Pope John Paul II tells the 24 visiting bishops that the church needs a "profound interior renewal" after the priest sexual abuse scandal.

01:00 AM EDT on Thursday, September 9, 2004

BY RICHARD C. DUJARDIN
Journal Religion Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Fresh from his once-every-six-years meeting with the pope, Providence Bishop Robert E. Mulvee says it goes without saying that the clergy sexual abuse scandal has been a dark cloud in the life of the church in the United States and John Paul II wants America's bishops to be more affirming of those who have been injured by the scandal.

"The message I got from the Vatican congregations and indeed from the pope was that we cannot forget the victims," Bishop Mulvee said. "We have to try to heal the wounds. It has to be our primary concern.

"And while the Holy Father made only passing reference to it because he's talked so many times on the subject, his message was that we must not forget the good priests."

Bishop Mulvee, who will turn 74 in February, was part of a delegation of 24 American bishops from the Northeast who visited the pope at his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo for their required "ad limina" visit. Roughly translated as "to the threshold," the ad limina gives the pope and bishops an opportunity to meet one on one and to raise any concerns. It also opens the door to face-to-face meetings with the various congregations that make up the church's central bureaucracy, and to review issues related to doctrine, worship, priestly formation, education, dialogue with other faiths or any number of other topics affecting a region or diocese.

Last Thursday, after meeting individually with each bishop over the course of several days, John Paul met with the prelates as a group, telling them that they could be justly proud of America's history of defending human rights.

At the same time, he told them that what the church in America needs now is a "profound interior renewal."

"He talked about evangelizing the culture in which we live," Bishop Mulvee recalled yesterday, in his first day back at the chancery.

In the pope's view, the United States remains a model for many people around the world, which is all the more reason for its culture to be shaped by the message of Jesus and the Gospel of God, the bishop said.

"He told us that at a time such as this, when the faith of Catholics has been severely tested, we have to do anything to evangelize our own people to bring back the teachings of Jesus so it can have an effect on their lives."

The visit was Bishop Mulvee's fifth ad limina, his first coming nearly 26 years ago when Mulvee was the auxiliary bishop of Manchester, N.H., and a fresh and vigorous John Paul II had only recently been installed. Since then, he's made ad liminas twice as bishop of Wilmington, Del., and once before as the bishop of Providence.

He recalled that when he visited the pontiff six years ago, John Paul looked so unsteady at the opening Mass that he wondered then if the pope would make it through the week. "But then I saw him in my personal meeting, and I told myself, 'He'll bury me.' "

Now, Bishop Mulvee said he is once again astounded by John Paul's stamina. While everyone has become familiar with the televised images of a debilitated John Paul trying to complete a speech before handing it over to an aide, Bishop Mulvee said the John Paul he met during his 12-minute audience was very different indeed.

Bishop Mulvee found a pope who was keenly interested in how things were going in the Providence Diocese, quizzing him on the number of Portuguese, Polish and Spanish parishes and whether there were enough priests to fill every parish. His voice was clear and his hand was steady.

The direction of the meeting may have been set, the bishop said, when he introduced four Rhode Island seminarians who are currently attending the North American College in Rome. The pontiff immediately noted that two of the seminarians had Portuguese-sounding names, and the conversation took off from there.

"He asked me if I knew Cardinal Humberto Medeiros [the late archbishop of Boston]. I said I did. He then asked me if I knew where he was born. I knew it was the Azores. 'What village?' he asked. I didn't know. But he knew the village."

Bishop Mulvee said he came away convinced the church remains in good hands. Despite John Paul's difficulties in delivering homilies, because of physical ailments, Bishop Mulvee said he's been told the pope gets up early and writes out the themes for all of his major addresses and homilies, correcting and changing the drafts prior.

Certainly, he said, these are no longer the days of yesteryear, when John Paul would literally bounce into a meeting, typically after an hour-long swim. In many ways, he says, seeing John Paul now reminds him of others who have also faced physical challenges and have shown an ability to overcome: the late President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and even Rhode Island's own Rep. James Langevin.

"I would have to say, honestly, that he has certainly gone down a great deal in the last five years. But I don't ever remember my mind as being as keen and as fast as his is right now."

How long will John Paul's pontificate last? Bishop Mulvee says he doesn't know. "The pope is going to work until he drops" and that could be at any hour, now or five years from now.

"He's a tough guy. I would say the staff over there are tearing their hair out because they know he has to slow down, and he's saying 'Why?'

"I think John Paul II wakes up in the morning and says, 'I'll do all my best today,' without one thought about next week. That's why he's made it so long. I think he is very much at peace with God, and that helps."