Papal Tour To Bypass University

Even though the Divinity School and President Bok sent several letters asking the Pope to speak at Harvard, John Paul II will not visit the University when he comes to Boston October 1, George E. Rupp, dean of the Div School, said yesterday.

Harvard first considered contacting the Pope this spring at the suggestion of George H. Williams, Hollis Professor of Divinity, who has known him since Vatican II in the early 60s. But Rupp said "It is virtually certain" the Pope will not visit Harvard.

Both the Div School and President Bok's office pressed the invitation through Humberto Cardinal Medeiros, archbishop of Boston, after the announcement made this summer that the Pope would visit six American cities, Rupp said.

Wishful Thinking

Harvard invited the Pope to give an annual lecture traditionally related to Protestant-Roman Catholic relations, Rupp said. He added that ironically, the lecture series began as a polemic against Roman Catholicism, but that it changed about two decades ago.

Because Harvard began as a Protestant university, "it has less claim on the Pope than the millions of Roman Catholics in the United States," Rupp said.

The Pope will give a mass on Boston Common October 1 at 5 p.m. and will travel by motorcade through several Boston neighborhoods during his overnight stay here. He will not be traveling through Cambridge, a Cambridge police spokesman said yesterday.

Church and State

Controversy has erupted over whether the city of Boston or the archdiocese will pay for the papal visit, especially for the 150-foot platform and altar to be constructed on Boston Common. Some Protestant groups and Massachusetts Civil Liberties Union officials have said that if the city pays for the entire visit, Boston will be violating the separation of church and state guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution. The Boston City Council earlier this week debated whether to appropriate $150,000 for four platforms and a choir performance on the common.

Williams is in Poland interviewing acquaintances of the Pope for a book on the ideas and personality of the Pope.

Mrs. Williams is not sure whether Williams, who is returning September 29, will meet with the Pope in Boston.

The Pope will also visit New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Des Moines and Chicago during his week-long visit to the U.S.

John Paul II will be protected in Boston by cordons of national guardsmen, state police, Metropolitan District Commission officers, Registry of Motor Vehicles officers, Capitol Police and Secret Service agents.

Representatives from the archdiocese of Boston were unavailable for comment last night.