Star-struck pilgrims find modern hero in aging Pope

The Pope is both a beloved religious leader and a celebrity. Globe theatre critic KATE TAYLOR explores the pageantry that surrounds him

By KATE TAYLOR, The Globe and Mail
Friday, July 26, 2002

Mixing iconography and crowd behaviour that drew as much on the traditions of political conventions, rock concerts and the Olympic movement as those of the Christian church, World Youth Day's welcoming ceremonies turned into a giant Catholic pep rally, punctuated with prolonged applause and repeated cries of "JP2, We love you."

From the start, this gathering of young Catholics from 172 countries was at great pains to stress its multinational character, as flag-bearers, many in their national costumes, carried their banners across the stage while announcers read out the names of all the countries, grouped by continent.

Later, in pageantry that brought the medieval practice of displaying relics to the faithful into an age more accustomed to seeing the Olympic flame relayed across a stadium, a wooden cross that has been carried around the world was brought into the gathering by a group that included a young Quebecker, a Fleur de lis flag in her hair, waving happily at the crowd and the cameras.

This joyous, media-savvy self-consciousness was typical of people happy to put on a show of strength for the television audience, waving whenever they realized the red light was pointed in their direction. A Brazilian contingent, hooting and hollering underneath a big green-and-yellow flag, could easily have been mistaken for soccer fans from the recent World Cup.

The key performer in this show was, of course, the Pope himself, and in that the Catholic church has a significant problem as it visibly exhausts the 82-year-old to make these public appearances. At one point, reading his welcoming remarks, he paused for so long that a pair of Chilean singers who were part of the entertainment thought this was their cue and began their number only to find themselves cut off when the Pope indicated he would continue.

There were glitches and gaps such as that throughout the 90-minute event, partly because of delays caused by lengthy applause from a crowd that occasionally had to wait for translation before reacting. No, there was nothing particularly glitzy about this event, which other than the Pope's address, featured a lot of blandly happy pop songs, a sung version of the Beatitudes from the Gospel of St. Matthew and a dance by a troupe that includes handicapped performers.

It was a show, not about spectacle, but rather about the relationship between the star and his audience. This crowd could not get enough of the Pope, cheering his every word or gesture. Seemingly drawing new energy from its enthusiasm, he recovered from his initial slowness of speech to deliver two homilies, one in French, the other in English, in a much firmer voice.

If the mystery of the mass, that phenomenon that would have made people in a medieval crowd strain their necks and stand on tiptoe to see the elevation of the host from the back of a packed cathedral, is how the bread and wine become flesh and blood, then the mystery of World Youth Day is what these earnest and eager young pilgrims see in their leader. As CBC Television began its coverage with interviews in the crowd, one pilgrim who had just seen the Popemobile drive past described his brief glimpse of a shrunken and tired old man as an event of such unimaginable impact that it left him all but speechless.

As the ceremonies continued, this mystery emerged as the very contemporary puzzle of celebrity. At the end of event, as the Pope invited a few of the choristers who had been sitting on stage to approach him, one eager and tearful fan after another knelt before him to touch his hand or kiss his ring. But soon emboldened, more and more of them came forward, until the Pope's security guards stepped in to break up the gathering mob. It was a scene that could just have easily taken place during a popular politician's walkabout or backstage after a rocker's big concert as young people, looking for something larger than themselves, fix their gaze on a star.