Monday, January 25, 1999
Pope's visit springboard for studying issues
BY JULIE IRWIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ST. LOUIS — On some things they agree: The weather should be pleasant, his travels safe and the visit as memorable as any event in their community's history.
But when it comes to issues they want Pope John Paul II to address in St. Louis this week, the region's Catholics are as varied as the 227 parishes in their archdiocese.
On Sunday they spoke — from the pulpit and from the vestibule — about their affection for their spiritual leader and the matters they think are most pressing in their church.
“I think he's very pious, very sincere,” said Arthur Hauck, 72, a eucharistic minister at St. Pius V Church on the city's South Side. Mr. Hauck is eager to attend the papal Mass Wednesday in the Trans World Dome, but he would like to see the pope change his positions on a few things.
“I believe he might be just a little bit out of touch with the modernity of the church, especially the Americans, because we are more democratically minded,“ said Mr. Hauck, a fourth-degree Knight of Columbus who lives in St. Louis Hills.
“There are things we consider to be more or less private conscience things. Even though it no longer applies to me, the size of your family is your own business.”
In the magnificent Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis, Aida Gross also found herself hoping for change as she marveled at the church's 83,000 square feet of mosaics, recently cleaned for the pope's visit.
“In my opinion, priests should be married,” said Mrs. Gross, 70, of Clayton. “In that way they could understand what problems in marriage are like. I think they'd be more understanding.”
Not everyone was praying for change.
Rosa Selman, also a member of the largely immigrant St. Pius parish, wants the pope to address personal morality during his 30-hour stay here — a message that would support church teachings.
“I'd like to hear him tell the people not to live together (before marriage) — marry and then sleep together,” said Mrs. Selman, a retiree and member of the ethnically diverse St. Pius. “I also hope he tells people not to kill their babies. He needs to speak all the time against abortion.”
About one-third of greater St. Louis' population is Catholic, and John Paul's visit is being heralded on billboards, in shop windows and on lampposts.
St. Louis Mayor Clarence Harmon is calling Tuesday and Wednesday “among the most significant days in our city's history.”
Crowds could exceed those welcoming local hero Charles Lindbergh when he returned from his 1927 New York-to-Paris flight.
A huge influx of out-of-town visitors — including several hundred from the Cincinnati area — could pump $14 million to $24 million into the region.
Streets from the cathedral into downtown are already cordoned off for the papal motorcade. Inside the soaring cathedral, television crews were setting up for Wednesday's service.
“Well, the papal coat of arms is in place, the tent is going up, the chairs are going up,” said Msgr. James T. Telthorst as he delivered the homily at the 8 a.m. Mass Sunday. “Somebody important is coming, and he'll probably tell us that Christ is Lord, Christ is peace.”
Mgsr. Telthorst challenged his parishioners to think of the pope's stopover as more than another VIP visit.
He told the story of a woman who was picked to receive a ticket to the Wednesday service and refused it.
She said, “Will you give (my ticket) to someone who's the last person who would expect to see the pope? Because if I can't find Christ in my neighbor, how can I find Him in the pope?”
Added Msgr. Telthorst, “Know that the kingdom of God is in you.”
In addition to messages of morality, some St. Louis residents are looking to John Paul for a more general message of reconciliation and nonviolence.
The pope is expected to give five talks here — at the airport upon arrival and departure, at the Mass and evening prayer and at a Tuesday youth rally in Kiel Center.
“I'm hoping he might say for people to get more spiritual and get more Christlike. Maybe that will stop some of the crimes that are going on,” said Elizabeth Harris, a retiree who was leaving noon Mass at the cathedral Sunday. “We all need to get closer to the Lord.”
Sister Loretta Sigler at St. Pius also prayed Sunday for a papal message of peace and reconciliation.
“I hope he brings a message of unity, especially among the races,” said Sister Sigler, 49, who lives at the parish house. “I think that's the message St. Louis needs to hear the most, because racism is very strong here. It's subtle, but it's very strong.”
The Rev. Paul Coury, a Redemptorist priest who was filling in for St. Pius' pastor, is looking forward to a message from the pope that addresses everything from abortion to euthanasia to disabilities.
Even as he welcomed the continuity of John Paul's sermons on those issues, he hoped for a change in other areas.
“I wish he would encourage the theologians to really investigate the faith and talk about faith and be open about it,” Father Coury said during coffee and doughnuts in the basement after Mass. “In matters of faith he's conservative, and in his last years I wish he'd open it up a little.”
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