2008 Woodie Awards
Recognize The Pope For Who He Really Is
Rob Casapulla
Issue date: 4/14/08 Section: Commentary
This week Pope Benedict XVI comes to America for the first time since becoming the leader of the world's one billion Catholics. The Pope brings with him a message of peace.
Pope Benedict will be only the second Pope to be received at the White House. President Bush is holding nothing back from welcoming Pope Benedict. For the first time in history the President will receiving a guest at Andrews Air Force Base. When they arrive on the South Lawn of the White House they will be received by 12,000 guests. Queen Elizabeth II of England was received by 7,000 guests during her well publicized visit to the United States a few months ago. The two men will have a conversation in the Oval Office after both addressing the crowds gathered to greet the Pope.
After his time in Washington D.C. the Pope plans to visit New York City to offer a prayer at the site of the Sept. 11 attacks. He also plans to meet with a variety of religious leaders. While in New York, the Pope will also visit a synagogue. This is only the third time in 2,000 years that a Pope will visit a synagogue. While there, the Pope will meet with Holocaust survivor Rabbi Arthur Schneier.
The Pope's visit to the United States has created a veritable media frenzy. Much of the attention has been directed to the fact that the Pope is expected to address the sex scandals that have been a subject of embarrassment for the church in America. However the Pope's visit is so much more than that and should be seen for it.
Peggy Noonan wrote last week in the Wall Street Journal that this Pope is very different from the last Pope who most Catholics remember fondly, to say the least. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was a theologian a well recognized hard-liner for strict adherence to Catholic doctrine. When he became Pope Benedict XVI many thought that he could never get people to love him the way the world loved John Paul II. This surprises many people who have only seen pictures of this pope, or who have only read or head sporadic news reports of his actions. Many expect him to be distant, almost cold. Yet he surprises just about everyone. Reading his sermons and his writings you discover that they center around one principle - love. He speaks about human dignity and defending the innocent. Those who know him, both as Cardinal Ratzinger and now as Pope Benedict, say that the man is shy and warm and that he embodies the love that he talks and writes about constantly. He is not the cold intellectual that many have tried to paint him as.
Pope Benedict will be only the second Pope to be received at the White House. President Bush is holding nothing back from welcoming Pope Benedict. For the first time in history the President will receiving a guest at Andrews Air Force Base. When they arrive on the South Lawn of the White House they will be received by 12,000 guests. Queen Elizabeth II of England was received by 7,000 guests during her well publicized visit to the United States a few months ago. The two men will have a conversation in the Oval Office after both addressing the crowds gathered to greet the Pope.
After his time in Washington D.C. the Pope plans to visit New York City to offer a prayer at the site of the Sept. 11 attacks. He also plans to meet with a variety of religious leaders. While in New York, the Pope will also visit a synagogue. This is only the third time in 2,000 years that a Pope will visit a synagogue. While there, the Pope will meet with Holocaust survivor Rabbi Arthur Schneier.
The Pope's visit to the United States has created a veritable media frenzy. Much of the attention has been directed to the fact that the Pope is expected to address the sex scandals that have been a subject of embarrassment for the church in America. However the Pope's visit is so much more than that and should be seen for it.
Peggy Noonan wrote last week in the Wall Street Journal that this Pope is very different from the last Pope who most Catholics remember fondly, to say the least. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was a theologian a well recognized hard-liner for strict adherence to Catholic doctrine. When he became Pope Benedict XVI many thought that he could never get people to love him the way the world loved John Paul II. This surprises many people who have only seen pictures of this pope, or who have only read or head sporadic news reports of his actions. Many expect him to be distant, almost cold. Yet he surprises just about everyone. Reading his sermons and his writings you discover that they center around one principle - love. He speaks about human dignity and defending the innocent. Those who know him, both as Cardinal Ratzinger and now as Pope Benedict, say that the man is shy and warm and that he embodies the love that he talks and writes about constantly. He is not the cold intellectual that many have tried to paint him as.
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IC
posted 4/15/08 @ 10:41 AM EST
This essay really, really sucked.
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