This story originally appeared in the April 24, 2008 issue of the Catholic Herald.
Crowds rushed forward, frantically waving their yellow and white Vatican flags as Pope Benedict XVI made his way around Nationals Park in Washington in the popemobile prior to Mass April 17. Sticking his head out of the opening, the smiling pontiff waved back to the thousands who cheered and reached out their hands to him. “We love you, Holy Father,” many called out.
Toward the end the Mass, the pope blessed the cornerstone and tabernacle for St. John Paul the Great Catholic High School in Potomac Shores, which opened that fall. During a festive but reverent liturgy, the Holy Father told the nearly 46,000 gathered, “I have come to America to confirm you … in the faith of the Apostles.”
In his homily at the baseball stadium, the pope told the crowds, “I have come to repeat the Apostles’ urgent call to conversion and the forgiveness of sins, and to implore from the Lord a new outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church in this country.”
A sea of nearly 300 bishops clad in red vestments and 1,300 priests in white albs and red stoles filled the left side of centerfield. The park was the largest venue the Holy Father visited during his stay in Washington and the highlight for many Washingtonians and visitors, including 6,000 from the Arlington diocese. The pope spoke on many topics including unity, authentic freedom and conversion that tied into the main theme of his apostolic visit: Christ our Hope.
Emphasizing the courage to bear true witness, the Holy Father said he hoped that Catholics would “offer their contemporaries a convincing account of hope which inspires them and to be renewed in missionary zeal for the extension of God’s Kingdom.” Urging the congregation, he said, “The world needs this witness.”
The sun shone brightly on the joyful faces in the stadium while the Holy Father praised aspects of the Church in America, including strong parishes, ecclesial movements and the enthusiasm of an increasing number of young people who embrace the faith. However, he spoke with candor about issues of concern: “signs of alienation, anger and polarization on the part of many of our contemporaries; increased violence; a weakening of the moral sense; a coarsening of social relations; and a growing forgetfulness of God.”
He gently warned against division within the Church and the “troubling realization that many of the baptized, rather than acting as a spiritual leaven in the world, are inclined to embrace attitudes contrary to the truth of the Gospel.” During a time when unity is needed within the American Church, the pope said, “I ask you, in the Lord Jesus, to set aside all division and to work with joy to prepare a way for Him, in fidelity to His Word and in constant conversion to His will.”
The Holy Father lowered his voice and spoke somberly as he addressed the sex abuse scandal in the Church that came to light in 2002. “No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse. It is important that those who have suffered be given loving pastoral attention.” After the Mass, Pope Benedict met with several abuse victims at the apostolic nunciature in Washington. He encouraged people to “do what you can to foster healing and reconciliation, and to assist those who have been hurt.”
During Communion, Placido Domingo sang “Panis Angelicus,” perhaps the musical highlight of the Mass. Afterward the pope greeted and thanked him. Hundreds of priests administered the sacrament of confession on the concourse level prior to Mass and a pre-Mass show started at 6 a.m. with live interviews. Concession stands closed an hour before Mass to adhere to the fast before Communion. Before and after the Mass thousands stood in lines to purchase papal paraphernalia including mugs, magnets and T-shirts.
In the course of his homily, the pope asked his flock to cultivate an intellectual culture that is “genuinely Catholic, confident in the profound harmony of faith and reason, and prepared to bring the richness of faith’s vision to bear on the urgent issues which affect the future of American society.” With a sense of urgency in his voice, he said that young people need to be helped to find the path of true freedom. That path is one of “sincere and generous imitation of Christ” and “commitment to justice and peace.”
In order to face challenges, Pope Benedict said “a comprehensive and sound instruction in the truths of the Faith” are needed. Encouraging his flock, he urged them to “continue to be a leaven of evangelical hope in American society, striving to bring the light and truth of the Gospel to the task of building an ever more just and free world for generations yet to come.”
When he began to give a brief message in Spanish, the crowd erupted with a loud cheer. After his homily, people around the stadium began to chant “Benedetto,” and yelled out “Viva el Papa” which resonated throughout the stadium.
