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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview With John Allen

Aired July 28, 2002 - 08:13   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.
THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: Later this hour, in Toronto, the pope is expected to celebrate a public mass that could attract as many as a million people. Today's service caps a week of world youth festivities. CNN national correspondent Frank Buckley joins us now from Toronto with more.

And Frank, what's going on -- the latest from there.

FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Thomas, people are gathering here for mass, the pope expected to arrive in about a half an hour here at Downsview Park. We can give you sense of the view that we have here, looking over the crowd; an estimated 650,000 people spent the night here. These young people all here part of World Youth Day activities, braving the elements. Overnight it rained quite a bit. Many of them were literally sleeping in mud and water as it was coming down.

Earlier last night, there was a vigil here, a vigil with the pope. The pope here for approximately three to four hours, speaking to the young people who are gathered here. And again, the crowd estimate for today could go as high as one million people for the mass, which is expected to get under way with the pope's arrival in about a half an hour.

John Allen is joining us now; he's from the "National Catholic Reporter." First, John, thanks for joining us here.

JOHN ALLEN, NATIONAL CATHOLIC REPORTER: Sure thing, Frank, good morning.

BUCKLEY: We have been watching the activities throughout the week; the issue of the sex abuse scandal in the U.S. hasn't come up as part of the official agenda. We are now getting some indications that it may be addressed during the mass.

ALLEN: Yes, it's been bubbling up in bits and pieces from questions from the kids, but it has not been officially addressed. But we understand this morning that the pope is going to make an actually unexpectedly unusually direct reference to the sex abuse crisis, which as you know, first broke last January.

There has been a fair bit of pressure surrounding this event, especially from victims' groups, for the pope to say something. There was actually a request from Canadian sex abuse victims from a meeting with the pope, which didn't happen. And so this will actually, this will mark the third time the pope has spoken to the crisis, since it's a -- since it erupted. The first time of course was in his letter to priests on holy Thursday, it was in a meeting with American cardinals in Rome in April, and now here in Toronto.

BUCKLEY: Why would, if in fact this does happen, why would the Vatican decide to make some sort of a statement at this mass? This is has been largely an event in which they've had nothing but positive news, the kind of pictures they've been hoping for -- why would they address it now?

ALLEN: Well, I think that there are sort of two things going on there; one is the recognition that with 55,000 young people in the United States here, 125 U.S. bishops, and all the trauma that the American church has gone through -- in a way, it's almost impossible that the pope would not, in some way, acknowledge that and express his sympathy for what the Americans have gone through.

You know, I think also, it's a recognition of the fact that for the pope to come to North America, and given everything that's happened, and not say anything, could fee the impressions of denial and of sort of not getting -- of not understanding the depth of the crisis.

And so, I think, you know, given all the good news stories the Vatican has had this week, I think the feeling was they could afford to make an acknowledgement of it here today.

BUCKLEY: Thanks very much, John Allen, from the "National Catholic Reporter." We will be here throughout the morning to, as we await the arrival of the pope -- it's scheduled for 8:45 local time.

Thomas, back to you.

ROBERTS: Frank Buckley, live for us in Toronto -- Frank, thanks very much.

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