Posted on 08/06/2002 5:10:58 PM PDT by nickcarraway
One picture told it all: At Toronto's airport, the world's eye caught little ten-year-old Georgia Rae Giddings as she emotionally burst into tears after Pope John Paul II embraced her. For the next hour, she recalled the moment repeatedly before crowds of journalists. "When I stood in front of the Pope, I just got dizzier and dizzier," she said.
"Out of Step" with the Contemporary World
She's not the only one. Many of the million or so attending the World Youth Day celebrations reported the same phenomenon.
Most people would be astonished to hear that the Holy Father might be the most beloved person in the world among young people. After all, we're always told the Catholic Church's message is irrelevant, outmoded and - worst of all - square. Cynics charge it has nothing meaningful to say to today's fun-loving, hedonistic youth.
According to the press, polls repeatedly show the Pope's relentless opposition to contraception, abortion, homosexuality, pornography, pre-marital sex, easy divorce and other fruits of the sexual revolution is anathema to the modern and fashionable. (It goes without saying that no one knows the mind of the modern and fashionable like the media.) The Holy Father, they conclude, is out of step with the contemporary world.
A Rebuke to the Modern Age
Okay, then how do you explain nearly a million kids at the Pope's World Youth Day? And where else would the gathering of that many youngsters be termed a "disappointing" turnout?
Perhaps it's because young people's love for the Holy Father is a direct rebuke to the modern age, and thus to its primary megaphone, the modern journalist. No institution has been a more powerful force for secularism, materialism or sexual freedom than the media.
Most reporters today are alienated from religion, looking at faith as little more than an ancient superstition. They don't understand it, so they don't cover it - unless a "religious" story involving scandal or human weakness pops up. That they comprehend.
In listening to World Youth Day participants speak, their deep affection for the Holy Father is clear. The same words keep popping up over and over to describe him - "radiance," "hero" "world's role model," "leader of youth," "our rock," "following in St. Peter's footsteps," and "the person closest to Jesus."
Thus, reasons for the Pope's youthful legions are quite simple: When young people see the weary, lined, rugged, leathern visage of the Holy Father, they see the face of love. Not love the way Hollywood loves them - as walking wallets, rear ends in movie theaters, pairs of ears to listen to the latest CDs - but real affection, from someone who sees them rightfully as precious individuals with eternal souls. And when the Vicar of Christ's deep, aged, honeyed voice is intoned, it seems they're hearing the very Words of God.
An Inexhaustible Treasure of Grace
This, then, is the Papal appeal to the young: faith, as the steadfast leader of the Church, the eternal Bride of Christ; hope, offering refuge for the restless heart; and love, from a elderly man walking in persona Christi. Of these, as St. Paul says, the greatest is love.
This is what Georgia Rae Giddings reacted to. After telling the Pope she loved him, he tenderly stroked her head and whispered gently that he loved her too, the perfect personification of Cardinal Newman's great motto of "Heart Speaketh to Heart." It's hard to imagine any other world leader reacting this way to the presence of an unexpected young stranger - so fearless, so compassionate, so Christlike.
No wonder kids love him.
Catholicism may be known as the Old Faith, it's the Young Faith too, with a remarkable, time-tested ability to outlive every fad that mocks it as passe. Each Catholic generation discovers anew the richness and power of their ancient religion, finding within it an inexhaustible treasure of grace and beauty, boundless as the sea. Once that discovery is made, as a million young pilgrims recently learned, no worldly interest can ever again quite satisfy.
I've stayed out of this cat fight, but it's been fun to watch.
ultima, you have been asked, over and over and over, to back up your contention that the SSPX sect is "flourishing." Your word is not enough. You've got to back up what you say with citations, or, clearly state that what you are saying is your opinion.
And, the Catholic Church continues to grow, year after year. The Catholic Church in America now stands 62 million, from 40 million in 1980.
Where did this come from? One million "faithful"? The Moonies have more members than that.
The Novus Ordo is not decreasing; it is increasing.
I'm leaving before the temptation to flame comes over me.
A coworker of mine converted to Catholicism on Easter Sunday 2001. His wife was already Catholic. They have 3 children, all baptized in the Catholic faith. He just happened to mention to me this week that they went to Mass this past weekend for the first time since Easter of this year.
So much for your headcount of Catholic Church in America (Amchurch). Give us a true headcount of practicing Catholics; your numbers will be pathetic.
"My numbers" are STILL larger than the pathetic membership of a schismatic sect.
And what theology is that? That of Modernism over Tradition.
No thanks. Go take your aspirin.
I don't have those figures, and you don't have them either. Nor does anyone else.
BTW, the "traditional Catholics" ultima ratio is talking about are schismatics, meaning they're not Catholics at all. You really care about people who are off in the weeds?
No it's not. But God's grace is active, and seeks to draw all men to Himself.
Judging by numbers, the SSPX is sucking hind teat.
You really care about people who are off in the weeds?
Of course I care; that's why I pray for you and the Buhdists and the the Muslims.
They're Catholics. SSPXer's are schismatics. SSPXers are outside the Catholic Church, no matter what they believe.
Reminds me of second grade; but here goes, my priest can STILL argue and defend Church dogma against yours, anytime, anywhere.
A little Vatican II lingo?
Actually, a little Texas lingo, a state where the SSPX is nearly non-existent.
Interesting point of reference. When does school start?
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