Pope Benedict's U.S. Visit to Reshape Image
Pope Benedict XVI will visit the United States next week in a highly anticipated event that many predict will shape, if not define, Benedict in the eyes of Americans.
Benedict's visit begins next Tuesday and will offer an opportunity for him to re-shape his image from a stern, conservative, non-compromising theologian to a softer, more charming figure. The visit marks the first close-up Americans will have of the successor of the late John Paul II.
Although the majority of Americans (52 percent) have a favorable view of Pope Benedict, a relatively large number of Americans – three out of 10 – say they do not know enough about him to offer an opinion, according to a recent Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life report.
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Moreover, the current pontiff continues to be less favored than his predecessor, Pope John Paul II. Benedict XVI has a favorability rating of 52 percent as of March 2008, compared to John Paul II's 76 percent favorability in May 1987, nearly a decade after he became pope.
"I do think that to some extent there is a disconnect between the public impression of this man and the private personality," said John Allen, a prominent U.S. Catholic author and journalist, according to Reuters. "You will never meet a more gracious figure."
The pope's visit to America coincides with several important events, including the three year anniversary of his election as pope; the 200th anniversary of Baltimore become an archdiocese and the creation of the dioceses of New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Bardstown, Ky.; and his 81st birthday.
During his six-day visit to the United States, the Pope will stop only in the cities of New York and Washington, DC. He plans to meet with President Bush at the White House, pray at the World Trade Center site and celebrate Mass with tens of thousands of people at Washington's new National's Park and New York's Yankee Stadium.
"The pope I have seen for the past three years is the Joseph Ratzinger I have known for 20 – a holy and brilliant priest who knows who he is, a master teacher with remarkable skill in explaining complex Christian doctrines and a quite winsome public personality," said George Weigel, a theologian and author on Catholic issues, according to USA Today.
There are 67 million Catholics in the United States and they compose the second largest religious group behind Protestant Christianity.
