BEND — While you are reading this I hope to be in Australia. Sydney to be more precise. World Youth Day to be exact. The Diocese of Baker is being represented by more than forty individuals who have made the commitment to make this pilgrimage to be with the Holy Father on the occasion of this worldwide youth event. I must confess that I have not yet attended a World Youth Day event and I have been rather cool to the idea of doing so. My experience in Washington, D.C. on the occasion of the recent Papal visit, however, has significantly raised my level of positive expectation. I can recall years ago being a bit amazed at the popularity of the older and more frail Pope John Paul II among the young. He was popular among them to the pop star level. The question which was always in the back of my mind, however, was whether that popularity translated into personal religious fidelity. Over the years millions of young people have flocked to these papal appearances and I pray that the effect remains with them. I pray that they are faithful to Mass attendance, to keeping the Commandments, to prayer and to the teachings of the Church. Is not this fidelity, in many ways, the measure of the ultimate effectiveness of these international papal events?

Pope John Paul II was charismatic and he had a wonderful way to connecting with the youth. He preached a firm and consistent message and he always preached it with great love. The same can be said of pope Benedict XVI. During his trip to the United States he was most gracious and kind and yet there were strong messages in his words. Recall especially his words to Catholic educators. In effect, he said, “You cannot teach what you do not live!” There are volumes spoken in this simple admonition. While Pope Benedict XVI was well received in the United States I do question whether the enthusiasm of the reception he received translates into personal religious fidelity. Perhaps a part of that question comes from a recollection of an interview with a “man on the street.” When asked what he thought of Pope John Paul II he indicated that he thought he was wonderful, great, even splendid. When asked what he thought of his teaching the response was entirely negative. I hope that there were many in our U.S. culture who were not only positively impressed with Pope John Paul and with Pope Benedict but who actually took their words to heart. My fear is that the heart of Catholic America is so encrusted with secularism, relativism and materialism that the message of truth which these popes speak is not readily allowed to take root, much less germinate, much less grow, much less bear fruit. Do not misunderstand me, I do recognize that there are significant conversions which take place on the occasion of these events and many of those conversions are genuine and long lasting. Pray ardently that the youth who travel to Sydney have wonderful and positive religious experiences but pray especially that these experiences are translated into zealous, personal religious fidelity.

There seems to me to be a disconnect when someone insists that they have a personal appreciation for the person of the Holy Father while adamantly rejecting the very things which he is teaching and upholding. Pope Benedict made reference to this during his visit. He talked about the impossibility of separating our private life from our public life. Consistency between what we believe and what we do is essential. Remember the politicians of a decade or two ago who were straddling the fence on abortion. Their standard line: “I am ‘personally opposed’ to abortion but I would not impose my view on anyone.” They seemed to recognize the need to present a pro-life private life while maintaining a pro-abortion public life. Now they feel no such need. Now even Catholic politicians, not all of them certainly, seem to have no qualms of conscience about making public declarations that they will always act, in their public life, to defend and protect, not the life of the child, but the right of the mother to kill that child, while maintaining that they are Catholics in “good standing,” not excommunicated, and communicants. There does not even seem to be any vestige of “personal opposition” to abortion left. Indeed, this is not surprising. It is simply not possible to hold to a so-called “personal opposition” and to act, in a public or external fashion, in a way which consistently undermines that “personal opposition.” Perhaps the spiritual progression would look like this:

• Personally opposed but publicly supportive of abortion while working to restrict abortion to those times when the life of mother is at stake or in cases of rape and incest.

• Then personally opposed but publicly supportive of abortion while working to minimize the number of abortions or the need for abortions.

• Then personally opposed but publicly supportive of abortion while working to assure greater access to abortion.

• Then personally opposed but publicly supportive of abortion while working to ensure the right to abortion even up to and including the day of birth.

• Then personally opposed but publicly supportive of abortion while working to overturn the ban on partial-birth abortion.

• Then a Catholic in “good standing” but publicly supportive of abortion as a woman’s Constitutional right to choose.

• Then a Catholic in “good standing” who thinks the Church needs to rethink its centuries old opposition to abortion.

• Then a Catholic in “good standing” who personally likes the Pope but who rejects everything the Catholic Church holds to be true, right and good.

• Then a Catholic who is not excommunicated and thus not forbidden to receive Holy Communion.

• Then a Catholic who has been informed that he or she should rethink their position on abortion or refrain from receiving Holy Communion.

• Then an oppositional Catholic who maintains that the Bishop has no right to tell them how to live or what to do.

• Then an excommunicated Catholic who publicly defies the excommunication by continuing to receive Holy Communion.

• Then a “Catholic” who must answer to our Lord who will simply say: “That which you did or failed to do for the least of my brothers, you did or failed to do for Me.”