Religious and political aspects of Pope’s tour

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32462, 24 November 1970, Page 12

Religious and political aspects of Pope’s tour

(By

NAYLOR HILLARY)

Stalin is supposed to have dismissed the power of the Papacy with the remark: “How many divisions has the Pope?” But the oldest religious and political institution in Europe is not to be taken so lightly.

When Pope Paul VI visits South-East Asia, Western Samoa and Australia in the next two weeks it will be a religious event of profound importance for millions of Roman Catholics in areas where no Pope has ever been before; it will also be a significant political event.

Pope Paul’s visit will emphasise the importance of the Roman Catholic Church in Asia, a predominantly nonChristian continent; his prestige should materially assist the Government of President Marcos in the Philippines; in the South Pacific the visit will draw attention to some of the newest and smallest nations in the world; and to the number of converts to Roman Catholicism which missionary endeavour has achieved there. In Australia the visit is being welcomed by the predominantly Roman Catholic Democratic Labour Party as a propaganda coup for its policies of militant anti-Com-munism and rigid opposition to the “permissive society;” conversely, there is speculation that while in Hong Kong : the Pope will make a renewed gesture of conciliation towards the Communist Government of China. Pope Paul has already ] travelled further afield than any of his 261 predecessors, ; including visits to East Africa and Latin America. His today tour of the Far East from November 26 to December 5 will be his longest. He is expected to deliver about 50 : homilies and addresses dur- 1 ing his trip and will celebrate i Mass in six cities—Manila,' Apia, Sydney, Djakarta, Hong 1 Kong and Colombo. The Pope’s itinerary is: l Leave Rome by air, Novem- 1 ber 26; a brief stop at Tehe- 1 ran; in Manila November 27 to 29; fly to Pago Pago (American Samoa) on Novem-' ber 29 and transfer to a light 1 aircraft for a six-hour visit to Western Samoa before flying on to Sydney; in Sydney, 1 November 29 to December 3;; fly to Djakarta to meet Presi-, dent Suharto on December 3; 1 fly to Hong Kong on Decern-' ber 4, and on to Colombo in ' Ceylon; return to Rome December 5. Security forces ' i Thousands of troops and: police are being brought to-; gether in the Philippines—i with Ute code name “Task ( Force Holy Father"—to i guard the Pope during his: motorcade and appearances:

in Manila when crowds of more than a million are expected. It will be the greatest religious festival in the country’s 400 years of Christianity. As a result of a long period under Spanish rule, which ended in 1900, Filipinos are predominantly a Roman Catholic people—the only Christian nation in Asia. The Pope will meet President Marcos and take part in a mass ordination of priests from Asian countries. He will also broadcast a message to Asia on November 29. Its theme is expected to be the social and economic development of the continent. One of the main reasons for the Pope’s tour is his attendance at an episcopal conference in Manila where he will meet Roman Catholic bishops and clergy from many countries in the Far East. He recently declined an invitation to extend his tour to South Vietnam 1 , which has an important Roman Catholic minority, but has said that he will grant a special audience to South Vietnamese delegates in Manila. In Sydney But the greatest interest for New Zealanders, at least, must be on the Pope’s four days in Sydney, the closest a Pope has ever come to this country. Sydney is treating the occasion like a combination of a Royal Visit and Christmas, turning out products from carpets to streamers in "Papal red” and at least one restaurant offering diners the chance to eat in "Papal style.” Thousands of New Zealanders are expected to be among the crowds who will see and hear the Pope. He will celebrate Mass twice at Randwick Racecourse, the only stadium large enough to accommodate the multitudes who are expected, on the evening of December 1 and the morning of December 2. He will also attend episcopal conferences, celebrate two Masses at St Mary’s Cathedral, meet the GovernorGeneral (Sir Paul Hasluck) and State authorities, and take part in an ecumenical service in the Sydney Town Hall.

The Pope’s statements in Sydney are expected to concentrate on what spokesmen for the Church have called "the quality of life and the defence of life;” in the first category come matters relating to the family, marriage and divorce, and in the second questions such as abortion and euthanasia. Some Australian churchmen have suggested that the Popp might have done better to speak on development aid to Asia and justice for the Aborigines, but more conservative Churchmen and many lay Roman Catholics would welcome the conservative stance.

The Pope will stay in Sydney at the two-storey brick home of his “ambassador,” the Apostolic Archbishop Delegate Gino Paro, in North Sydney. The house has two acres of grounds, a striking view of part of Sydney Harbour and the Parramatta River, and is surrounded by suburban brick home units. One Sydney radio station, station 2SM, will broadcast non-stop reports on what the

Pope is doing while he is in Sydney and the station manager, Mr Kevin O’Donohue, will act as chief press officer for the visit. Accommodation in Sydney has been booked out for months ahead. Some visitors will have to stay in hotels and motels up to 200 miles away; others will be catered for by the army and civil defence organisations. The number of visitors could reach 200,000, for Australia has three million Roman Catholics, the largest denomination after the Anglicans, and more than a million of them live in New South Wales. For -the thousands of Roman Catholic migrants who have arrived from Europe since the Second World War the Pope’s visit will have a special significance. But the tour organisers’ hopes that the visit could be the occasion of a grand gesture of conciliation between Christian Churches in Australia have been undermined by the refusal of the Archbishop of Sydney (the

Most Rev. M. L. Loane) to attend the ecumenical service. Baptist church leaders have also refused to attend, but other Protestant leaders, including some highly placed Anglican dignitaries, have supported the service and criticised what they call the “conservatism” of Archbishop Loane. The ecumenical service will have the theme of Christian unity, but Archbishop Loane has replied to his critics by saying that the Pope’s visit will strengthen the conservatism of the Roman Catholic Church in Australia and make more difficult any reconciliation of differences of doctrine between denominations. Contact with China Although the Pope’s only official engagement during his brief stop in Hong Kong will be to celebrate Mass in the city stadium the most significant event of the tour could take place there, for the Pope is expected to use the occasion to make a gesture of reconciliation towards China, only a few miles away. Since 1967 when Pope Paul first made an offer to renew contacts with China there have been increasing signs of a thaw in relations. Little is known about the condition of nearly four million Roman Catholics who are believed to live in China. Twenty years ago the new Government of Mao Tse-tung expelled 5000

missionaries and harsh persecution of converts was reported. Three recent developments suggest the Pope is renewing interest in China as the last major step in his attempt to achieve better relations with the entire Communist world. When Pope Paul visited the United Nations in New York he said that the world organisation should be as representative as possible of all nations. The Secretary-Gene-ral (U Thant) said afterwards this was more than a mere grand-sounding statement—the Pope was referring to the need to include China in the United Nations. Then early this month the Holy See’s permanent adviser to the United Nations predicted that China would be voted into the organisation in 1971, and indicated that the Vatican approved of the move. Two days later it was announced that the Vatican had no plans to appoint a new Papal nuncio to Taiwan, after the appointment of the former nuncio there to Ecuador. There has also been speculation that when the term of the present Taiwan Ambassador in the Vatican expires Chiang Kai-shek’s Government will be encouraged not to appoint a successor. Just how far the Pope may be prepared to go in seeking better relations with China may well be made clear in Hong Kong. It should have a considerable effect on the attitude of many other countries towards mainland China.