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Pope's Visit Stirs Strong Emotions In Faithful

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By MICHELLE BEARDEN

The Tampa Tribune

Published: April 13, 2008

Updated: 04/13/2008 12:12 am

TAMPA - He stood among thousands of other Catholic faithful in St. Peter's Square, a pilgrim from South Pasadena who came to Rome to witness a historic moment.

And when it was announced that Cardinal Ratzinger would be the next pope, Michael Brennan was overcome with joy. This was just the man he wanted to succeed the late Pope John Paul II.

"I'm one of his biggest fans," says Brennan, recalling that day, April 19, 2005, when Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI. "He's very Catholic, a learned scholar with backbone and who can take criticism. He's the one who can get us back on course."

On Tuesday, the leader of the world's 1.1 billion Catholics will make his first official trip to the United States, a six-day journey to New York and Washington that includes a meeting with President Bush, an address before the United Nations, a visit to ground zero and a gathering with leaders of some non-Christian faiths. He'll also celebrate two occasions: his 81st birthday on Wednesday and his third anniversary as pope on Saturday.

And once again, Brennan, 64, will be part of history. He and two siblings will be at the April 20 Mass at Yankee Stadium, where the retired nurse once hawked hot dogs and sodas at baseball games. More than 200,000 people applied for the 100,000 free tickets to the service.

"I know I will never get another opportunity like this again," he says. "To be back in my old neighborhood, with my brother and sister, celebrating the Mass with the vicar of Christ. It's a blessing I could never imagine."

Not all share Brennan's enthusiasm for the German pope, once dubbed "God's Rottweiler" for his ultraconservative stands. Before he emerged as the oldest pope elected in three centuries, he headed the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for 24 years. Scholarly and reserved, he does not have the effusive and crowd-loving personality of his popular predecessor, John Paul II.

Crisis Of Confidence

Benedict comes to the United States at a time when some of the nation's estimated 65 million Catholics are in a crisis of confidence over their faith.

They disagree about institutional policies and theological doctrine, from the bishops' handling of the clergy sexual abuse scandal to Benedict's reiteration of a 2000 document maintaining that only the Catholic Church offers salvation both through Jesus and the Catholic sacraments.

Vocations are lagging, forcing some parishes to share priests; women's groups are calling for more inclusive practices and preaching opportunities for qualified women; and six dioceses have filed for bankruptcy, largely because of more than $2 billion in settlements and legal fees involving disgraced priests and brothers.

As many as 100,000 U.S. baptized Catholics drift away from the church every year, and only 33 percent attend Mass weekly, according to Catholics Come Home, a nonprofit agency aimed at lapsed members. The pope can't be blamed for those numbers, but some of his actions naturally cause dissention.

He brought back increased access to the Latin Mass, a move that thrilled traditionalists such as Brennan but caused alarm among others. Critics called it a throwback to the pre-Vatican II days when there was less participation and understanding of the Mass among the laity.

When Benedict banned men with "deeply rooted" homosexual tendencies from admission to seminaries, some groups called it an affront to all gay people.

Those who expect the pope to make sweeping statements or take a stand during his U.S. trip will be sorely disappointed, says one of his biographers.

"There are issues, serious issues, facing the church, but he's not going to address them," says David Gibson, author of "The Rule of Benedict" (HarperSanFrancisco, 2006). "To him, it's a matter of encouraging people to be better Catholics, and all those issues will take care of themselves."

Gibson is tracking the visit in "Benedictions," a daily blog on beliefnet.com. He predicts the pope's influence this week will be of a spiritual nature, rather than political.

"Catholics take great pride in their pope. He's a symbol of unity and a figure of international stature," Gibson says. "We may disagree among ourselves, but he is our pope. And right now, Catholics need a shot in the arm."

A recent survey released by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life delivered some disturbing news for the church.

Of all the religious denominations in the United States, Catholicism has experienced the greatest net losses as a result of affiliation changes. Although about 33 percent of Americans were raised Catholic, about 25 percent now describe themselves as Catholic.

Those losses would have been even more pronounced had it not been for the offsetting impact of immigration, Pew researchers say. Foreign-born American Catholics bring the numbers to nearly double that of Protestants (46 percent versus 24 percent).

'My Faith Is Everything'

Leila Souza of Town 'N Country is among the immigrant faithful. Born in Brazil, the lifelong Catholic moved here about 25 years ago. She keeps an altar in her house and visits sites around the world where apparitions of the Virgin Mary are reported. This week, she's heading to New York with her sons, ages 14 and 22, and her 72-year-old mother to attend the Mass.

She was the first person to request the free tickets from the Diocese of St. Petersburg, she says. She prayed fervently and says she was rewarded when she got the call the tickets were in the mail.

"My faith is everything. Without it, you have nothing," says Souza, a private home caregiver. Her oldest son is a rapper and doesn't share her spiritual enthusiasm. She's hoping seeing a pope and being among on-fire Catholics will be a transforming experience for him.

"I know how important it is to pass on the faith to your children. I want my sons to know the same truths I know," she says.

But some of the truths are harsh realities that need to be addressed and corrected by church hierarchy, say spokesmen for advocacy and dissident groups.

David Clohessy of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests says the sex abuse guidelines enacted a few years ago by U.S. bishops may be "vague, weak and usually not enforced," but they're better than what's in place in the rest of the Catholic world - nothing.

"That's the world this pope is living in and dealing with," Clohessy says. "Leaders act like everything is normal, figuring if they act like that long enough, it will become that way. They say the right things - 'we feel bad for the victims, and the predators are bad guys' - and it does nothing but lull Catholics into complacency. But the problem doesn't go away."

His grade on Benedict's handling of the clergy abuse crisis: D. "That's for all the words and gestures that are meaningless, and no action of substance."

Equally disillusioned are members of Voice of the Faithful, a Catholic lay group that claims more than 35,000 members. The group bought a full-page ad in Tuesday's New York Times with a message to the pope and a statement urging Catholics to "transform our church."

The group is circulating a petition through its Web site because the pope's schedule did not include any discussions or listening sessions with ordinary laity, says president Dan Bartley. Among its requests: Treat survivors of sexual abuse with justice and compassion; hold bishops accountable; embrace full participation of Catholic men and women in church decision-making; and require financial transparency and accountability in all governance matters.

In just a few days, the petition had more than 3,300 signatures.

"Secrecy and cover-up is the norm with the church. That's why we're in a crisis," Bartley says. "We're not willing to give up and walk away, although many of us have stood at the crossroads and come close. This movement is focusing on solutions, transformation and improvements."

Regrettably, Bartley says, Benedict has not shown the kind of leadership the group believes is necessary to make those changes. He says he has been disappointed, but not surprised, by the church's business-as-usual attitude.

"When these bishops make pronouncements on moral issues, it's embarrassing," Bartley says. Of all the bishops involved in the clergy sex scandal, only one, Cardinal Law, resigned. He later got a Vatican appointment to preside over a basilica in Rome.

"Catholics don't like to talk about it, but it's hard to listen when we haven't cleaned our own house," he says.

Optimism Among The Faithful

Feeling more optimistic about changes at the pew level is Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, a lay organization of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Catholics. Her group, which also failed to get an audience with Benedict, will sponsor a series of events and peaceful demonstrations near papal appearances.

Although the pope and some bishops are becoming "increasingly more restrictive" in their attitudes about gay people, Duddy-Burke says support among the faithful is at a high. Dignity now has chapters on more than 40 Catholic college campuses and members in every state.

"The church does not speak with a single voice on gay-related issues," she says. "This pope certainly uses more antigay rhetoric than John Paul II, but what matters is that the people are standing up and doing their own thinking."

The Rev. David O'Connell, president of Catholic University of America, where Benedict will speak Thursday, served on the papal trip committee. He hopes the pope - who comes from Europe, where religious observance is on a downslide - will see that faith is alive and thriving here.

"We've had troubles and sufferings within the church, yes. But our faith is still hopeful, and we're still able to celebrate the central mystery of our life: that Jesus loves us and wants us to be one with him," O'Connell says.

As for the public's reception, O'Connell predicts the pope will be welcomed and embraced. "The fear that he would be an overly tough enforcer simply hasn't materialized," he says. "He's demonstrated a lot of love and affection for the people, and it's been a happy surprise."

Sandra Flake of Plant City will be among the greeters. She and her son, a 35-year-old lawyer from New York, plan to attend the Yankee Stadium Mass. Born a Catholic, she left her roots for 17 years, church-shopping among several Christian denominations. Since coming back 18 years ago, she lives her Catholicism "24-7, every minute of my life."

"God found me and brought me back," Flake says. "My mission is to evangelize to people who've lost their way. I am his servant."

She calls Benedict "a brilliant, great leader, the perfect one to succeed Pope John Paul II." Even though she's legally blind, she says she expects to feel the power of the Holy Spirit and the presence of a holy man.

"There's a beauty and history in this faith that you can't find anywhere else," she says. "I'm so happy to be home."

Reporter Michelle Bearden can be reached at (813) 259-7613 or mbearden@tampatrib.com.

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