Kevin's Story-How Pope's U.S. Visit Plays in Utah

USU View on Pope Benedict’s Historic Visit
By Kevin Mouritsen
kevin.mour@aggiemail.usu.edu

Pope Benedict XVI called for “healing and reconciliation” for priest sex abuse victims Thursday during his historic five-day visit to the United States.

The pope held an unannounced meeting with a small group of people for about 25 minutes in the chapel of the papal embassy, where tearful victims of clergy sex abuse listened while the pope offered them encouragement and hope.

"They prayed together,” said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a papal spokesman. “Also, each of them had their own individual time with the Holy Father."

The pope’s message during his visit has included words of consolation for the victims of clergy sex abuse, a call for improved Human Rights throughout the world, and a plea for the strengthening of religious faith in public life.

Dr. Norman Jones, USU History Department head and Director of Religious Studies, says that the pope’s visit has a two-fold purpose for American Catholics.

“The pope is here to tell Catholics, ‘Come back to your obedience,’” said Jones. He said the pope is also here to say, “You’re really important to us and I want to pay attention to you.”

This papal visit marks the first time in nearly thirty years that a pope has visited the United States, and Father Clarence Sandoval of the Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church says that the pope’s visit is an inspiration for Catholics everywhere.

“The pope is the shepherd of our church,” said Sandoval, “and it’s an inspiration for all of us to have our shepherd here on the soil of the United States.”

Sandoval said that the pope’s main purpose for this visit is to be with the people.

“[The pope] is here to teach, to preach, to walk with them, to unify them,” he said.

Unifying the American Catholics has been a main priority for the Catholic Church since severe declines in church attendance occurred after the clergy sex scandals. Jones said that declining church membership is not an exclusive Catholic problem.

“Americans are more religious than any other people in the developed world by a very long shot,” said Jones. “But they are very unwilling to be told what to do by anybody.”

Jones said that people are becoming more religiously eclectic, drawing their spirituality from a variety of sources, rather than just one religious group.

Speaking of Americans and religions, Jones said that people, “are taking elements from this [religion] and that one, and creating something new.”

But Sandoval said that the problem with declining church attendance lies in the fact the Americans are too self-absorbed, focusing on themselves rather than on everyone as a whole.

“Here in the United States there’s just such an individualistic way of looking at the world as opposed to Europe and other places, where people look at each other as a community,” said Sandoval.

Jones rejected the notion of an increasingly atheistic society. Instead, he thinks that people are branching out and looking for religious alternatives.

“I don’t think people are ceasing to believe,” said Jones. “But they’re in the market place of religion, shopping.”

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