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NewsChannel 8 Script:
Anchor:
NEARLY THREE DECADES HAVE PASSED SINCE THE NATION'S CAPITAL PLAYED HOST TO A PONTIFF'S VISIT.
BACK THEN, POPE JOHN PAUL THE SECOND TOURED D.C.'S STREETS, CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY AND THE BASILICA. AND SOON, POPE BENEDICT THE 16TH WILL TRACE HIS STEPS. SO HOW HAS THE WORLD CHANGED IN THE 29 YEARS BETWEEN VISITS?
NEWSCHANNEL EIGHT'S BRIANNE CARTER TAKES A LOOK -- THROUGH THE EYES OF A POPE.
Story:
IN 1979, JUST ONE YEAR AFTER BEING ELECTED LEADER OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, JOHN PAUL THE SECOND CAME TO OUR NATION'S CAPITAL. HE WAS THE FIRST POPE TO EVER VISIT D.C.
JOHN PAUL'S VISIT IS OFTEN LIKENED TO WOODSTOCK, WITH HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE ON THE NATIONAL MALL, BLANKETS AND BAGS IN HANDS, CAMPING OUT IN HOPES OF GETTING A GLIMPSE OF THE LEADER OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
"I got to put out my hand, which we were told not to do. He came by and brushed my hand and it was really a thrill of a lifetime to have pope touch me," said Frank Persico, Vice President for University Relations at Catholic University.
FAST FORWARD ALMOST THIRTY YEARS. THE WASHINGTON REGION IS NOW PREPARING FOR POPE BENEDICT'S VISIT, BUT THIS TIME THINGS ARE EXPECTED TO BE QUITE DIFFERENT.
"As he comes here he is going to be compared to Pope John Paul who had the big masses on the mall, where everybody got to see him walking around, he is going to be kept at such a distance because of security concerns," said Kevin Bohl, Youth Director of the Arlington Diocese.
"It's going to be more restrictive. There is no question about that," said Thomas Melday, former Vatican Ambassador.
CATHOLIC LEADERS SAY THE HEIGHTENED SECURITY IS NEEDED BECAUSE THE WORLD IS A DIFFERENT PLACE THAN IT WAS THIRTY YEARS AGO.
"In the world, a lot of things have changed. At the beginning of his pontificate he was dealing with the world of the Iron Curtain that is gone, but Pope Benedict is dealing with the world after nine eleven," said Archbishop Donald Wuerl.
CATHOLIC LEADERS SAY THIS "POST NINE ELEVEN WORLD" HAS NOT ONLY CHANGED SECURITY BUT ALSO THE DISCUSSIONS WITHIN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. THOUGH BOTH MEN HAD TO FACE DIFFICULTIES IN THE WORLD, LIKE IMBALANCES BETWEEN THE RICH AND THE POOR, POPE BENEDICT IS FACING A WORLD WHERE ETHICAL QUESTIONS WITHIN THE CHURCH ARE NOW AT THE FOREFRONT.
"Pope Benedict is dealing now with even more aggressive bioethical questions than Pope John Paul the Second had to deal with. The issues of genetic cloning and embryonic stem cell research were budding during John Paul the Second's pontificate, but now during Pope Benedict's pontificate they are reaching maturation," said Father Jerome Magat.
CATHOLIC LEADERS SAY JOHN PAUL'S 1979 VISIT AND BENEDICTS' 2008 VISIT MAY SEEM VERY DIFFERENT TO ONLOOKERS, BUT THE PURPOSE WILL STILL BE THE SAME-- A CHANCE FOR THE CHURCH'S CHOSEN LEADER TO SPREAD THE WORD OF GOD.
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