Thought for the Day 19th April

Copyright BBC

TFTD 19th March
Pope Visit
Rob Marshall

Good morning
After listening intently to Pope Benedict XVI’s first speech on US soil this week, Mr.Bush, unaware that a TV microphone would catch what he said, warmly congratulated the Pope on his awesome speech. The relaxed exchange has set the tone for a significant visit.

A Papal visit of the kind we are currently observing in the United States is unusual because it is attracting a level of analysis and comment which is out of sink with the media’s usual claim that whilst faith is of great interest to many people – organised religion and Mass attendance is on the wane.

But here we have the direct successor of St Peter, flying from city to city, riding in a pope mobile, attracting huge crowds and filling baseball stadiums; he has held talks with business and community leaders and was at the United Nations in New York yesterday.

Several newspaper columnists have got my goat in recent days writing sulkily that only America could greet a Pope in this way – doing justice in their writing neither to the office of Pope nor to the integrity of the American people.

When John Paul II came to the United Kingdom several decades ago, I went to one of the open air masses and it really was quite extraordinary to behold: why, I asked myself, could the church not learn something quite basic from this excitement – this sense of a great event.?

But the one thing which will be remembered above all after the visit of this very different Pope to the United States is the simple word “sorry”. The Holy Father recognised that there was no way he could celebrate the essence of his own faith amongst new friends without first offering a deep and profound apology for previous wrongs- and particularly to the victims of terrible abuse by representatives of his own church in former times.

The protection of children, young people and vulnerable adults is now a massive priority for any organisation working with and for them. And whilst the putting in place of stringent measures to protect children in the future is admirable – we cannot forget those who have suffered terribly in the past and who still bear the scares of previous wrongdoing.

By saying sorry so openly and unequivocally, Pope Benedict’s confession and appeal for forgiveness has obviously rallied many Americans behind him and given millions of Christians a basic reminder of how true repentance can lead to a fresh start. There’s no room for complacency but there’s certainly an opportunity to live out perhaps the most famous prayer of all: forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those have trespassed against us.