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CNN Saturday Morning News
Pope John Paul II Visits Toronto
Aired July 27, 2002 - 08:23 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: Pope John Paul II is drawing big crowds in Toronto. He's there to mark World Youth Day, participating in a host of activities with young people from around the world.
Joining us now from Toronto, CNN analyst John Allen of the "National Catholic Reporter."
John, thanks very much for joining us.
This is really like the Catholic Woodstock, isn't it?
JOHN ALLEN, ANALYST: Yes, well they call it Wojtyla's Woodstock, you know, Wojtyla being the pope's last name. And it is a huge international Catholic festival. It's sort of a cross between the religious ceremony and a rock concert.
ROBERTS: Now, in light of recent events that have been going on in the Catholic Church, I mean how is he being perceived there, as well as the Catholic Church in general? I mean the video that we've seen coming out of there, the crowds are really enthused, excited to be there.
ALLEN: Yes, I think this is basically a big win for the pope and for the Catholic Church this week. I mean, and, I think, you know, it's on two levels. I mean one is, from the point of view of the sex scandals that have rocked the church in North America, any time you can put the Catholic Church and youth in the same sentence in a positive way, as newspapers all over the world and TV all over the world has been doing this week, it's an enormous relief, I think, for church leaders.
But then also, you know, you have to understand, the young people who are here come from -- I mean there's a self-selection that goes on. They tend to be the most committed, most enthusiastic, most pumped up Catholics. And I think for them, having lived through the last several months of just, you know, unending negative publicity, it is such a relief to be in a place where everyone is excited and proud of their sort of Catholic identity that they are letting it all out.
And I think for some of them, this is a real sort of cathartic experience.
ROBERTS: And, John, this is for the kids. Even though the pope looks a little frail now, in his '80s, he's still being well received by the kids and sparking a lot of energy. It's like he's sparking the youth and the youth is sparking him to be energized.
ALLEN: Yes, I mean there's always been this magic between this pope and young people. I mean you've got to remember, this pope was never a bureaucrat sitting in an office shuffling paper. I mean he was always a pastor out among people. And above all, he was with the young.
And these experiences clearly take him back to those earlier moments in his life. And he just draws such energy from them, such -- and there is an electricity there that's quite clear. And I think, you know, the other thing, quite frankly, is that, you know, even though these young people, some of them may not agree, necessarily, with the pope on a lot of issues, whether it's birth control or sex before marriage or whatever, what they see in this pope is a sort of personal sincerity and integrity and spirituality that goes deeper than those political disagreements. They think he's calling the best out of them and they love him for it.
ROBERTS: So now what's going on today? We've got the weekend to talk about Saturday plans and then what's going on tomorrow for the pope?
ALLEN: Well, today is actually probably the biggest, fullest day of his stop in Canada. This morning, in about an hour, he's going to be arriving at a convent near downtown Toronto where he's going to be meeting with the governor general of Canada, the prime minister of Canada, the premier of Ontario and the mayor of Toronto. Then he'll be having a lunch with about 120 Canadian bishops.
And then this evening there's a vigil ceremony where the young people will be gathering in a park here in Toronto. They will be sleeping out tonight and the people is going to stop in to see them tonight. And then tomorrow morning is the big papal mass, and we are expecting somewhere around a million people to show up for that. So it's going to be a very, very busy next 24 hours here.
ROBERTS: Wow. A big crowd there.
All right, John Allen live for us in Toronto this morning.
John, thanks very much.
ALLEN: It's my pleasure. Thank you.
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