University of Dallas News

Issue date: 4/29/08 Section: Commentary

Pope Benedict XVI visits the United State, meeting with President Bush

Consequences of Benedict's U.S. visit
Chris Wester

History is a funny thing. Some events garner so much instant attention that people assume the event will be remembered as a watershed moment in the history of the world. The World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 attracted 27 million people and dominated the world's attention for six months. Yet the event generates little if any excitement among history buffs today.
And then there are those events that go unnoticed, only to later gain recognition for their historical importance. Upon its first publishing, Herman Melville's Moby Dick received poor ratings across the board. In was not until after World War I that scholars stood in awe at the aesthetic quality of Melville's masterpiece.

Yet every now and then, there are those events that see public enthusiasm matching historical significance. This past month, the world experienced such an event. Pope Benedict XVI visited the United States.

Something came over America that week. One news anchor described the Pontiff as having a "beatific sweetness" about him. President Bush acknowledged that "the Catholic Church has been a rock in a raging sea, and it is my prayer that it will never change." Since when did news anchors refer to the heavenly gleam of international visitors? Since when did the President of the United States, a Methodist to boot, praise the Roman Catholic Church as being an eternal bastion of goodness in the midst of a hostile world? Who is this man we call pope?

The Pope is a man who holds the most important job in the world, and certainly the oldest. Two hundred and sixty five men have held the office of pope, a post entrusted to St. Peter by Jesus Christ himself. That man chose to visit our country.

The Pope was born Joseph Ratzinger, renowned by scholars as one of the most gifted theologians in recent Church history. That man was called by God to the papacy. That man chose to visit our country.

The Pope enjoys the love and affection of the world's one billion Catholics. He is the beloved father of the world's largest family. That man chose to visit our country.

The enthusiasm that welcomed the Pope to the U.S. was due in large part to the young people. At every event that week, America's youth were out in force and the Pope saw it. He knew that today's young people are far more conservative than their forebears. He saw them rejecting the culture of moral relativism. Seeing their fervor and resolve, the Pope charged America's youth with a special apostolic task: "show the world the reason for the hope that resonates within you."

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