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Recently, a secular commentator insisted that the central fact of the papacy today is the “wide open” gap between the pope and individual believers. He predicted the gap will widen in the years ahead. But nothing could be further from the truth.
It is now a year since the death of our great Pope John Paul II and the election of Pope Benedict XVI. No one could have imagined the outpouring of love and affection for John Paul II and his successor during this time, especially at World Youth Day in Cologne.
During John Paul’s 104 pilgrimages throughout the world, more people came to see and greet him than any other person in history. And the number of pilgrims now coming to Rome to see Pope Benedict XVI already exceeds those who came to see his predecessor at the same point in his pontificate.
Modern means of travel and communication make us more connected to the pope. And the Knights of Columbus has made that connection available to millions of people during the past 28 years by our financial support of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, which makes possible television broadcasts of the pope’s many activities. Millions of people in 84 countries around the world were able to watch John Paul’s funeral because of our support. In addition, 124 television networks in 75 countries were able to broadcast Pope Benedict’s first Mass as pope last year.
Surely, some corporate sponsor would be more than happy to provide the financial support required for these broadcasts. But that would miss the point. The Catholic faithful, in this case, the Knights of Columbus, is more than capable and willing to shoulder the responsibility to ensure that our pope’s message is heard throughout the world.
This leads to the second reason why the “gap” is actually narrowing rather than getting wider: the vital importance of the pope’s message. Consider Pope Benedict’s first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est (God is Love). No message could be more important as our world seems to be spinning out of control, obsessed with violence. While too many around us see a divine call for holy war, Pope Benedict has courageously affirmed the divine commandment to love one’s neighbor.
Deus Caritas Est directly confronts our continuing global crisis. It also reaches with equal directness into every home and human heart with the profound message of Christ’s love. No “domestic” challenge is more urgent than restoring an authentic understanding of love to our youth.
The recovery of an authentic Christian vision of marriage and family was a central pastoral theme of John Paul II, and now it is clear that marriage and family are of fundamental importance to Benedict XVI. In this way, too, our popes have connected with the primary human drama of every believer.
The truth is that we live in a time of unprecedented papal leadership — of popes who courageously raise high Christ’s banner. If there are gaps in the line, then let Knights step forward to close them.
Vivat Jesus!
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