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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Chester Gillis

Aired August 03, 2002 - 07:32   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.
CALLAWAY: The pope completed a grueling trip to Canada, Guatemala and Mexico, just as Boston's cardinal, Bernard Law, was testifying publicly for the first time about an abuse settlement that fell through. The cardinal had been quoted as praising the settlement, but in court yesterday, he said he had considered it a proposed agreement.

Well, Pope John Paul II is 82 years old. He is in frail health, which was very evident during this past trip. And with us to discuss of the trip and the issues of the pope and the church are facing, we're joined from Washington by Chester Gillis. He's an associate professor of theology at Georgetown University.

Thank you for being with us this morning, Chester.

CHESTER GILLIS, GEORGETOWN UNIV. ASSOC. THEOLOGY PROFESSOR: My pleasure, happy to be here.

CALLAWAY: You know, I am just completely amazed at the pope's endurance to this trip. And everyone's talking about how he seemed frail. But he's in his 80s. Most of would be. He's not only in his 80s, but he's facing Parkinson's and arthritis. I mean, it had to be clearly a success for the church, this trip?

GILLIS: I think a surprising success for the church. Many had warned the pope that he shouldn't make this journey, that he was too feeble, that it would be too grueling on his health. Turns out he was an inspiration to millions of people. And I think there was a great outpouring of affection and even sympathy for his condition. And he was -- it was inspiring to all the crowds that he met.

CALLAWAY: And...

GILLIS: The charisma is still there.

CALLAWAY: Yes, and on World Youth Day last weekend, we took a good portion of it live. And it truly was amazing to watch how the audience responded to the pope during his speech, waiting for his long pauses. And then, he would sometimes take a while to begin again. And actually, almost conversing with the audience, reacting to some of the things that they were chanting back to him, right?

GILLIS: Well, the pope has always been good with crowds. He's feeble, but when the lights go on, he has a dynamism that just transgresses all of his infirmities.

CALLAWAY: Yes.

GILLIS: And he's been able to contact with people.

CALLAWAY: He seems to really almost feed off the crowd, and that keeps him going. His 97th visit away from the Vatican, since he became pope, not likely to stop, you know, or is he going to have to slow down?

GILLIS: Well, he has a trip planned to his native Poland this month. And the agenda after that is a bit unclear. I think in his mind, he'll never stop. I imagine he has plans for the next year, but it will largely depend upon his health and what aids tell him and doctors tell him.

CALLAWAY: Do we really know everything about his health? Certainly we know a couple of things, but you have to wonder, is he battling other things that we're not aware of?

GILLIS: Well, certainly. I mean, there are visible signs of Parkinson's. And he has arthritis in his knees. He's very feeble. His health is precarious at best. And if he weren't getting the kind of care that he got, he'd probably be in some kind of assisted living situation in America. But this is a man who is determined to lead the church, I think until his death.

CALLAWAY: Now who in discussions would be the next pope? It's hard to imagine anyone but him having that job. As far back as I can remember, it has been him. You know, is this -- we never really will until the announcement is made, when the cardinals make the decision, right?

GILLIS: That's true. It's been a long and distinguished papacy. Sometimes there's been controversy in this papacy. But to speculate about who might be the next pope usually turns out to be wrong speculation. There's a saying in Rome, he who goes into a conclave where they choose a pope, who goes in a pope, comes out a cardinal. So often the front runner is not chosen.

CALLAWAY: So it's good not to be named the front runner, right?

GILLIS: Often, people try to, I think, avoid that. Cardinals do.

CALLAWAY: You know, what about age? Would this be a good time to have a relatively young pope? Or you know, do they like someone over -- say over 60?

GILLIS: I think it's unlikely that you'll have a pope in his 50s again, as John Paul II was when was elected. Part of the reason is, it's been a very long papacy. And that will mark the church for a long time. Not that it has not been a good papacy, but some people have been displeased with certain things. And it sets a character for the church for a long period of time. I think that the cardinals will probably look for someone a little bit older than John Paul was when he was elected.

CALLAWAY: Yes.

GILLIS: But not too old to handle a job.

CALLAWAY: Right.

GILLIS: You never know.

CALLAWAY: You never know.

GILLIS: John XXIII was not a young man when he was elected. And he turned out to be a dynamic pope.

CALLAWAY: And Chester, I know this has been discussed a lot this week, this past week, when the pope actually addressed the sex scandal in the church, but wasn't it time for us to hear from the pope?

GILLIS: Well, we had already heard from the pope, really. The meeting in the Vatican was the pope -- the pope weighed in on these issues very directly with the American cardinals. And on -- he was quite firm in what he wanted to be done. And he -- then he left to the American church to kind of clean up the mess that they have created. I think there were many people clamoring for the pope to address it again because he was in North America. And there's been much scandal in America, in the United States and in Canada and in Mexico as well. And he did address it in Canada, but not extensively. And I think the point of the trip was not particularly to address this issue in the church, but to address youth and to look to the future of the church, and also to support indigenous people, as he did very much in Mexico.

CALLAWAY: All right, Chester Gillis, thanks for being with us this morning.

GILLIS: My pleasure, Catherine. Have a good day.

CALLAWAY: You, too.

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