HOPE, WARMTH, INSPIRATION

• By WILLIAM TAYLOR
• Assistant People editor
• Published: Apr 26, 2008 - Page: 1E - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

A Louisiana Catholic attending her first Papal Mass last week found the experience so powerful, she can’t quite remember what Pope Benedict XVI said.

“I know it was a message of hope, but it’s so overwhelming and emotional to be there,” Shannon Duplessis said of her experiences last week at Nationals Park in Washington D.C.. “That’s why I wanted (family) to tape it from here so I could listen to it later.”

Several Louisiana residents, from Bishop Robert W. Muench to leaders of Catholic agencies to laity such as Duplessis, had the opportunity to see Benedict during his U.S. visit.

They came away from their experiences, reflecting on how Benedict had inspired and challenged both Catholics and non-Catholics to embrace their freedom as Americans not for personal gain, but rather to fulfill their responsibilities to community, both at home and abroad.

The pope didn’t have to come all the way to Louisiana, for his visit to be felt here, Muench said. “He was here with us in spirit and by him being present in the United States, he covered our country. Our country felt he was visiting us.”

The bishop said he has seen the influence of the pope’s visit since returning to Baton Rouge and leading in a couple of confirmation ceremonies daily.

“It is very clear that people have been animated by the presence of the Holy Father, by his care and by his teaching. Therefore it gives us, as I’ve described to our students being confirmed, a backdrop if you will, to consider their confirmation coming at this time and for them to reflect on their own spiritual life and their own spiritual goals.”

Likewise, Benedict’s remarks in various U.S. venues last week are worth revisiting to unpack the meaning and “talk among ourselves” and reflect, Muench said. “I think he left us with some homework — some good homework.”

Muench said he was also grateful Benedict had provided U.S. Catholics an opportunity to know their pope better.

“I think the person they met, and this is no surprise to me because I had the privilege of meeting him years ago as a cardinal, is a very warm individual, a very brilliant individual and if anything a slightly shy individual,” Muench said.

Muench recalls serving in 1987 as an aid to Archbishop Phillip Hannan, when Pope John Paul II visited New Orleans.

“People today — over 20 years later — remember that event with great detail, with great fondness, with great enthusiasm, and so borrowing from that experience, I have no doubt that the experience with (Benedict) coming to the United States is going to have that long-term effect,” Muench said.

A business trip took Duplessis, a member of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Prairieville, to Washington D.C. The Diocese of Baton Rouge provided her one of 50 tickets it had available to the Mass on April 17.