THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 7, 1995 TAG: 9510070286
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ESTHER DISKIN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 173 lines
When legions of Catholics line up on the Great Lawn of New York's Central Park today to receive communion at a Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II, a deacon from Virginia Beach will be among hundreds of ministers giving out the wafers.
Raymond Check, a 70-year-old retired banker, had his last live-action, in-person glimpse of a pope back in 1969, when he stood with a huge crowd in St. Peter's Square in Rome. That sighting of Pope Paul VI is stamped in his memory as a peak moment, nearly beyond description - ``fascinating . . . fantastic . . . awe-inspiring.''
Check has never seen Pope John Paul II, and holds no clout in the Catholic Church hierarchy. But he was ordained as a deacon at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan, and that New York City-connection netted him an invitation to assist at a Mass expected to draw 125,000.
People are coming, Check says, to be inspired by a world hero. ``He's a man who knows what he's talking about, he's not wishy-washy, not swayed by public opinion,'' he said. ``He seems very close to me . . . somebody I'd be comfortable around.''
Check is one of only a few in Hampton Roads with a chance to get close to Pope John Paul II on his fourth visit to the United States. The Richmond diocese, which includes 163,000 Catholics, received only 500 tickets for seats at the pope's Mass at Camden Yards in Baltimore - the stop that puts him closest to Virginia.
About 3,000 people mailed in to a diocesan lottery that offered free pairs of tickets to 250 winners. Where are those winners, in a diocese that stretches from Chincoteague to Cumberland Gap, Ky.? It's not easy to find out: Diocese officials threw away the list.
Sister Brenda Anne Query, director of religious education for St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Virginia Beach, is among the lucky winners. She's traveling to Camden Yards with her aunt.
Query, 43, has seen the pope twice before, once in Philadelphia and once at his summer residence in Italy. She's spent some time this week talking to elementary school classes at St. Gregory's School about the importance of the pope's visit.
``I don't see him speaking just to Catholics, but to all people,'' she said. ``He is challenging each individual, each family and the entire nation to be a peacemaker - to sow the seeds of peace in our hearts, homes and the world.''
Throughout his visit, the 75-year-old pontiff has repeatedly sounded the theme of America's moral responsibility, not only as a world leader in negotiating peace, but as a haven to the poor and persecuted of all nations.
In a speech Thursday, the pope quoted the celebrated poem on the Statue of Liberty, then asked whether the nation was living up to its promise. ``Is present-day America becoming less sensitive, less caring toward the poor, the weak, the stranger, the needy?'' he said. ``It must not! Today as before, the United States is called to be a hospitable society, a welcoming culture.''
That message resonates with Karen Kurilko, director of social ministry at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church in Newport News. Kurilko, who also won tickets in the diocesan lottery, says that in the past eight months, her ministry has helped three refugee families, two from Bosnia and one from Cuba, relocate in Hampton Roads.
While people in the parish have opened their arms to the immigrants - even donating a car to each family - she believes that generosity isn't mirrored throughout the nation. ``In the news, you hear about Cuban refugees coming, and people are really negative,'' she said. ``People say (refugees) are taking our jobs, which they are not.''
Kurilko, who is going to Baltimore with her husband, says her three children, ages 17, 13 and 11, don't understand her enthusiasm. ``I was talking to my youngest son, Billy, about what he thought,'' she says, laughing. ``He said, `Yeah, Mom, it's exciting.' To him, it is not.''
They aren't much different from many Catholic teens in Hampton Roads.
``I wouldn't say there is an air of excitement,'' said Dennis Price, vice principal at Catholic High School. ``If he were coming to this area, maybe. Adolescents at this time of life aren't generally affected by anything that doesn't hit them in the next 30 seconds.''
While some people aren't thrilled, others seem to have it all backwards. Bishop Walter F. Sullivan is celebrating the 175th anniversary of the Richmond diocese by leading 100 Catholics on a pilgrimage to Rome - this week. ``It was scheduled a year ago, when we had no idea that the pope was coming here,'' said Bob Edwards, a spokesman for the diocese.
Sullivan - who, like all bishops, has a private audience with the pope at five-year intervals - hopes to get his group at least a glimpse of the pope once the pontiff returns to Rome on Sunday, Edwards said.
Many local priests said they didn't give a thought to hunting for tickets to the pope's Masses. They have to stick around to do that same work in their parishes. But they said the pope's messages will inspire their homilies during the weekend, and for weeks to come.
``As the nation's budget negotiations take place, he's reaffirming a central concern of the church that the poor be taken care of and not be pushed to the side for economic reasons,'' said the Rev. William J. Dale, priest at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Norfolk. ``That's a message that needs to be spoken.''
``Americans, specifically, are called to oppose the culture of death - and that's not just abortion,'' said the Rev. Michael McCarron, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel. ``He's talking about the culture of death as any place where people think only about themselves. When teenagers on the street get involved in drugs or violence, or a businessman closes down a company without any thought about the workers . . . we are embracing the culture of death.''
Check, who is a deacon at St. Gregory the Great, said he expects that participating in the pope's Mass in Central Park will reinvigorate his work as a teacher in the church community.
As a deacon, Check is allowed to carry out many of the duties of a priest, with the exceptions of consecration, confession and last rites. But he gets his greatest satisfaction from leading classes about the Bible and Catholic theology, because he can bring people to re-examine their spiritual lives.
``In teaching the Scriptures, I like to help people be aware of what they are practicing,'' Check said. ``Some people just go to church because their mother went, or their grandmother went, without thinking about why they are there.
``I don't think going to church is an obligation. It's a privilege.'' MEMO: PRIESTS AND THE POPE
Tickets were scarce for seats at Pope John Paul II's Mass at Camden
Yards in Baltimore, the stop on his five-day visit to the United States
that puts him closest to Virginia.
Most local priests said they didn't spend time looking for tickets to
see their leader on his visit to America - they've got to stick around
to perform Masses this weekend. But they're following every detail of
his visit, and using his speeches as inspiration for their homilies:
He's a real role model in terms of ministry. I am encouraged by
someone at the head of the church, who is moving out into the world and
addressing critical questions in the world . . . This is a pope who
insists that priests not be involved politically, but get involved in
important world issues.
Father William J. Dale, St. Pius X Catholic Church in Norfolk
Who else in the world today could come to the United Nations and
galvanize that kind of attention? He speaks apart from all political
systems. As a result, he can speak to all political systems.''
Father Michael McCarron, Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Newport News
I admire him. He's a priest, we're both ordained . . . At bottom, we
have the same role in the church, to be a priest and prophet. To see him
being bold and strong in his statements gives me encouragement to be the
same way.''
Father John Peck, St. Gregory the Great Catholic Church in Virginia
Beach
ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photos]
GARY C. KNAPP
Raymond Check, 70, is a deaccon from Virginia Beach. His ties to
Manhattan's St. Patrick's Cathedral won him an invitation to assist
at today's Mass, expected to draw 125,000.
Sister Brenda Query, director of religious education at St. Gregory
in Virginia Beach, won a lottery amd received two tickets to see the
pope at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
Pope John Paul II's Visit
IN NEW YORK
This Morning: Performs Mass at the Great Lawn of Central Park.
There will be an ecumenical procession before the Mass, which will
include Virginia-Beach based religious broadcaster Pat Robertson,
founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network.
Afternoon: Meets with Cardinal John O'Connor at St. Patrick's
Cathedral in Manhattan; pope recites the rosary and delivers a brief
address in the cathedral later that afternoon.
Evening: Holds a series of informal meetings at O'Connor's
residence with leaders of other Christian churches, regional
Catholic bishops and representatives of Jewish organizations.
Robertson is among a group of about 20 Christian leaders scheduled
to meet with the pope.
BALTIMORE
Sunday Morning: Celebrates Mass at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in
Baltimore. Eats lunch at soup kitchen.
Afternoon to evening: Meets with leaders of the Catholic Relief
Services. Speaks at Cathedral of Mary our Queen. Stops by St. Mary's
Seminary on the way to Baltimore-Washington International Airport.
Speaks briefly at airport before departing.
by CNB