John Paul Superstar

By Alain L. Sanders

Seventy-three-year-old superstars are rare. Seventy-three-year-old superstars who can draw tens of thousands of youngsters from 70 countries to a jamboree in Denver are rarer still. But not even a Rocky Mountain rainstorm could drown out the welcome for Pope John Paul II as he landed at Stapleton International Airport last week. "John Paul Two, we love you!" shouted the crowd. "America, you are beautiful," responded the Pontiff.

John Paul had arrived on the scene of what some were calling a "Catholic Woodstock," a four-day youth festival that had drawn more than 180,000 people from all over the world. At the gathering's first major event, 85,000 rain- drenched, stomping, dancing, handkerchief-waving youths gave the Pope a roaring welcome at Mile High Stadium as he entered in his Popemobile. The celebration choked downtown Denver streets with waves of T shirt-clad teenagers (LIFE IS SHORT, PRAY HARD, read one shirt; I GOT A MILE HIGH WITH THE POPE, said another). A Babel of hymns reverberated through the city. Still, for all their energy, the celebrators maintained a remarkable display of decorum and politeness.

President Bill Clinton, embattled on so many political fronts these days, made sure to capitalize on the zeal of the Pope's flock and the accompanying media attention. He welcomed the Pontiff at the airport and immediately rated John Paul's initial remarks "a great speech." Never mind that the Pope urged America to stop abortions as he stood alongside the pro-choice President. "All the great causes that are yours today will have meaning only to the extent that you guarantee the right to life and protect the human person," declared John Paul. Following their 45-minute meeting, the Pontiff again appealed publicly for "the right to life,"surprising the President and his aides, who had thought abortion would be a tacit agree-to-disagree point on the agenda.

En route to Denver from Rome, the Pope had expressed his concerns about America to reporters aboard his plane. He took the occasion to reiterate one of his primary preoccupations: the prevalence of violence around the world, including the U.S. Said he: "To have this phenomenon in the United States, the most progressive country in the world!" He blamed it on the slant of the media.

Not that John Paul is about to keep pace with all aspects of American progress, especially the liberal views of U.S. Roman Catholics on sex and birth control. On Saturday, John Paul sharpened his condemnation of abortion. Said the Pontiff: "Precisely when science and medicine are achieving a greater capacity to safeguard health and life, the threats against life are becoming more insidious." The Pope has emphasized that he is the leader of all Catholics. "It is those who disagree with the church who are out of touch," said Pio Cardinal Laghi, the former papal pro-nuncio to the U.S. who , accompanied John Paul on this trip. "We cannot relativize what is absolute. Can we alter the gift God has given us? I think not. That is the message of Denver." Perhaps. But few observers believe the Pope's superstar charisma alone will overcome America's penchant for a pick-and-choose Catholicism.

With reporting by John Moody, with the Pope