CBS 2
April 21, 2008
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/pope.benedict.visit.2.705235.html
[with video]
CHICAGO — Chicago's archbishop reflected on Pope Benedict XVI's historic first visit to America, a day after the pontiff left the states.
In an interview with CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine, Francis Cardinal George recalls a candid and compassionate leader, determined to heal and re-energize his church.
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| Francis Cardinal George |
Before this visit, Cardinal George told CBS 2 he hoped Americans would see a side of Pope Benedict they hadn't seen with their own eyes. He said Monday the visit accomplished everything he'd hoped it would.
He called Americans' reaction to the Pope indicative of the impression he made on Americans, but said he was also amused at the impact Americans had on Pope.
"He's usually kind of diffident, a little bit reserved and he smiles shyly," George said. "And all of a sudden he starts to smile and laugh and throw out the arms in a way I'd never seen him before."
Just before he left Sunday night, the Pope singled out the huge youth rally on Saturday, as memorable.
For the Cardinal, there were several other events where actions spoke louder than words.
"The two moments though that were most poignant to me weren't so much teaching moments when they were with the disabled before he was with all the youth and there wasn't much to be said there," he said. "And the other moment that was obviously very poignant was at Ground Zero and his hope, our hope, that whatever goes on there, it won't be forgotten."
Along the way, Benedict had met and spoken with many Chicagoans who'd traveled to see him.
A large banner was unfurled at the mass Sunday, as several hundred Chicagoans gathered in the upper reaches of Yankee Stadium.
Parents brought their children to see him. One school, Northridge Prep of Niles, managed to get 90 tickets, while 100 seminarians from Mundelein were in the front row at the youth rally, all to hear a message he repeated again and again.
"The protection of children was I think the dominant note he wanted to sound and the outreach in loving care to those who been injured by this terrible sin," Cardinal George said.
It was perhaps the clearest acknowledgment yet that the Vatican truly understood the impact of the scandal here.
Whether this Pope ever returns to the United States is uncertain, health issues make travel difficult for him, but he certainly made the most of this one.
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