Thursday, January 28, 1999

Pope renews morality plea, condemns death penalty

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BY JULIE IRWIN
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Joseph Calabro's son shies away as Pope John Paul II tries to bless him. (Steven M. Herppich photo) | ZOOM |

        ST. LOUIS — In a cathedral dedicated to God and another dedicated to football, Pope John Paul II concluded his shortest and perhaps last trip to the United States on Wednesday with a plea for renewed American morality.

        In the home stretch of a 30-hour trip, the pope celebrated Mass for more than 100,000 people Wednesday morning at the Trans World Dome, home to the NFL's St. Louis Rams. After lunch with American cardinals and bishops, he prayed in the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis with Vice President Al Gore and Jewish, Protestant and Muslim leaders.

        John Paul II repeated his call for an end to the death penalty in a state that executed a convicted murderer 12 days before the pope arrived and delayed the execution of another, scheduled for Wednesday.

Special Report on Pope's visit

        “Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to re form,” the 78-year-old pontiff said.

        “I renew the appeal I made most recently at Christmas for a consensus to end the death penalty, which is both cruel and unnecessary.”

        The good weather for which legions of St. Louis Catholics had prayed arrived in buckets, with 60-plus degree temperatures under a sunny, windless sky. Pilgrims who had traveled from the Tristate and beyond left jubilant from the two-hour Mass.

        “It's just overwhelming. It's a big act of adoration,” said the Rev. Clement Burns, who accompanied nine recent entrants of St. Gertrude Prio ry in Madeira. “I'm kind of sophisticated, but I just started to cry, looking at everyone arriving this morning.”

        The pope's pastoral visit shifted from Tuesday's focus on Catholic youth to an emphasis Wednesday on diversity within the Catholic faith and on respect for other faiths.

        The day began with a blowing of the shofar and ended after a a line from the book of Isaiah that was read in Hebrew.

        In between were prayers in Spanish, German, French, Vietnamese and the pope's native Polish.

        With the vice president and Tipper Gore sitting in front of him at the evening prayer service, the pope said U.S. preeminence leaves the country with “a heightened responsibility to be for the world an example of a genuinely free, democratic, just and humane society.”

        And that, he continued, is impossible without morality: “God has given us a moral law to guide us and protect us from falling back into the slavery of sin and falsehood. We are not alone with our responsibility for the great gift of freedom. The Ten Commandments are the charter of true freedom for individuals, as well as for society as a whole.”

        John Paul's condemnation of the death penalty followed a denunciation of abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia. While the crowd cheered wildly at the mention of abortion, his comments on the death penalty drew a more subdued response.

        Polls shows a majority of American Catholics approve of the death penalty, in numbers similar to groups whose religious beliefs permit executions.

        As they left the Mass, many in the crowd said that fellow Catholics must reconsider their support for capital punishment.

        “I think people need to come around and study (Catholic teaching on the death penalty) and the reasons behind it,” said Claire Moriconi, mayor of Crescent Springs, who attended the Mass with a group of Northern Kentucky residents.

        “It's hard to accept, since there's such brutality and violence and the taking of human life,” Mrs. Moriconi said. “But I think people need to get with it and follow the church teachings on it.”

        John Paul's brief visit was the first and likely the last chance to see the pope for many in the crowd. John Paul coughed occasionally and rested from time to time against his staff, but he spoke in a clear voice and smiled frequently.

        “He looks completely worn out, and this can't be easy,” said Mary Ann Verst of Butler, Ky. “But you look at him and he's so holy. It was an experience I never felt before — holiness all around you.”

        Using big-screen televisions and surrounded by about 250 bishops and cardinals, the pope celebrated Mass in a dome converted to a cathedral in about 24 hours. An army of 1,000 priests fanned out through the stadium to distribute tens of thousands of Communion hosts.

        Nicholas Lombardo, one of the first-year Dominican novices from Madeira in attendance, said the trip was a thrill. Clad in the distinctive white robe and black cape of his order, he sat with his new brothers a few hundred feet from the leader of their church.

        “We're just getting used to Dominican life, being called Brother, wearing the habit,” said Mr. Lombardo, 23. “This has made our novitiate year. It will be something we'll always remember.”

        After thanking the faithful for their love of the church, the pope made an appeal to Catholics who were no longer practicing their religion. It was a theme he invoked in Mexico, as well, where church leaders are concerned about the large numbers of Catholics who are leaving for Protestant churches.

        “Is this not the moment for you to experience the joy of returning to the Father's house?” he asked. “In some cases, there may still be obstacles to Eucharistic participation; in some cases, there may be memories to be healed; in all cases, there is the assurance of God's love and mercy.”

        The pope left St. Louis on Wednesday night en route to Rome.

        The New York Times contributed to this report.

       

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