Pope's Visit Might Bring Catholics Back to Church

The Pope paused every few sentences in his homily Monday night, as if he were waiting for the crowds to respond. They did, cheering and applauding, at one point breaking into a chant of "Long live the Pope."

That's the kind of Pope John Paul II is. He wants people to love him, and through his trips to Mexico, Poland, Ireland and the U.S., he is reaching out to people in all social and economic spheres.

But the effect of his visit is still uncertain. His appeal to the Palestinians for peace yesterday may have the same impact as his appeal for peace in Northern Ireland. The latter charge has apparently moved Irish Catholics but it has left many Protestant leaders skeptical.

"His speech could have an effect, but it doesn't mean the bombings will stop. It would simply create an atmosphere," Father Francis Rimkus, managing editor of The Pilot, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston, said yesterday. "The Pope doesn't set down a three-point plan for getting peace in Lebanon--that's not his role," Rimkus said. But he added that when the Pope gives such a political speech before the United Nations, "he's not just saying niceties."

The Pope's messages for peace are unusual because they are directed at certain countries, Rimkus said, adding that traditionally, papal documents have been more general in scope.

The effect of the Pope's visit on Boston is equally difficult to predict. "For Roman Catholics, the effect happened before he came--in the enthusiasm and encouragement displayed in the numbers of people who showed up and stayed for the Mass. The Pope's visit will bring a spark of life to them," Rimkus said.

Whether this visit will, in the long run, encourage more Catholics to attend Mass is doubtful, Rimkus said. "More people were in church when John F. Kennedy was killed than at any other time, so quite possibly attendance will rise," he added.

The Pope's visit might be a catalyst for growth in the intensity of Catholicism in America, but Rimkus added, "It will take a lot more factors than a Pope's visit for people to decide whether to join the Church."

The Pope's theme of youth is an arresting direct appeal from the head of the Roman Catholic Church to youth who have sought material or physical solutions to their problems, Rimkus said. The Pope chose this method purposely to encourage many young people to try to find their answers through the Church.

Attendance at Masses declined steadily nationwide throughout the late '60s and early '70s, but has stabilized in the past two years at about 50 per cent, Rimkus said.

The Pope's visit to Poland in June, however, had a considerable emotional hold on that country, George H. Williams, Hollis Professor of Divinity, said Monday. Williams returned last week from a month-long trip to Poland, where he conducted interviews for a book he is writing about the Pope.

Because Polish television ran frequent documentaries all summer on the 40th anniversary of the Nazi takeover, the emotional level of the people remained high, Williams said.

The Pope spoke of himself then as a Slavic Pope--a statement which seems to indicate that he is trying to unify Christians in Eastern Europe, Williams said. The Pope may eventually try to go to the Soviet Union as a guest of the patriarch of Moscow, he added