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May 2, 2008
Witnessing pope’s visit leaves faithful excited
 Andy Telli, Tennessee Register
Several of the people from the Diocese of Nashville who welcomed Pope Benedict XVI during his trip to the United States April 15-20 described the pope and the visit as calming, gentle, welcoming, pastoral, kind, encouraging, humble, amazing, and a beacon of light.
In his first trip to the United States as pope, Benedict visited Washington, D.C. and New York, where he met with President George W. Bush, addressed the United Nations, met with victims of sexual abuse by clergy, met with leaders of other faiths, lead a prayer service for more than 300 American bishops, met with Catholic educators, visited Ground Zero, celebrated Mass for clergy from around the country, attended a youth rally at a seminary, and celebrated large outdoor Masses at Nationals Park in Washington and Yankee Stadium in New York.
Nashville Bishop David Choby expressed the hope that in the weeks and months ahead the Holy Father’s visit will not be forgotten and overshadowed by world events. “It was such a positive moment in the history of the Church in the United States. We should take the time to reflect on his call for a deeper understating of the faith, and the message of hope and encouragement that he brought to Catholics and non-Catholics.”
At nearly every stop, Pope Benedict reminded the American church that Jesus Christ offers the authentic truth, in which lies hope.
“Everything he said he brought in hope and truth and love,” said Therese Williams, superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Nashville.
Promoting ‘intellectual charity’
Williams and Sister Mary Peter, O.P., president of Aquinas College in Nashville, were among the diocesan school superintendents and presidents of Catholic colleges and universities from across the country who met with Pope Benedict while he was in Washington.
Sister Mary Peter wrote about the trip to Washington on the Aquinas College website. “Pope Benedict called on educators to give authentic witness in the service of the truth, and encouraged us to exercise intellectual charity, saying, ‘the profound responsibility to lead the young to truth is nothing less than an act of love. Indeed, the dignity of education lies in fostering the true perfection and happiness of those to be educated.’”
“I loved his phrase … ‘intellectual charity,’” Sister Mary Peter said, “because it combines those two great gifts of the intellect and will and sets out for us as educators the real purpose of what we do, which is to lead our students to the truth realizing that that is in fact an act of love.”
Pope Benedict talked to the educators about the Catholic identity of their institutions. “Catholic identity is not simply a question of the number of Catholic students. It is a question of conviction – do we really believe that only in the mystery of the Word made flesh does the mystery of man truly become clear,” the pope said. “Is the faith tangible in our universities and schools? Is it given fervent expression liturgically, sacramentally, through prayer, acts of charity, a concern for justice, and respect for God’s creation? Only in this way do we really bear witness to the meaning of who we are and what we uphold.”
Creating a school’s Catholic identity has “everything to do with what you do not only in the classroom but outside the classroom also, which makes sense because you’re educating the whole person, not just their intellects,” Sister Mary Peter said.
“I felt great about what he was saying,” Williams said. “We are right in line with everything he was sharing with us. I kind of felt like his vision was our vision.”
 Beacon of Light
During the pope’s visit the bond between Benedict and American Catholics began to grow, said Father Stephen Gideon, pastor of St. Christopher Church in Dickson. “I think a lot of the American people got to know him better and that’s a good thing.”
“He couldn’t help but be impressed by the enthusiasm by the people who welcomed him,” Father Gideon said of the pope. “The people were so excited. They could hardly contain themselves.”
Father Gideon was one of several priests from the Nashville Diocese who concelebrated Mass with the pope at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. The Mass was for clergy from across the country.
“It was quite exciting,” said Father Gideon who had a seat in the 19th row at St. Patrick’s. “I thought the liturgy was so well done and the music was fabulous. I was very impressed … with the church in New York. … They made it a success.”
Rosemary Fisher of St. Henry Church in Nashville, Erin Kristoback of Vanderbilt University, and seminarian Kin Easter all felt the same enthusiasm for the pope’s visit that Father Gideon talked about.
Fisher attended the papal Mass at Yankee Stadium. “That was like sitting in a stadium … with thousands of friends,” she said. “It was exciting that thousands were sharing the same moment and feeling the same thing.”
Fisher, who attended the Mass with Melody Clarke, a friend and teacher at St. Henry School, was sitting to the side of the altar along the first base side of the stadium about 20 rows from the field.
“It made me so proud to be Catholic, and so proud to be there,” Fisher added.
She also was impressed with the pope’s visit to Ground Zero, the site of the World Trade Center towers that came crashing down in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. “Here he was a beacon of light in this horrible place where so many souls were lost.”
Rallying youth
Kin Easter and six other seminarians from the diocese who are studying at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, attended the youth rally at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y. They were among more than 20,000 seminarians, religious, and lay young people from across the country who came to see the pope at the rally.
“For me personally, seeing the Holy Father there and seeing the thousands and thousands of Catholics there, it was a great testimony to me of the great unity of our Catholic faith,” Easter said. “It was very impressive.”
Although people were waiting for hours in the hot sun while a variety of musicians and singers entertained the crowd, there was an explosion of excitement when the pope arrived, said Kristoback, who attended the papal Mass in Washington and the youth rally in New York with a group of fellow Vanderbilt University students.
“Everyone was cheering so loud. The applause lasted it seemed like 10 minutes or so,” she said. “It was so beautiful.”
In his address at the youth rally, the pope spoke about “relativism and how that can mislead a lot of young people in America and lead them to despair,” Easter said. “The answer of course is not relativism but the truth, which is Jesus Christ.”
The pope spoke of his own youth in Nazi Germany, which were confusing times like today, Easter said. Like today, the pope said, many people then put their hope into things other than Jesus.
It was a message that resonated with the seminarians and youth at the rally, Easter said.
“His message really applies to young people at Vanderbilt,” said Kristoback, a second year graduate student. The pope encouraged them to be strong in their faith even when it is out of step with the culture around them, she said.
“We’re in the process of having of very wonderful explosion of faith here at Vanderbilt in the Vanderbilt Catholic Community,” supported by the campus’ Catholic chaplain, Father John Sims Baker, and the FOCUS missionaries who have been serving on campus this school year, Kristoback said. The papal visit “really excited us even more,” she added.
“We’re not just the future of the church, we are the church today,” Kristoback said.
Those at the youth rally weren’t the only ones excited by witnessing the pope’s visit.
“I was honored to be there,” Therese Williams said. The day she and the other Catholic educators met with the pope, she thought to herself, “This is one of the greatest days of my life.”
Photos by Rick Musacchio
Pope Benedict XVI listens during a meeting April 17 with interreligious leaders at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center.
Bishop David Choby, pointing, makes his way into St. Patrick Cathedral in New York where Pope Benedict XVI celebrated a Mass for clergy and religious during his pastoral visit to the United States.
The popemobile, right, passes in front of St. Patrick Cathedral.
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