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American Morning

Pope John Paul II Due to Arrive in Toronto Soon

Aired July 23, 2002 - 11:30   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Pope John Paul II is due to arrive in Toronto in just a couple of hours for World Youth Day celebrations. The frail pontiff left Rome, he left this morning, for the 11-day trip, one that will take him to Canada, Guatemala and Mexico. This is the pope's 97th overseas trip, and he is making it despite his Parkinson's Disease and his crippling arthritis.

Frank Buckley is standing by. He's in Toronto this morning for the pope's arrival.

Frank, good morning.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

A great deal of excitement building here in Toronto for the arrival of John Paul II, the most traveled pope in history, as you said, on his 97th international papal trip. He left this morning from Rome bound for Toronto, aboard an Alitalia aircraft. Some 75 members of the media also aboard that aircraft. Among those on that aircraft will be our Jim Bittermann, is our Jim Bittermann, and he will join us later today with some live coverage during the arrival ceremony of the pope.

Here at the exhibition place, the National Trade Center, crowds of youth are already gathering. A lovely international flavor of young people from around the world. Some 200,000 plus youth already registered for the event.

And among the people who are here, Sister Margaret, Michael Gillis (ph), daughters of St. Paul from Cleveland, and also we have Adam Smeltzer (ph) from Augusta, Kansas and Cybill Herone (ph) from France.

First, Sister Margaret, you have been to these world youth day vents. Tell me what it's like.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The last one I was at was in Rome during the jubilee year, and it was quite a wonderful experience, young people from all over the world. Very energizing. It made me very excited to be a Catholic and to be just united in prayer and celebration with young people from all over the world together for the same reason.

BUCKLEY: Adam, wanted to ask you, there is a chance you will see the pope, A very good chance at that, maybe you will get to meet the pope. What is it that the pope means to you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, it's just a way it increase my faith in the Catholic Church. That's why I wanted to come visit and come to Canada here.

BUCKLEY: The organizers here asked us to take to the youth. They said that's the story, not the church, not the pope; it's the youth.

Let me talk to Cybill here, who's traveled all the way from France to come to Toronto. It's quite a long journey, quite an undertaking. You are a pilgrim. Why did you decide to take this pilgrimage.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have been in Paris and Rome before. It was so great, so many people from everywhere, and actually, it's not just that. I mean, it is great to be with people from everywhere. But it is so great because there is a very special atmosphere here. It is very spiritual. We can hear everybody sing and pray, and this is wonderful, this is great.

One of the things that people are concerned about is the pope's health. He is 82 years old, suffers from symptoms of Parkinson's Disease.

Sister Margaret, any thoughts about that, his health?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One thing that comes to my mind is that at this point in time, the pope is really offering us another kind of leadership. I feel that he's -- in a sense teaching us how to age gracefully, hot to accept suffering as Christians. I'm actually quite inspired, even though that he is -- he is getting up there in age. I feel he is teaching us in another way, how to walk the walk as Christians, even as we get older.

BUCKLEY: This has been a special event for Canada throughout. Canada, the world youth day cross, has traveled across all of the diocese of Canada. Thousands of people have had a chance to see that. It's almost like the Olympic torch. Elsewhere, they unveiled this week a bronze sculpture of the pope.

Let me ask you, Adam, why do you think the pope, to your generation, why does he mean something? He's in another part of the world and so much older than you. Why does he mean something to you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He's still a faithful, and basically kind of just like a sign to us that there is hope, and in our generation we need something to look up to, something to base our lives upon, and that's what he represents to our generation.

BUCKLEY: One thing that will not be discussed, at least on the official program is the church sex abuse scandal. Did any of you have thought about that? Is that something that you want the pope to address?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't hear the question. BUCKLEY: In the church sex abuse scandal that has been in the news for so long, it is not on the official program. Is that something that you want the pope to address while he is here?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know. I think maybe you can answer better about that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The only thing I would say is I think that World Youth Day is a great time for us to pray for reconciliation in the church, clergy, laity, religious. And one of the themes, in addition salt of the Earth, and light of world, is be reconciled to God. I think it's an appropriate time for us to pray for reconciliation even in this matter.

BUCKLEY: Sister Margaret, along with Adam Smeltzer (ph) and Cybill Herone (ph), we thank you all for joining us here live. We will be talking to a great many people over the next several days, and the pope will be arriving here locally at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, and we will have coverage of that -- Daryn.

KAGAN: All right, Frank Buckley in Toronto. That pope arrival, about an hour and half from now. Thank you so much.

LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: In talking about the pope's health, the pope reportedly now is making this trip against the wishes of some of his closest advisers. Let's talk now to Delia Gallagher in Rome. She's with the magazine "Inside the Vatican," and she's with us live this morning.

Deilia, good see you, my friend. How are you?

DELIA GALLAGHER, "INSIDE THE VATICAN": Hi, Leon. I'm fine thank you.

HARRIS: Let me ask you first off about the issue of the pope's health. I read this morning a report that the secretary of state for the Vatican was also suggesting that perhaps the pope should be tailing off his schedule. And the last trip he went out on, I believe it was in Bulgaria, they said he couldn't even finish or deliver the speeches that he was setting out there to do.

What is the level of concern inside the Vatican about his health?

GALLAGHER: Well, there's a natural tendency to be careful, of course, with the pope's health, and to try keep him at home and resting. But this is a very determined pope. And World Youth Day is his own initiative started in 1986. And so they realize that this was definitely something that he wanted to accomplish, and in fact, most of his trips, this is a pope that likes to travel and will continue to do so, he said himself, until he is physically no longer able to do it.

The fact of not finishing speeches or being seen to be uncomfortable and slow is something that he is not afraid to show and, in fact, wants to show possibly to give this kind of example of suffering and old age, but still continuing. HARRIS: Are we to interpret from that, Delia, that perhaps the pope's sees as his mission or as his fate to actually collapse or have some dire health problem happen to him on the road that would prevent him from continuing as pope?

GALLAGHER: Well, preventing him from continuing as pope would be only his death. He said that himself, when there were rumors about his retirement. He said Jesus gave this to me, and Jesus will take it away. But as far as the Vatican is concerned, they will continue to -- if anything, it shows how much the pope is still in command in the Vatican, because he continues to decide what his schedule will be.

HARRIS: You and I last talked in Dallas, at that bishop's meeting here, when there was so much discussion about the sex abuse scandal that had riveted the church here in the U.S.

First of all, why is it that the pope is not stopping in the U.S. on this particular trip?

GALLAGHER: Yes, well that was discussed, and the answer is mainly logistical reasons, because the pope, of course, it wouldn't just be a question of stopping at ground zero. It is a question of several days, because every time the pope travels to a country, he has to meet with heads of state. He has to say mass for Catholics. Those are two things a pope does when he travels abroad.

So the question of going to the states that was really logistically not possible in a trip that had been planned already two years ago -- the Toronto World Youth day has been organized for two years. So the trip has already been shortened, in fact, because of these health considerations to 11 days. So it would have just been impossible to include another three days, not to mention having to coordinate schedules with President Bush and the various heads of state in New York would have been quite difficult.

HARRIS: Finally, while he is in the neighborhood, are we expecting him to say anything, or to address the issue of the sex abuse scandal while he is here?

GALLAGHER: No, I don't expect that, because I think that this trip is concentrated in Toronto on youth, and in Guatemala and Mexico on the canonizations. And so I think that he will try to keep to those themes as much as possible, because of course the idea is that we are renewing the church in a certain sense, not only from the sex scandals that happened in the states, but as said on Sunday, from Casa Delgonso (ph) after September 11th and with the Mideast crisis, he sees this World Youth Day as a time for the youth to look toward the future and a sense of renewal. And this is what he's hoping too provide as an example and get from the youth.

HARRIS: Just proof that this truly is a remarkable man. Delia Gallagher, we appreciate your time today, and take care, be well, and we will talk with you later on.

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