The Pope’s Visit

I hope the Pope’s visit to the U.S. will stir some people – both Protestants and Catholics – to return to the church, and into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Since the visit received a lot of publicity, I hope all this attention will move some people in the right direction.

Most of what the Pope said and did was very commendable, from what I saw. I missed much of the coverage so I am speaking from what the media edited it all down to. He visited a synagogue, made a pilgrimage to Ground Zero, met with leaders of other religions, met with leaders of other Christian denominations, addressed the UN, and met with victims of clergy abuse. He did the right things, in my opinion.

In his talks he spoke often about returning to the faith, which is something this country needs to do if it is to continue to receive God’s blessings and have an upright and moral society. He reached out to other Christians and to other faiths, which is a good thing to do. He emphasized the things we have in common, and downplayed our differences.

In listening to the commentators on TV, I was amused to see that they were surprised that the Pope is human, humble, and reasonable. Because he has been labeled a “hard-liner” by the media, they must have assumed he would be arrogant, mean-spirited, and dogmatic. He’s actually a nice guy! What a surprise!

Speaking of mean-spirited, I saw a replay Bill Maher’s distasteful put-down of the Pope. It was over the top, in very poor taste, and he should apologize to Catholics, Christians in general, and people of German heritage. It’s one thing to pick on a politician (most of them deserve it), but to mock the Pope (or any religious leader) is bigoted and wrong. It reminded me of the way MoveOn.org ridiculed General Petraeus last year in a very dishonoring way. Liberals, who so piously tout “tolerance” are the most mean-spirited and intolerant bunch you could ever find.

I applaud the Pope for visiting our country and for giving us wise words in spiritual and other matters. May this spark a revival among Christians, which this country sorely needs.