POPE BENEDICT'S TRIUMPH

POPE BENEDICT'S TRIUMPH
Raymond Arroyo
Raymond Arroyo is an internationally recognized, award-winning journalist, producer, and bestselling author, seen each week in more than 100 million homes around the globe. He has worked for the Associated Press, the political columnist team of Evans and Novak, and as a Capitol Hill Correspondent. He studied under theatre luminaries Stella Adler, Uta Hagen, and Beatrice Straight. He acted and directed in in New York and London.

As host and creator of EWTN’s international news magazine, "The World Over Live", Arroyo has interrogated the leading figures of the day. Highlights include: The first, exclusive, sit down interview with Mel Gibson on the set of his film, “The Passion of the Christ” and a landmark interview with Pope Benedict XVI: the only English language conversation ever recorded with the pontiff.

Arroyo is the producer of the bestselling, all star, audio Bible, "The Word of Promise" (Thomas Nelson). He is also executive producer "The Birth of Christ" (Sony Classics), the billboard topping Christmas Cantata that premiered on PBS during the 2007 Christmas season.

Arroyo and his work have been featured on "The Today Show", "Good Morning America", "Hannity and Colmes", "Access Hollywood", “CNN Headline News”, "The Laura Ingraham Show", and other programs. His writings have been published by The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, The Financial Times, and The National Catholic Register. A graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Arroyo is author of the New York Times Bestsellers: Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve and a Network of Miracles (Doubleday) and Mother Angelica''s Little Book of Life Lessons and Everyday Spirituality (Doubleday).

Sunday, April 20, 2008
Before the Pope arrived I wrote a long preview piece that concluded this way:

"A number of Vatican officials have told me that the Pope will assiduously avoid politics throughout his American pilgrimage and focus instead on inspiring the faithful to reform their lives and society at large. It could be thought of as trickle down spirituality. This summary by Benedict of his visit to Brazil in 2007 nicely encapsulates what I think he will offer America:

'I encouraged them to recover everywhere the style of the first Christian community described in the Acts of the Apostles: assiduous in catechesis, the sacramental life and charitable works. I know the dedication of these faithful servants of the Gospel who want to present it fully without confusion, watching over the deposit of the faith with discernment; it is also their constant duty to promote social development, principally through the formation of the laity, called to assume responsibility in the field of politics and economics…. Only the one who meets the love of God in Jesus and sets himself upon this way to practice it among men, becomes his disciple and missionary.'

Benedict will do what all Popes do on these shores: call new disciples and missionaries into the hopeful vineyard that is America. At a moment when the country is confronted by economic downturns, terrorism, political instability, and a leadership vacuum, the Pope will offer hope.

The measure of this trip’s success will not be found so much in what the Pope does, as in the echo that remains after he does it. The response of those who hear him will tell the tale."

Journalists are now calling inquiring about whether the Pope's trip was successful and what impact it has had. I stand by the last two sentences I wrote weeks ago. This papal visit will play out in big and small ways, in the hearts and minds of those who have heard Benedict's call.

From a purely external perspective (the media perspective if you will), the trip has been a triumph. Pope Benedict's "theatre of substantive acts": his meeting with victims of clerical sexual abuse; the visit with religious leaders at the John Paul II Cultural Center; his warm, "impromptu" stop at the Park East Synagogue in New York, and the solemn prayer service at Ground Zero all brilliantly revealed a man of faith willing to engage the world with hope and love.

I have been struck by the number of non-Catholics who have stopped me in the streets of New York or written to share how touched they have been by the events of this week. Many say they are strangely drawn to this "new pope."

I think we have all found ourselves fascinated and drawn to this Pontiff-- not due to his dazzling oratory or ability to entertain, but for his willingness to challenge and risk for the sake of the Gospel message. It has been quite a week. Quiet, bold Benedict has left his mark.