Hard-Liner With Soft Touch Reaches Out to U.S. Flock

Evandro Inetti/Margophoto/Grazianeri

Pope Benedict XVI: THE BRIGHTSIDE:

ROME - Americans often tuck their leaders into tidy boxes of conservative or liberal, charismatic or dull, nice or not. When Pope Benedict XVI arrives on Tuesday to visit America and its church, the overall experience may be one of watching easy categories melt away.

His reputation over many years is as a man of doctrinal hardness, who condemns homosexuality and abortion, who regards Catholicism as the only true faith - positions at times difficult to digest in a diverse America. This reputation, for admirers and detractors alike, is well earned.

But it is only one part of the man. Benedict's manner is mild and humble, his often brilliantly crafted words delivered in a soft voice (and a strong German accent in English, one of his 10 languages). During his five days in the United States he is not expected to scold.

"What he will not do is wag fingers," said Brennan Pursell, an associate history professor at DeSales University in Allentown, Pa., and author of a new book on the pope, "Benedict of Bavaria" (Circle Press). "He will present what the church offers."

Vatican officials seem concerned enough about Benedict's image that they are billing this trip as a proper introduction to Americans, intended in part to shed, as Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the papal nuncio to the United States, said, the idea that he is "this tough, this inhuman person."

Benedict will almost certainly address an issue important to many Catholics, the sex-abuse scandals that racked the church and are now costing it millions of dollars in legal fees and settlements with victims. His speech at the United Nations on Friday is the centerpiece of the visit, and he is expected to speak out strongly on the importance of human rights and, possibly, to urge the world not to use only the military in solving security problems....

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...Difficult for many Americans is his regular insistence on the truth of Catholicism and that it is the only "true" church - claims that critics, and even some supporters, say are essential to believe but not necessarily to say too often if good relations with other Christians and faiths are also important.

"It smacks of the Old Church triumphalism that preceded Vatican II," said Robert Mickens, a Vatican expert for the liberal English Catholic magazine The Tablet. The pope implies, Mr. Mickens said: "We've got the truth. We don't need to have dialogue with people. We need to proclaim our truth."...

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...Beyond the heated debates about him among Catholics, Benedict's words are likely to resonate well with Americans generally because he clearly likes the United States - and will say so. He has always had American top advisers. His old job as defender of the faith is now held by the American cardinal William Levada.

He has often spoken of his admiration for a nation where the separation of church and state allowed Catholics, at one time a downtrodden minority among a Protestant elite, to become central to national life - and the fact that, generally, America is a place, unlike increasingly secular Europe, where religion is allowed a careful place in politics.

"America has been," Benedict said in February as he accepted Ms. Glendon's credentials as American ambassador, "a nation which values the role of religious belief in ensuring a vibrant and ethically sound democratic order."

Perhaps more important, America, with a religious fervor far greater than Europe, seems more receptive to one of Benedict's central goals: ensuring that the church will survive, and even thrive, in what is often called a "post-Christian culture." In much of the developed world, Mass attendance has fallen steeply as religious belief is less often inherited at birth. The church thus does not play the same broader cultural role it once did, either through the quasi-national churches in Europe or the now-diffused Catholic enclaves in America's big cities.

The question, bitterly debated between conservative and liberal Catholics, is who is best-prepared to survive in a secular society. Over many years, Benedict's consistent answer has been to encourage the orthodox, while ignoring more liberal Catholics. And indeed many of his strongest supporters - and those most excited about Benedict's visit - are among the most fervent believers, many of them young.

Catholics who feel left out are more skeptical, but still may find themselves conflicted listening to and watching Benedict, with his wispy white hair and air of quiet spirituality. He has long been aware of this contradiction between his manner and what many in the church think about him. He was asked about it as far back as 1985, as his reputation as "Cardinal No" began to grow.

His answer: that any hostility toward him simply reflected that of an increasingly secular world against a religion that believes in itself.

"If it is true that a Christian faith taken seriously means nonconformity with a not inconsiderable number of contemporary social standards, then a more-or-less negative image is unavoidable," he said in written responses to questions posed by The New York Times that year, when he had the position as the Vatican's defender of the faith.

"Nonconformists, after all, who enjoy general applause, are somewhat ridiculous figures, or at the least unconvincing."

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Michael Stravato for The New York Times

Ricky Pequeño Jr., 17, right, with his father, Ricardo Sr., and sisters, Andrea, 11, and Rachel, 8. Ricky has two tickets to Nationals Park in Washington, where Pope Benedict XVI plans to celebrate Mass on Thursday during his first papal visit to America.

Pilgrimage to See the Pope

By RALPH BLUMENTHAL

Published: 14 April 2008

The Faithful

Articles in this series will follow members of the Pequeño family as they travel to Washington and New York from Houston to see Pope Benedict XVI.

SPRING, Tex. - The Texas sky was still dark and studded with stars Sunday when Ricky Pequeño Jr., rubbing sleep from his eyes, stumbled downstairs to add his bag to a pile of backpacks, sleeping bags, food cooler, baseball glove and ball, football, drum and guitar - everything a family of ardent Roman Catholics might need for a 1,600-mile pilgrimage to see the Pope.

They would end up in a borrowed van with a hastily added trailer and, with little spare cash and no overnight reservations, set off. "It's up to God in the end," said Ricky's father, Ricardo Sr., 44, a machinist who grew up in Mexico, before driving off for a final blessing from their pastor.

As Pope Benedict XVI prepared for his first papal voyage to America, Mr. Pequeño and his family - his Mexican-born wife, Maria, 40; Ricky, 17; Andrea, 11; Rachel, 8; and Emily, 3 - and 14 neighbors were leaving from this blue-collar suburb north of Houston in two packed vans, headed for Washington and New York and, they hoped, at least a glimpse of the pontiff.

"We don't know if we'll ever see Benedict up close," said Rosalind Alvarez, a fellow passenger. But Ms. Alvarez added, "Somehow the word he says is going to reach us."

Only Ricky had a prized ticket - two, in fact - to enter Nationals Park in Washington, where the pope is to celebrate Mass on Thursday. They were gifts from his pastor, the Rev. Miguel Solorzano of St. Charles Borromeo Church in Houston, who had managed to get 11 from his bishop, although he had asked for 100.

Ricky had once voiced an interest in the priesthood, and Father Solorzano said he wanted to encourage the boy. Ricky ended up inviting a friend, a girl. "He's young," the priest said, laughing....

The Pequeños and their fellow pilgrims are a particularly ardent band. They are followers of the Neocatechumenal Way, a communitarian church movement, founded in Spain in the 1960s and accepted by the Vatican, that emphasizes a return to early Christian roots, evangelism, intense religious practice and sacrifice.

The Pequeños' house is filled with Bibles and Christian images. Over the fireplace hangs a copy of an icon by the Spanish painter Francisco (Kiko) Argüello, who co-founded the movement.

Before they joined, Mr. Pequeño said, "we would just go to church for Sundays and holidays." Now they go several times a week, he said, and often evangelize door to door, sometimes playing music.

"We use a lot of instruments," added Ricky, who plays the drum. "The devil uses a lot of noise, and we fight against the devil, also with a lot of noise."

The family credits their faith for helping them through many crises. Mr. and Mrs. Pequeño, who migrated to the United States from Mexico and became citizens, said their marriage had undergone strains. Mr. Pequeño said he complained about his wife but learned through prayer that "the way to change my wife is me." He said they were also distraught when a medical condition prevented his wife from bearing more children. They prayed over it, he said, and quickly learned of a 2-year-old girl needing adoption. They happily took in the child, Emily.

NOW THE DOWNSIDE:

Uncertain Church Awaits Pope in U.S.

Richard Perry/The New York Times

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Leah Vassallo's church in Malaga, N.J., is slated to close as part of a plan to cut the number of parishes in her diocese by half.

The pope is expected to praise the American church's vibrancy during his visit, and there is much for the church to celebrate. Catholics are the biggest religious group in the United States, about 23 percent of the population, a proportion that has held steady. Many parishes are healthy, and some are growing, with the influx of immigrants, especially Hispanics.

A poll released on Sunday by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University showed a mixed performance review for the American bishops: 22 percent of Catholics are "very satisfied" with the bishops, 50 percent are "somewhat satisfied," 21 percent are "somewhat dissatisfied," and 6 percent are "very dissatisfied." It is an improvement from 2002, the outbreak of the scandal.

Peter Borre, a parishioner who helped form the Council of Parishes in Boston, said that if he could address Pope Benedict XVI, he would say: "The shortage of priests, Your Holiness, is both a symptom and a problem itself. The deeper problem is not a responsibility of the flock, it's a failure of bishops to inspire and draw more people into the priesthood."

Some bishops, like Joseph Galante in Camden, have tried to involve the laity in the painful restructuring process. But since the sexual abuse scandal, they are finding many of their parishioners have become more confrontational.

The restiveness is not only among laity. In Belleville, Ill., last month, 45 priests took the step of publicly releasing a letter to the Vatican's representative in Washington calling for their bishop to step down. They accused the bishop, Edward K. Braxton, of poor communication with priests and of misappropriating more than $17,000 and using it to buy liturgical garments and furniture. (The bishop has apologized, but said he would not resign.)

In Boston, Catholics have spent the last four years taking turns camping inside five churches that the archdiocese wants to close. They figure that if the church is occupied, the archdiocese will not be able to padlock it.

In Boston and Toledo, some Catholics are suing the church to prevent the closings.

The quandary for the church is that the agitation is coming from some of the most religiously committed Catholics, said Mr. D'Antonio, co-author of a recent book that surveyed the members of "Voice of the Faithful," another church reform group.

As Catholics they are devoted to their church, but don't necessarily agree with all of its decisions. As Americans, accustomed to life in a democracy, they think they have a right to say so.*

_

14 April 2008, 8:42 pm

The Man and His Messages

By Peter Steinfels

Three quarters of American Catholics and more than a majority of Americans have a favorable opinion of Pope Benedict XVI. Actually, Americans don't know much about him. In one recent poll, 80 percent said they knew either not very much or nothing at all about the Pope. In the same poll, conducted for the Knights of Columbus by the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, 17 percent admitted they had never even heard of him.

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* Now, that is the major problem...The Church is Christ's. It is not a human democratic Institution. It is not "their" church; It is His Church.

Now as to Pope Benedict XVI,
Americans: Who Is Pope Benedict XVI?
Americans don't know much about him! also, according to the Marist Poll, conducted for the Knights of Columbus , 97% of Americans are totally uninformed as to who the Pope is...meaning only 3% of the American Population is aware of him. Of that 3%, three quarters of American Catholics and more than a majority of Americans have a favorable opinion of Pope Benedict XVI.

14 April 2008, 8:42 pm....and HOW UGLY CAN A COMMENT GET? READ BELOW AND BEYOND!

By Peter Steinfels : The Man and His Messages

Obviously I can't claim to be among the blissfully uninformed, having actually met the man, however briefly. But I share their curiosity, which in my case gels into puzzlement.

In 1985 a prominent Catholic magazine asked me to review "The Ratzinger Report," a book-length interview by an Italian journalist of the cardinal who then headed the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and has since been elected Pope Benedict XVI.

I was well aware that Cardinal Ratzinger was esteemed as a theologian. But this was not primarily a book of theology. It was a report on the state of the church, and as such I concluded that "it does not meet a journalist's, let along a social scientist's, minimum standards for reportage." It was marked, I wrote, by "exaggeration and gross oversimplification as well as omission." To prove how far off course the church had gone in the two decades after the Second Vatican Council, the book tossed off caricatures. It constantly questioned the motives and fidelity of "every" or "many" or "some" theologians, feminists, Catholic intellectuals and even bishops' conferences....

I have repeatedly found myself deeply moved, brought to a dead halt, sensed a window suddenly opening on reality and my life, sent spinning into a few moments of meditation or prayer. Even where his arguments left me partially or ultimately unconvinced, I recognized important truth in them and felt grateful for the challenge they presented.

How do I reconcile this Ratzinger/Benedict with the other one and with his actions that have struck me as deleterious to the church that he clearly loves? Well, so far I haven't. Like many other people, I will be alert this week to clues. And in a week can we expect more than clues to such a complex personality?...

Read more …

By Peter Steinfels

Benedict has calibrated his immigration stance with care, stating the need to protect family unity and immigrants' human rights, but pointedly avoiding any specifics of the American immigration debate, like the issue of whether to grant legal status to illegal immigrants. Yet last week his visit quickly stirred the crosscurrents of the debate.

His comments drew a rebuke from Representative Tom Tancredo, a Republican from Colorado who has been a leading opponent of illegal immigration.

Accusing the pope of "faith-based marketing," Mr. Tancredo said Benedict's comments welcoming immigrants "may have less to do with spreading the Gospel than they do about recruiting new members of the Church." Mr. Tancredo, a former Catholic who now attends an evangelical Christian church, said it was not in the pope's "job description to engage in American politics."