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CNN Live Saturday

Pope's Connection With Young Catholics

Aired May 03, 2003 - 12:52   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: As we told you earlier, Pope John Paul II is in Madrid. And, we're going to bring you these live pictures, one again as his motorcade makes its way through the downtown streets of Madrid, Spain. The pope will use this trip to revitalize the Catholic faith in Spain, especially among the young people there. He's speaking at a youth rally later on today. And for more on the pope's connection to the young people there -- the young Catholics, I'm joined by CNN Vatican analyst, John Allen, and he's on the telephone with us.
And, John, the pope has a lot of work to do if it's true that nine out of 10 Spaniards profess to be Catholic, but on a Sunday service, only two out of those 10 are actually filling the pews.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: Yes, actually, even a little less than that. I mean, the recent survey numbers are something like 18 percent of Spanish Catholics would go to mass once a month and about half report not going to mass at all.

This of course is a nation that -- you know, the Catholicism was the state church up until 1975 and I think that the Spanish church is in a way still trying to figure out how to -- how to revitalize and keep the faith going in a situation where the state isn't backing it up, if you like and in so, these youth rallies and the attempt to make the church very, very visible, through this sort of high octane papal pep rally, if you like, is definitely part of a calculated strategy to reach out and reawaken the faith among Spanish Catholics.

WHITFIELD: And, so, how do you do that realistically, though? It has to be more than just the pope making an appearance to these young people. He has to say something, doesn't he? He has to really choose the right words in order to appeal to these young people.

ALLEN: Well, I mean, I've covered a lot of these -- these meetings with youth and they always are galvanizing, in the sense that youth walk away from these things, extremely pumped up about being Catholic. The pope has a magic touch with young people and I think there's something about seeing this man, you know, this elderly infirm man, pour himself out for the church, in which he so obviously believes, that does connect with young people. The question, always, is follow-up. What happens to the energy when they walk away from the Four Winds Air Base and go back to their schools, go back to their places of employment, go back to their families? And the burden there, that's work the pope can't do, I mean, the burden there, really, is on the local church. How creative and how effective they are at building on this energy and translating it into something practical, and that of course, remains to be seen.

WHITFIELD: What about that follow-up, then, as you mentioned? Because if their parents, if the statistics are already showing that less than half of these professed Catholics in Spain are actually going to church, then where is the support group coming from? I mean, if this 82-year-old man, soon to be 83, once he leaves this venue, who is going to pick up from what he -- what message he delivered?

ALLEN: Well, I think that's an excellent and largely unanswered question. I think one strategy that the church has been relying upon in recent years, and especially here in Spain, are the so-called new movements. These are movements such as Opus Dei, such as the Neo- Catechumen, such as Chistios (ph), all of which were born here in Spain, which are, if you like, clubs that have especially strong youth arms and exist kind of alongside, outside of the normal parish structure. They're a little controversial in the church for exactly that reason, because people aren't sure where they fit in but the one thing they do provide is an atmosphere in which youth can feel supported, sustained, and energized about being Catholic. Now, whether or not that's the kind of solution that going to work on the mass scale or whether is always going to be kind of a marginal phenomenon remains to be seen. I think the truth, however, is that the Spanish church here has an enormous challenge ahead of it. It's going to have a good night tonight. What that translates into in the long term, we just don't know.

WHITFIELD: Wow, OK. John Allen, our Vatican analyst, thank you very much for being on the telephone with us. And again, here is you're seeing a live picture of the pope, make his way through Madrid, as he does appeal to those millions of people how are waiting. And then tomorrow, on Sunday, he will be have an open air mass there for the people there in Spain.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired May 3, 2003 - 12:52   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: As we told you earlier, Pope John Paul II is in Madrid. And, we're going to bring you these live pictures, one again as his motorcade makes its way through the downtown streets of Madrid, Spain. The pope will use this trip to revitalize the Catholic faith in Spain, especially among the young people there. He's speaking at a youth rally later on today. And for more on the pope's connection to the young people there -- the young Catholics, I'm joined by CNN Vatican analyst, John Allen, and he's on the telephone with us.
And, John, the pope has a lot of work to do if it's true that nine out of 10 Spaniards profess to be Catholic, but on a Sunday service, only two out of those 10 are actually filling the pews.

JOHN ALLEN, CNN VATICAN ANALYST: Yes, actually, even a little less than that. I mean, the recent survey numbers are something like 18 percent of Spanish Catholics would go to mass once a month and about half report not going to mass at all.

This of course is a nation that -- you know, the Catholicism was the state church up until 1975 and I think that the Spanish church is in a way still trying to figure out how to -- how to revitalize and keep the faith going in a situation where the state isn't backing it up, if you like and in so, these youth rallies and the attempt to make the church very, very visible, through this sort of high octane papal pep rally, if you like, is definitely part of a calculated strategy to reach out and reawaken the faith among Spanish Catholics.

WHITFIELD: And, so, how do you do that realistically, though? It has to be more than just the pope making an appearance to these young people. He has to say something, doesn't he? He has to really choose the right words in order to appeal to these young people.

ALLEN: Well, I mean, I've covered a lot of these -- these meetings with youth and they always are galvanizing, in the sense that youth walk away from these things, extremely pumped up about being Catholic. The pope has a magic touch with young people and I think there's something about seeing this man, you know, this elderly infirm man, pour himself out for the church, in which he so obviously believes, that does connect with young people. The question, always, is follow-up. What happens to the energy when they walk away from the Four Winds Air Base and go back to their schools, go back to their places of employment, go back to their families? And the burden there, that's work the pope can't do, I mean, the burden there, really, is on the local church. How creative and how effective they are at building on this energy and translating it into something practical, and that of course, remains to be seen.

WHITFIELD: What about that follow-up, then, as you mentioned? Because if their parents, if the statistics are already showing that less than half of these professed Catholics in Spain are actually going to church, then where is the support group coming from? I mean, if this 82-year-old man, soon to be 83, once he leaves this venue, who is going to pick up from what he -- what message he delivered?

ALLEN: Well, I think that's an excellent and largely unanswered question. I think one strategy that the church has been relying upon in recent years, and especially here in Spain, are the so-called new movements. These are movements such as Opus Dei, such as the Neo- Catechumen, such as Chistios (ph), all of which were born here in Spain, which are, if you like, clubs that have especially strong youth arms and exist kind of alongside, outside of the normal parish structure. They're a little controversial in the church for exactly that reason, because people aren't sure where they fit in but the one thing they do provide is an atmosphere in which youth can feel supported, sustained, and energized about being Catholic. Now, whether or not that's the kind of solution that going to work on the mass scale or whether is always going to be kind of a marginal phenomenon remains to be seen. I think the truth, however, is that the Spanish church here has an enormous challenge ahead of it. It's going to have a good night tonight. What that translates into in the long term, we just don't know.

WHITFIELD: Wow, OK. John Allen, our Vatican analyst, thank you very much for being on the telephone with us. And again, here is you're seeing a live picture of the pope, make his way through Madrid, as he does appeal to those millions of people how are waiting. And then tomorrow, on Sunday, he will be have an open air mass there for the people there in Spain.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com