One of the benefits of a University of Dallas education (of which there are many) is the Rome semester. The vast majority of our sophomores take advantage of the opportunity to live near Rome for a semester on our own bucolic campus nestled in a vineyard near the pope’s summer residence. Many of our students are lured to the Rome semester by the prospect of independent travel throughout Europe, by Octoberfest, by the bargains in Florence and Prague. They certainly enjoy these features of their Rome semester, but almost universally they cite their spiritual growth as the most enduring and important experience of their time abroad.

The first morning of their stay in Rome, they are herded onto a bus and shepherded into Saint Peter’s. As they step into the piazza of St. Peter’s where Bernini’s colonnade embraces them, as they see the statues of the apostles and saints that watch over their progress through the square, as they adjust to the enormity of St. Peter’s and the overwhelming size but perfect scale of all its features, the solidity and the enduring power of the Catholic Church and the papacy starts to makes an impression on them that becomes nearly ineradicable. Indeed, it might be said, that most of them never really recover from these first moments in Rome. The allure of Catholicism captivates them.

Most of them come to Rome having some affiliation with the Catholic Church, sometimes a strong one, nurtured beautifully by their parents. But frequently they still have a lingering sense that their faith is something imposed upon them by their mothers and that it has a rather parochial foundation. Whereas European youngsters have grown up with history all around them, the sudden immersion into the historical traces of the early Church, the powerful experience of the visible lastingness of the Church and of the staggering beauty that Christianity has inspired, quite simply eclipses anything American youth have ever experienced. Several of them at some point in their travels weep from the sheer emotional impact at being in the presence of so much history, so much beauty, and so much holiness. What must have been the faith of those who built such incredible structures, what must have been the sanctity of those who inspired such faith and labor, what must have been the truth of Christ!

To think that St. Peter is buried right there under the main altar, to see the huge and powerful statues of humble fishermen who spread the faith, to walk by the tombs of pope after pope and to know that the Pope is living right there preserving it all, ties everything together for the pilgrim-students. This Church goes back to the time of Christ, Christ sent out his apostles, Christ established the Church; oh my, what we say in the creed is true!

Then there is the day of the papal audience. The students dress in their finest. Even the non-Catholics are excited in the extreme; they are going to see the Pope himself, some of them may get to touch the Pope, and possibly even have a picture of themselves taken with the Pope. The prudent Catholics pack up their rosaries and holy articles for the papal blessing; none complain at the early departure and the long wait as the crowd gathers. Here they come, the many ethnic groups dressed in native garb and occasionally singing some native hymn; brides and grooms in their wedding apparel, the wheel-chair bound who expect some special gesture from the Pope; the nuns and monks, many of them very young — in fact the age of our students — and many of them dressed in traditional habits. Our students ponder their own vocations — could that, should that be me? Like the others, our students jockey for a good position near the barricades; they laugh to see that stocky middle-aged women, lay and religious alike, are most ardent and successful at muscling their way to a prime spot.

When the Pope arrives, the place goes berserk. And one can only ask, why? This man is not a rock star or a powerful statesman or a world famous soccer player. Cer tainly much of the appeal of this particular pope is his personal holiness, his engaging charm, his love of youth and his belief in their ability to sacrifice themselves for the highest ideals, his enormous influence over world events. No one but no one is like Pope John Paul II: he is known and revered by just about everyone (save a few dissenting theologians and other anti-Catholics), from the humblest peasant in the most destitute dwelling of the most impoverished nation to the most arrogant world leader with plans diametrically opposed to those of the Pope. Pope John Paul II is a force to be reckoned with. But can one divorce the appeal of Pope John Paul II from the power of the papacy itself?

Is it not the mantle of Catholicism that he wears and bears on his shoulders? Is he not the in-your-face reminder that there is a universal truth, that there is universal love, that we are all brothers and sisters and that we have a shared eternal destiny? And don’t we all rather love being reminded of that? The papacy is about unity; it unites the diverse churches throughout the world; it ensures unity of belief; it guarantees the link with Christ Himself.

The Church is not buildings, the Church is not dog ma, the Church is not a set of ecclesiastical offices. The Church is the incarnation of the truth and love of Christ in those who follow Christ. The Pope is the vicar of Christ on this earth; "Come follow me," said Christ to us all; to Peter he said "You are Peter and above this rock I will build my Church and I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven; what you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; what you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." This biblical passage is inscribed around the high interior circumference of St. Peter’s. It is very difficult, coming away from St. Peter’s in Rome, coming away from any encounter with the Pope, not to realize the extreme importance of the papacy to Christianity. Theologians can explain the theological importance. Historians can explain the historical and social importance. Our hearts will tell us the spiritual importance.