of the reform of institutions, it is principally the State that comes to mind…Just as it is wrong to withdraw from the individual and commit to a group what private enterprise and industry can accomplish, so too it is an injustice, a grave evil and a disturbance of right order, for a larger and higher association to arrogate to itself functions which can be performed efficiently by smaller and lower societies. This is a fundamental principle of social philosophy, unshaken and unchangeable. Of its very nature the true aim of all social activity should be to help members of the social body, but never to destroy or absorb them…Let those in power…be convinced that the more faithfully this principle of subsidiarity to be followed…the greater will be both social authority and social efficiency." (n.78) (emphasis added) In the same encyclical Pius XI cautioned that the goal of "cultural socialism" was to "mold society on socialist lines." (n.121-122) In a perceptive article on "Cultural Socialism" in The Wanderer, columnist, Joseph Sobran wrote: "The old socialism has been a flop…Today the Socialist impulse has moved…to culture - the family, sex, abortion. President Clinton's conception of 'volunteerism' means partnership between big government and private charity. 'Federalism' now means the federal government subsidizing state and local governments. A 'pro-family' policy means…federal legislation mandating benefits for children, parents and 'domestic partners.' It doesn't take a genius to see that in every case, the federal government is the senior partner…dictating the terms of formerly local arrangements… "Far from being vanquished, liberalism still has a stubborn hold on the minds of more and more people who have succumbed to the notion that our rights come, not from God but from government. The more 'rights' the government itself stipulates, the more government is needed to enforce them. The unborn child's right to love is trumped by the mother's right to abort. Parental control of education is displayed by the child's right to 'sex education'…A state-managed morality is coming into being. We are moving…to cultural socialism."23 In 1891 Pope Leo XIII directed attention to a "notable decline in morality" which Pope John Paul referenced in Centesimus Annus. (n.5) In Quadragesimo Anno in 1931, Pope Pius XI mentioned "cultural socialism as a formidable and grave danger." He warned: "the parent of this cultural socialism was liberalism and its offspring will be Bolshevism." (n.122) In 1967, Pope Paul VI in Populorum Progressio cautioned: "Tomorrow's technocracy can beget evils no less formidable than those due to the liberalism of yesterday." (n.34) In 1991, Pope John Paul II in Centesimus Annus writes directly of the dangers inherent in the excessive growth of State intervention, mentioning "The so-called Welfare State, dubbed the Social Assistance State." He went on: "By intervening directly and depriving society of its responsibility, the Social Assistance State leads to a loss of human energies and an inordinate increase of public agencies, which are dominated more and more by bureaucratic ways of thinking than by concern for serving their clients, and which are accompanied by an enormous increase in spending." (n.48) The answer lies in "a concrete commitment to solidarity and charity beginning in the family…and the care which the different generations give to one another. This in turn extends to other intermediate communities, apart from the family which give life to specific networks of solidarity." (n.49) (emphasis in original) SOLIDARITY - "AN EMINENTLY On the threshold of the twenty-first century, Pope John Paul II in Centesimus Annus directs our hearts and minds to the importance of a principle of solidarity which does not "depend on a specific notion of the State or on a particular political theory…rather it is clearly seen to be one of the fundamental principles of the Christian view of social and political organization, namely, the more that individuals are defenseless within a given society, the more they require the care and concern of others…" "This principle," Pope John Paul continues, "is frequently stated by Pope Leo XIII who uses the term 'friendship,' a concept already found in Greek philosophy. Pope Pius XI referred to to it with the equally meaningful term 'social charity.' Pope Paul VI, expanding the concept to cover the many modern aspects of the social question, speaks of a 'civilization of love.'" (n.10) This expansion of Catholic social doctrine is developed at considerable length in Pope John Paul's encyclical, Sollicitude Rei Socialis (On Social Concerns), promulgated in 1987. Here, the Holy Father recalls that Paul VI "chose to publish a social encyclical, Populorum Progressio, two years after the closing of the Second Vatican Council in 1965." (n.5) He describes Paul VI's The Great Social Problem as "a document which applies the teaching of the Council…and in a particular way, The Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes…to the specific problems of the development and the underdevelopment of peoples." (n.6) (emphasis in original) Regarding the theme of development, the more developed nations "have a most serious duty…to help the developing countries." This thought proposed in Populorum Progressio flows directly from Gaudium et Spes. (n. 6-7) Pope John Paul II (Cardinal Karol Wojtyla in the Vatican Council years, 1962-1965) is recognized as one of the "intellectual architects" of the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes, and is closely identified with the Principle of Solidarity which has emerged as a keystone in his Pontificate. With this in mind it is instructive to note the frequency with which this principle appears, beginning with Gaudium et Spes: · Solidarity is the first word in the Preface: "Solidarity of the Church with the whole world."
POPE JOHN PAUL II'S October 12, 1992, the date commemorating the 500th anniversary of the first evangelization of America, Pope John Paul proposed at the Fourth General Conference of the Latin American Episcopate as he had previously with the North American bishops, a "synodal meeting between the different particular Churches so that together we might address as part of the new evangelization…the problems relating to justice and solidarity among the nations of America." (In the context of this section, the Holy Father refers to the continents of North and South America as one America, a single continent.) The positive response the Holy Father received from the bishops' Conferences of America "enabled" him to propose a synodal meeting "on the problems of the new evangelization in both parts of the same continent, so different in origin and history and on issues of justice and of international economic relations, in view of the enormous gap between North and South." (n.2 - Introduction to Ecclesia in America) The synodal meeting on America that John Paul had proposed was held in the Vatican, November 16 through December 12, 1997. The theme for this Special Assembly expressed the views of many of the pastors on the American continent - "The Encounter with the Living Jesus Christ: The Way to Conversion, Communion and Solidarity." (n.3) The Holy Father had asked that this Special Assembly "reflect on America as a single entity by reason of all that is common to the people of the continent, including their shared Christian identity and their genuine attempt to strengthen the bonds of solidarity and communion between forms of the continent's rich cultural heritage." (n.5) In January 1999, Pope John Paul traveled to the American continent to bring to the "Marian heart of America" enshrined in the Basilica of Guadalupe, the Post-synodal Exhortation Ecclesia in America, "entrusting to the Mother and Queen of this continent the future of its evangelization." It was promulgated and signed by Pope John Paul II at Mexico City. (n.5) The Holy Father, to conclude the Special Assembly for America on January 23, celebrated Mass at the Basilica. Concelebrating with him were 500 bishops and 5000 priests from all over the continent. In his homily the Pope "blessed the Church on this continent for you have given birth in faith to numerous peoples…The heroic missionary efforts and the wonderful evangelization of these five centuries were not in vain. Today, we can say, as a result, the Church in America is the Church of Hope…in the next millennium now close at hand America will be the continent with the largest number of Catholics." (n.6) Nonetheless, "the Church in America is confronted with important challenges. Would it be too ambitious to hope," he asked, "that after the first American Synod in history, a more evangelical way of living and of sharing would grow on this continent where Christians are the majority? There are many areas where the Christian communities of North, Central and South American can demonstrate their paternal ties, practice real solidarity and collaborate on joint pastoral projects…The Church must proclaim the Gospel of Life and speak out with prophetic force against the culture of death. "May the Continent of Hope also be the Continent of Life!…Life with dignity for all…The time has come to banish once and for all from the continent every attack against life…for all are conceived in their mother's womb, no more violence, terrorism and drug trafficking; no more torture or other forms of abuse! There must be an end to the unnecessary recourse to the death penalty…as a matter of urgency we must stir up a new springtime of holiness on the continent…" (n.7-8) (emphasis in original) In his prayerful conclusion Pope John Paul announced, "On December 12, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Queen of Peace, save the nations and peoples of this continent, teach everyone, political leaders and citizens to live in true freedom and to act according to the requirements of justice and respect for human rights…" (n. 9) THE "NEW TIME OF TESTING" From Mexico City Pope John Paul II flew to St. Louis, January 26, where he was greeted by President and Mrs. Clinton. In his address, the Holy Father mentioned he had come to Mexico and the United States to celebrate the conclusion of the Special Synod for America. The purpose of that historical assembly was to "prepare the Church to enter the new millennium and to encourage a new sense of solidarity among the peoples of the continent." (n.1 -- All of the quotations in this section are from L'Osservatore Romano, English edition.) He referred to the approaching Bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase as an opportunity to "reaffirm the genuine truths and values of the American experience," noting that "America has not been immune to periods of trial that test the national character." He mentioned the "famous Dred Scott case held in St. Louis which the United States Supreme Court subsequently declared an entire class of human beings - people of African descent - outside the boundaries of…the Constitution's protection." With President and Mrs. Clinton standing close at hand Pope John Paul unequivocally stated:
The principle of solidarity, a hallmark of John Paul II's Pontificate, is germane to the emphasis on the new evangelization he stressed while in St. Louis. During his homily at the January 27th Mass at the Trans World Dome attended by over 104,000, he called on American Catholics to "know and cherish their immense heritage of holiness and service" and to be inspired and strengthened "for the new evangelization so urgently needed at the approach of the third Christian millennium." (n.3-4) This "new evangelization…include(s) a special emphasis on the family and the renewal of Christian marriage…The new evangelization must bring a fuller appreciation of the family as the primary and most vital foundation of society, the first school of social virtue and solidarity. As the family goes so goes the nation! This calls for followers of Christ who are unconditionally pro-life: who will proclaim, celebrate and serve the Gospel of Life in every situation. A sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away even in the case of someone who has done great evil...I renew (my) appeal…for a consensus to end the death penalty which is both cruel and unnecessary…Another great challenge facing the 'whole country' is 'to put an end to every form of racism.'" This the Holy Father called a "plague" which "your bishops have called one of the most persistent and destructive evils of the nation." (n.5) (emphasis in original) In his homily at the ecumenical prayer service at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis that evening the Pope mentioned America's responsibilities: "…Radical changes in the world politics leave America with a heightened responsibility to be for the world an example of a genuinely free, democratic, just and humane society…The Ten Commandments are the Charter of True Freedom for individuals as well as for society as a whole." He concluded as he has on each of his visits to the United States that "America first proclaimed its independence on the basis of self-evident truths. America will remain a beacon of freedom for the world as long as it stands by those moral truths which are the very heart of its historical experience. And so, America, if you want peace, work for justice. If you want justice, defend life. If you want life, embrace the truth - the truth revealed by God." (n.6) (emphasis in original) It was however, at the January 26th meeting with 20,000 young people at Kiel Center including the "renewal of their commitment to live with Christ" that the spontaneous and warm interaction between the young and the Holy Father was most evident. The Center reverberated with 20,000 voices chanting "John Paul II we love you" as he called upon them to "make the light of Christ shine brightly in the world." "Do not be taken in by false values and deceptive slogans, especially about your freedom. True freedom is a wonderful gift from God and it has been a cherished part of your country's history." Paraphrasing Lord Acton, as he had on previous visits to the United States, John Paul said: "Freedom is not the ability to do anything we want, whenever we want. Rather, freedom is the ability to live responsibly the truth of our relationship with God and with one another." (n.3) (emphasis in original) During the February 10th General Audience, the Holy Father commented on his pastoral visit to the American continent: "In a certain sense, my journey was a great appeal to America to accept the Gospel of Life and the family in order to reject and combat any form of violence against the human person from conception to natural death with moral consistency…To win these battles we must spread the culture of life which does not separate freedom and truth… "America will only be able to play its important role in the Church and in the world if it defends and promotes the immense spiritual and social patrimony of its families. Mexico and the United States are two great countries which well represent the multifaceted wealth of the American continent as well as its contradictions. Woven deeply into the cultural and social fabric, the Church invites everyone to meet Jesus Christ who continues today to be the 'way to conversion, communion and solidarity.' "With the motherly assistance of Our Lady of Guadalupe, this meeting has indelibly marked America's history. I entrust to the intercession of the patroness of that beloved continent the hope that the encounter with Christ will continue to bring light to the peoples of the New World in the millennium which is about to begin." (n.4-5) REACHING OUT TO THE WORLD A noteworthy expression of the positive influence Pope John Paul II has had beyond the parameters of Catholicism appeared on the editorial page of The Wall Street Journal, January 26, 1999. Titled "The Good News," it praised the striking papal endorsement of the "Free Economy" in Centesimus Annus and quoted a pertinent passage (n.42): "John Paul II celebrated a capitalism that 'recognizes the fundamental and positive role of business, the market, private property and the resulting responsibility for the means of production as well as free human activity in the economic system.'" (emphasis added) This editorial was written following the papal visit to Mexico City and St. Louis. It mentioned that while Catholics in St. Louis account for about a quarter of its population, it has a "thriving Catholic school system, Catholic nuns sponsor most of the hospitals in the metropolitan area and Catholic Charities is the largest non-profit charity in both Missouri and Illinois." This itself "witnesses to a powerful truth; the experience in liberty begun in 1776 has allowed both Catholics and Catholic institutions to flourish - often more so than in traditional Catholic nations." The editorial concludes on a warm and enthusiastic note: "This is the man who began his papacy with the words 'Be Not Afraid,' the Pope who survived an assassin's bullet to help bring down the Soviet Union, who for all his unvarnished insights into the lock that the culture of death holds on our century will be remembered more for the hope he holds out against it. In this battle for an authentic human freedom, John Paul has more allies than even he may know." END NOTES 1. Pope John Paul II, "The Pope's Address," on December 16, 1997, L'Osservatore Romano English Edition, Dec. 31, 1997, p. 4. 2. George Weigel, The Soul of the World, Notes on the Future of Public Catholicism, Ethics and Public Policy Center, Washington, D.C. and Wm. B. Eerdman Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, MI 1996. 3. Ibid., p.119. 4. Ira Peck and Steven Deyle, American Adventures - People Making History, Scholastic, Inc., New York, 1991, p. 634, 638. 5. Arthur Bliss Lane (Ambassador to Poland, 1944-1947), I Saw Freedom Betrayed, Regency Publication LTD, London, England, 1949, p.5. 6. Ibid., p.6-7. 7. Ibid., p.196. 8. Ibid., p. 200. 9. George Weigel, The Final Revolution -The Resistance Church and the Collapse of Communism, Oxford University Press, Inc., New York, 1992, p.117. 10. Ibid., p.117. 11. Ibid., p.119. 12. Ibid., p.129. 13. Ibid., p.130. 14. Ibid., p.130-132. 15. Ibid., p.133 16. Ibid., p.136. 17. Ibid., p.136. 18. Soul of the World., op. cit. p. 192. 19. Ibid., p.104. 20. Ibid., p.104-105. 21. The Final Revolution, op. cit., p. 71. 22. George Weigel, "Prepared to Lead," Crisis Magazine, October, 1998, p.12. 23. Joseph Sobran, The Wanderer newspaper, St. Paul, MN, October, 1997. |