The Pope in England

The Pope’s visit to England is making me reflect of St. Dominick Savio’s dream concerning that country’s eventual return to the Church of Rome and the role that the Holy Father would play in it. The pope he saw in his dream was Pius IX (sometimes called Don Bosco’s Pope because of their close relationship), but these prophetic visions need to be seen in a less than literal light. This is not the first time that Pope Benedict has been at the center of a Salesian prophesy. Don Bosco’s Dream of the Two Pillars had the pope being shot, recovering to steer the Barque of Peter again before finally dying. Then he is quickly replaced by one who would succeed in anchoring the boat between the two pillars of the Eucharist and Mary. Only three months after John Paul II’s death, who had survived an assassination attempt in 1981, we have photos of Pope Benedict sailing up the Rhine with a monstrance and a statue of Mary to kick off World Youth Day. More than one person, including cardinals and archbishops, saw a connection between Don Bosco’s dream and this event. Now we have him in England, not on a pastoral visit undertaken on his own initiative, as was pointed out to me, but by invitation of the government. What that means, I don’t know; I’ll leave that to others to ponder.


John Paul II was really the contemporary incarnation of “Don Bosco’s Pope” in many ways. He was a member of a Salesian parish for a time in his youth, and was taught by them when he studied theology underground during the Nazi occupation of Poland. He had a deep love and concern for the young people and for the Salesian family. He was very close with at least one Rector Major. When he died we did wonder how the relationship would change. Considering the fact that Pope Benedict chose Cardinal Tacisio Bertone, a Salesian as Secretary of State, I would say we still have a good friend in the Holy Father. But these are two very different men, full of paradoxes. John Paul was charismatic and connected with people immediately, but his writings could be dense and hard to understand. Benedict is a bit more reserved, and while no less an intellectual than John Paul was, his writings are more accessible. He has the gift of taking complex ideas and making them understandable. Responding to reports that the crowds for the present Holy Father were greater than those of his predecessor, Peggy Noonan commented that people came to see John Paul II, but that they’re coming to listen to Benedict XVI.


So, what the Pope’s visit to England will mean in the long run is a mystery. But I will go out on a limb and write that it is connected to Dominick Savio’s dream. Whether he is the pope to bring England back into to Catholic fold or whether he represents the first stage to be completed in later pontificates only time will tell the tale. But he’s taken concrete steps to out reach already by making it easier for Anglicans to enter the Church while keeping many of their liturgical traditions. So we could say the prophesy is being fulfilled before our eyes.


John Paul was the quintessential “Salesian Pope,” but in his own understated way Pope Benedict is proving to be just as much at the heart of the Salesian Family.