The Pope has been getting all day coverage on cable TV. I seen him at the White House, saying Mass, at Congress, at the UN. Everywhere the TV shows massive crowds, come from far away, just to see the Pope in person, live and not on TV. The Pope's saturation TV coverage has complete eclipsed the visit of China's president. China is an important country and its president visiting the US ought to be newsworthy, but the Pope has "sucked all the oxygen out of the room", to borrow an overworked cliche from the TV newsies. The Pope is getting better TV coverage than the Donald.
What to make of this? Well, the vast crowds of believers indicate that God is alive and well in the United States. Even among Protestants, the Pope commands enormous respect. The sight of huge crowds, attending services in massive churches, sited on prime city real estate, shows there is loads of support among the citizens for both Catholicism and the Protestant churches. Many Protestant churches have veered off into either extreme liberalism or intense fundamentalism, adopting stances beloved of their pastors but awfully way out for many members. At this time, the Catholic Church teachings are a moderate mainstream view point broadly acceptable to many Americans, which gives the Pope even more importance than he ordinarily would have.
I heard Obama say something like "This church contributes to the strength of America." Which is very true, although I expect churchmen shuddered at hearing this. Good churchmen think in terms of strengthening their church and bringing their parishioners into a better relationship with God, rather than contributing to the strength and power of a secular nation-state. Certainly the Christian teaching that all men are brothers does a lot for good for civil order, loyalty to country, and reduces enmity in the society. This are all good things.
No comments:
Post a Comment