Pope Ready To Be Welcomed
Anticipation is rising among the as many as 200,000 participants at the Catholic Church's week-long World Youth Day Festival, with Pope John Paul II set to attend a welcoming ceremony Thursday at Ontario Place in Toronto.
The 82-year-old leader of the world's Roman Catholics has been resting up at Strawberry Island, a resort some 50 miles away, since his arrival Tuesday. He'll return there Thursday night after World Youth Day ceremonies and won't be back until a Saturday night vigil.
The papal mass, traditionally a centerpiece of World Youth Day events, is on Sunday in Toronto.
Although the pope's time at Strawberry Island is purely for the purpose of rest, to help the pope cope with jet lag, the pontiff was nonetheless happy to see some local school children. The children, in paddleboats, approached the pope's boat as he took a trip around Lake Simcoe and urged him to bless them.
He did, and also gave them some rosaries.
In his opening remarks after arriving on Tuesday, the pontiff challenged young Roman Catholics to promote peace and human solidarity in a world too often marked by war and injustice.
"Too many lives begin and end without joy, without hope," said John Paul II, urging the young to "promote the great cause of peace and human solidarity."
Reporters are not allowed on or near Strawberry Island during the pope's visit, but 14 youngsters have been invited to join him for lunch on Friday. They come from Canada, Sudan, China, Jordan, India, Bosnia, Germany, Austria, Peru, Tahiti and the United States.
Some 55,000 of the participants at the festival in Toronto are from the United States.
The size of the crowd at this year's event is smaller than the Vatican had hoped; officials there blame the downturn on factors including the sex abuse scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church around the world.
Organizers also say they expect the turnout for the papal mass to be almost quadruple that for most other festival events.
The festival has proved to be a magnet for lay Catholic activists who are unhappy with the church's response to the sex abuse scandal, as well as those who are campaigning for changes in church policies including celibacy, the all-male priesthood and prohibitions against birth control, abortion and homosexual relationships.
Protestors, who have made it clear that their disagreement with church hierarchy does not make them any the less Catholic, have set up their headquarters at a nearby Anglican church.
"I'm critical, I ask questions, but I keep my faith," said Jane Walsh, a 38-year-old Catholic who is among those prodding the church to change.
Another dissident, 23-year-old former head altar boy Milton Chan, has been giving out condoms to festival-goers, explaining: "I really don't want to see young Catholics following like blind sheep."
The condom wrappers are decorated with angels and the message: "If abstinence isn't working for you..."
William Donohue, president of the New York-based Catholic League, calls the protestors the "lunatic fringe" of the church. Many Catholic liberals, however, say the same about Donahue, an outspoken conservative who frequently comments on issues of public morality.
Marie Lint, a 17-year-old Catholic who traveled from Orono, Maine, to see the pope, agrees with Donahue that the protestors are off-base.
"I'm here to enjoy what we're doing here, and the presence of God in this city," said Lint, sitting outside the World Youth Day exhibition hall with friends from Maine. "I'm not going to let anyone else get in the way."
Canada is the main event, but not the only stop on the pope's 11-day trip. He'll be heading south through the Americas - skipping the U.S. - visiting Guatemala, where he'll canonize the first Indian saint, and Mexico, where two other Indians will be beatified. Beatification is a step towards sainthood.