Cardinal O'Malley reflects on apostolic visit, meeting
May 01, 2008
In an April 23 interview with The Pilot, Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, shared his thoughts on the Holy Father’s six-day trip to the United States.
By Antonio Enrique
The Boston Pilot, 4/25/2008
BRIGHTON -- In an April 23 interview with The Pilot,
Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, shared his thoughts on the
Holy Father’s six-day trip to the United States.
Q: How would you summarize the Holy Father’s trip?
A: The Holy Father chose as the theme for his
apostolic visit, “Christ our Hope.” I think he brought
us closer to Christ by his presence and filled our
hearts with hope in Christ’s promises and in our
future as his people.
Q: The consensus in the media is that the Holy
Father’s visit has been a great success for the Church
in the U.S. Are you surprised by that assessment? Were
you expecting instead a more critical attitude in the
secular media?
A: Well, I know some people in the media like to be
very critical of the Church. However, I was confident
that as people saw the Holy Father up close that they
could not help but be impressed by his personality, by
his intelligence, by his obvious holiness. In that
sense I am not surprised that the people were so
disarmed by being able to see him as he really is and
to listen to his words.
Q; It was a busy trip…
A: I was just pleased that the Holy Father seemed to
hold up so well during the trip. It was an exhausting
trip. Many people are commenting how quickly he went
up the steps and his obvious enthusiasm. For an
81-year-old who has not had the greatest health it was
truly a “tour de force.”
Q: Which was your personal interaction with the Holy
Father?
A: I was able to be at a couple of meals -- obviously
in small groups -- at the nunciatures in Washington
and New York. I had the opportunity to speak briefly
with the Holy Father on those occasions. He was very
pleased with the visit and I know he was very moved
with the meeting with the victims. I ate with him in
New York the following day after our meeting in
Washington and there he commented how moving that
experience had been for him.
Q: Can you explain your involvement in that
unannounced meeting in Washington that brought
together the Holy Father with five local victims of
sexual abuse by clergy?
A: After it was announced that the Holy Father was
going to Washington and New York and that Boston was
not included, the bishops of the region joined me in
writing a letter to the Holy Father asking him to
reconsider and talking about the pastoral needs that
we have in New England. Then the response came back
that, given the very taxing nature of the trip, that
they (Vatican officials) really hesitated to add
anything else. So I wrote back again asking if the
Holy Father would meet with victims and after that the
Holy Father responded and asked me to make the
necessary arrangements.
Q: Why was this meeting not part of the official
schedule?
A: We did our best to keep it a very discreet meeting
because we did not want to turn it a media circus and
we were afraid that if people found ahead of time that
that was just what would happen. Also, some of the
survivors who accompanied us wished to remain
anonymous and it would have made it impossible for
them to participate under the public scrutiny. So, I
am just thankful that we were able to carry it off
without becoming public before hand.
I was very grateful to the Holy Father. The many times
he addressed the sexual abuse crisis indicate how
deeply he understands the situation of our Church and
what happens here. He obviously feels a great sorrow
over what has happened and that he is ashamed but, at
the same time, wants to encourage us on the path to
healing and reconciliation.
At the Thursday morning Mass at the Nationals’ stadium
he talked about the need of giving pastoral care to
the victims, and then in the afternoon he gave us a
very concrete example of that in his own encounter
with them.
Q: Why do you think this was a crucial meeting?
A: I think it was important for the victims to feel as
though they had access to the Holy Father. Obviously,
not all victims but someone representing them and in a
small enough group, in a context that it would allow
for a very personal interchange between the Holy
Father and the victims. It was not a formal address;
the Holy Father made his initial comments and then he
spoke with each of the victims individually, he
clasped their hands, he blessed them, he prayed with
them.
I think for the Holy Father, pastorally, it was very
important to experience this. Certainly he has heard
through the bishops and through others the devastation
of sexual abuse but it is another thing to encounter
personally the survivors and to learn first hand of
their suffering and pain.
Q: There was a very moving moment when you handed a
book to the Holy Father with over 1,000 names of
victims…
A: Yes, over 1,000 names, first names, done in
calligraphy and very beautifully and artistically
prepared, with prayers and other reflections
interspersed among the names. It was a way to try to
underline the fact that the meeting was to be
representative of all the victims, not just the ones
who were there, or even the ones whose names appeared
in the book, and also to underscore the dimension of
the problem. The names in the book represent names
that have come to us, of cases that have come to us in
the last 50 years.
It was obvious from the Holy Father’s demeanor that it
was a very poignant moment in the visit.
Q: The pope has spoken on a variety of issues during
this trip. Beyond the pope’s remarks on sexual abuse,
what other themes would you highlight?
A: The call to greater fidelity, and our discipleship
and to interior life. The stress on prayer, the very
deep grasp the Holy Father has of what’s happening in
our world with the conflicts in values and the dangers
of secularization and the dictatorships of relativism
and the need to present the beauty of the Gospel in
its entirety in a convincing and enthusiastic way. The
connection he always makes between our life of faith
and the joy of the Gospel, something that refers to
often. That struck a note particularly with young
people and educators.
Q: As you accompanied the Holy Father at many events,
which was your perception of the American people’s
affection for him?
A: So many people told me that they were watching him
on television and following everything very closely.
I was impressed in New York by the fact that, at one
point, we were caught in the traffic -- they had
closed these roads and we just sat there for 20
minutes -- and the people were getting out of their
cars and talking to each other. But I was very
surprised that people were not angry. I was very
uneasy that this was happening because of the Holy
Father and yet, on the other hand, I was pleased to
see how the people of New York just accepted this.
Even things like that were an indication to me of the
positive attitude that people had towards the visit,
even those who were not, perhaps, Catholic. I had
people approach me in the street and tell me that they
weren’t Catholic but they were so pleased with the
Holy Father’s visit.
Q: What impact do you think this visit will have on
Boston Catholics?
A: The fact that the visit comes in the midst of our
bicentennial year I think it is a great blessing. Even
though the Holy Father did not come to Boston, his
presence in our country in the context of our
bicentennial year should be a great source of
encouragement for us as we struggle with the
challenges that we face and in our attempts to deepen
spiritual renewal particularly in calling people to
greater fidelity and to a life of prayer and to the
Sunday observance which is the centerpiece of our life
as Catholic Christians.
Cardinal O'Malley reflects on apostolic visit, meeting