The Pope In America: Offering an American Perspective

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The Rev. Martin E. Marty, church historian, University of Chicago, and a Protestant: The danger is that because of the large crowds John Paul might make the mistake of thinking he could whip everybody into line. In Poland you don't have to whip. When you have a common foe, everyone is automatically in line. You don't have that in America. Popes until 30 years ago could act with power because Catholics were afraid of hell, excommunication, social ostracism, the scorn of priests. The modern papacy has no coercive power, only persuasive power. He's a smart enough Pope, I think, to keep everyone from going home mad. There is a tremendous hunger on the part of liberals today to find their tradition. If he doesn't crack the whip, he'll persuade them. Liberals are marvelous adapters.

John T. Noonan, law professor, University of California at Berkeley: Before the Sec ond Vatican Council, the church was focused enough on God to be somewhat neglectful of human social problems. The tendency afterward has been to so focus on the social and human as to forget the transcendent. John Paul seems to me to be perfectly in the center, striking a balance ... In America, I see a family-centered, marriage-centered Catholic community standing out, not against Protestants or devout Jews but against a secular society in which the family is increasingly devalued. There's a real split now between the dominant secular values and the Christian and Old Testament vision.

The Rev. Luis Olivares, president of PADRES, an association of Hispanic priests: The Hispano-Catholic relates to the family, not affluence. Ordaining women is trivia. Birth control or married priests are nonissues. By his presence the Pope can give tangible evidence of the concern expressed in his message about the poor, the alienated, the consumer society. The Pope can also directly appoint more Hispanic bishops in this country. The American hierarchy as a whole fails to recognize the Hispano-Catholic and his values. You cannot alienate people for too long. The Hispanic is a patient and long-suffering soul. John Paul II gives us cause for hope.

Claire Randall, general secretary, National Council of Churches: The impact of the visit is a forceful reminder to those who think religion in this country is dead, passe... The Pope will gain a sense of Catholicism in this country, but he needs to see Catholicism in the context of a non-Catholic country. You have to understand Protestantism just to understand this country. Our historical background is entirely different from that of the Pope. There are hundreds of women clergy here. The Pope speaks as though a woman priesthood could never be achieved. He implies that where sacred things are concerned, women cannot have the same relationship to God man can have, or that God cannot use them in the way he can use men. This is something that I and many men and women, both Protestant and Catholic, cannot accept.