Perspective Hopeful Youth Day connections
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
NCRs little
corner of Roman real estate overlooks a bridge spanning the Tiber River near
the Vatican, and last week it was a prime observation post for watching the
more than 2 million young people who cascaded through the city for World Youth
Day. As I leaned out my office window, throngs of young pilgrims waved, cheered
and displayed their banners. Once a group stood on the street two floors below
and serenaded me in what I think was Portuguese, delighted with my
uncomprehending grin.
The Papa-Boys, as the local press tagged them, dazzled
jaded Roman observers with their zest for Catholicism. They made more than
60,000 confessions (15,000 per day at the Circus Maximus, using 2,000 priests,
in 32 languages), attended catechism sessions and hiked up to nine miles in the
blazing sun for Mass with the pope. It was, according to Mayor Francesco
Rutelli, the greatest gathering of people ever in this city, and Rome has seen
a few gatherings in its time.
Not everyone was so thrilled. Some critics saw the rallies here as
a form of papal idolatry; others noted the logistical and financial support
given by groups such as Opus Dei and Communion and Liberation, and whispered
about hidden agendas.
My experience, however, led my thoughts in a different direction.
World Youth Day gave me a new appreciation of this pope and the church he
leads.
I discovered that John Pauls appeal to youth is a not a
matter of show; he gives real focus and fortitude to their innate moral sense.
I spoke with dozens of participants, usually off the record and away from their
sponsors, who believed contact with the pope would make them better friends,
better lovers, better citizens, better people.
These young people know the church has problems, that Karol
Wojtyla is a closed book on many issues. What impresses them is his challenge
to put on Christ in a world desperate for holiness and sacrifice;
that ideal is John Pauls gift to youth.
Second, the gathering underscored Catholicisms unique
potential to be a moral force in the new world that globalization has created.
I sat in the World Youth Forum, which brought together two young people from
each of the 157 nations represented in Rome, and listened as a young woman from
the Sudan describe the ravages of the civil war (1.3 million dead and 4 million
refugees in the last two decades). A young man from the Reunion Islands spoke
of the necessity of blending faith with political action in the face of his
countrys stunning poverty. A young man from South Africa discussed
struggling to live an ethic of compassion in a society where 1,200 people every
day become HIV positive. It became clear to participants that their problems
are interconnected, and that solutions must be systemic.
I found myself thinking: What other institution on the planet
could provide a platform for this kind of social analysis across boundaries of
geography, language and culture? What other institution could bring people
together from such diverse situations and give them a shared moral and
spiritual vocabulary? Thats not to say Catholicism does these things
perfectly or consistently, merely that it has a unique capacity to do them at
all.
The event would have been impossible without scores of adult
sponsors and staff, including a few brave souls I met from the U.S.
bishops conference who coordinated the participation of 17,000 to 20,000
American youth. One is a former administrator for NASA, and I couldnt
help thinking the link was appropriate; the logistics for World Youth Day
surely rivaled a shuttle launch. It is one of the more appealing aspects of
Catholicism that it can elicit such enormous dedication for the cause of
youth.
Admittedly, few of the churchs problems were solved by World
Youth Day. Some may actually be worse; I saw an alarming number of young
Catholics marching through the streets of Rome, for example, aligned with
militant new movements eager to do battle with the world rather than to work
with it in partnership. Other young people had a superficial experience that
will melt away as soon as they return to parishes, schools and families that
offer no follow-up. Many just came here for a good time and found it (one
newspaper irreverently predicted a boom of Italian Jubilee babies
nine months from now among 20-somethings who made the trip).
The bottom line, however, is that hundreds of thousands of young
people, dedicated to building Gods reign, made connections here. From
such encounters comes hope; it is Catholicism at its best.
John L. Allen Jr. is NCRs Vatican correspondent. His
e-mail is jallen@natcath.org
National Catholic Reporter, September 8,
2000
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