Benedict's Secret

April 27-May 3, 2008 Issue
National Catholic Register
Legionary Father John Bartunek

Two things stand out from the Pope’s visit. First, his power of attraction. From the welcoming ceremony at the White House to the Youth Rally in New York, Benedict XVI drew tremendous, overflowing crowds. And their size was matched by their enthusiasm.

The thousands of priests and religious who gathered with him in St. Patrick’s Cathedral gushed with three separate standing ovations and deafening applause that went on, and on, and on. The U.N. General Assembly gave him a standing ovation. The 20,000 young people who squeezed onto the rally lawn at Dunwoodie cheered so loudly and so often that the elderly Pope spent more time grinning than talking.

How to explain such power of attraction? the rest image