Preparing for the Pope

Prayers, platforms and problems with the law

At the Catholic bishop's residence in Des Moines, two-member teams of parishioners, fortified by hot tea and sandwiches served by nuns, prayed day and night that Pope John Paul II's visit to the U.S. next week will be a success. In Washington's National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, aspirants auditioned one by one for coveted roles: to be lay readers at the Mass that will be celebrated by the Pontiff on the Washington Mall.

In Chicago, city and archdiocesan officials had a more earthly concern: whether the roof of an underground parking garage would collapse under the weight of viewers when an estimated 1.5 million people crowd Grant Park for the Pope's Mass. To show that the roof was safe, an engineering firm piled 430 tons of cinder blocks on it last week.

These were all part of the preparations for Pope John Paul's historic, seven-day American tour, which will begin with his arrival in Boston next Monday. He will celebrate Mass at each major stop --Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Des Moines, Chicago and Washington--and visit St. Patrick's Church in the tiny farm town of Cumming, Iowa. Along the way, John Paul will address seminarians and school students, visit with cardinals and civic dignitaries and attend a huge reception on the White House lawn that threatens to turn into a political rally: the President's invited guests include several thousand Catholic Carter supporters.

Besides logistical problems, officials in Boston, Philadelphia and Washington had to contend with lawsuits brought by civil libertarians, abortion advocates and atheists, including Madalyn Murray O'Hair, who won the Supreme Court ruling in 1963 that banned prayer from public schools. Opponents argued that public spending on the platforms constructed for the Pope's Masses, or even the use of public land, would violate the Constitution's separation of church and state. Complained Boston Plaintiff Bill Baird: "What do you think would happen if the Ayatullah Khomeini were coming to Boston Common to conduct a Muslim service? Do you think there would be a rush to provide $2 million in public funds for that?"

His logic was lost on Mayor Kevin White, who is Catholic and represents a city that is 75% Catholic. Said White:

"Boston is an international city. This isn't Toledo." Although the archdiocese is now footing the $160,000 bill for the altar and platform on Boston Common, the nine-member city council, which is unanimously Catholic, has appropriated $750,000 for the ceremony, including the cost of security, traffic and crowd control. Insisted Ways and Means Committee Chairman Frederick Langone: "This is not a church function. It is a visit from a head of state."

In Philadelphia, a similar suit brought by the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union proved so unpopular that former Ambassador Walter Annenberg donated $50,000 to help pay for the platform on Logan Circle for the Pope's Mass. Members of local construction unions offered to do the work free. The judge came up with a solution: a hearing on the suit was put off until Oct. 9, five days after the Pope leaves town.

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Last week Vatican sources disclosed that the Pope will make history again, probably in November, when he calls the 131-member College of Cardinals into an extraordinary session in Rome. In recent years the college has been convened only to elect a new Pope. Vatican watchers speculate that John Paul plans to revive the college as a consultative body, thus restoring some of the power it has lost over the centuries. Says one papal observer:

"This is a revolutionary move, establishing his cardinals as real counselors. He will bring them in from all over the world to hear them out on what is wrong with the church." --

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