We asked Bishop Banks if he would be going to the game Sunday and he said, in a way, for he was escaping the cold frozen tundra of Wisconsin for the warmer climes of Havana to join the Holy Father at the final Papal Mass. The Bishop referred to this event as even bigger than the Super Bowl, dubbing it the "Papal Bowl." Bishop Banks had wanted to add a little incentive to his friendly wager with Archbishop Chaput by inducing the latter to wear a cheesehead hat to the Archbishop's next Presbyterial Meeting in Denver should the Broncos fall short, but thought better of it. Bishop Banks, who has been head of the Green Bay Diocese for seven years after serving as an auxiliary bishop to Cardinal Bernard Law in Boston, is confident the Packers will repeat. Last year he feasted on Lobster after winning a similar bet with his former boss.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Chaput, who has been in Mexico for three weeks undergoing intensive accelerated training in Spanish, is heading back to Denver this week. However he will make a short stop in San Diego this weekend as the personal guest of an influential Catholic in the Denver Archdiocese - namely the owner of the Broncos Pat Bowlen who will host the Archbishop and a priest-friend of his from South Dakota in the owner's private box for the game. No word yet whether San Diego's Bishop Robert Brom will join them.
This Super Bowl takes on a strong Catholic flavor with the Archbishop in attendance and the Catholic ownership of both teams. While Mr. Bowlen is sole owner of the Broncos, Green Bay is publicly owned with thousands of Wisconsin Catholics holding shares in the team. On the field there is a strong Catholic presence as well. Beginning with star quarterback Brett Favre and a host of others including tight end Mark Chmura. Others are Jeff Dellenbach, Santana Dotson, Mike Prior, Marco Rivera, Jeff Thomason, and Frank Winters to name a few. According to team chaplain Steve Newman, no one lives their faith more sincerely than Notre Dame grad and outstanding punter Craig Hentrich. Some of the Catholic coaches who serve as inspiration to the Catholic Packer players include defensive whiz Fritz Shermer, as well as the quartet of Gill Haskel, Tom Lovat, Mike Sherman, and Bob Valesente. Longtime Catholic team chaplain Father John Blaha will be there with the team in San Diego.
With the Denver Broncos a few of the known Catholics on the team carry a lot of weight including sturdy wide receiver Ed McCaffrey, center Tom Nalen and defensive stalwarts Mike Lodish, Steve Russ and all-pro Harry Swayne from Rutgers.
The Packers may claim more Catholics on the team as well as being heirs to the Lombardi legend for Vince Lombardi was a staunch Catholic. This editor attended St. Thomas College in St. Paul, Minnesota with Vince's son Vince Jr. and we knew first-hand that Vince never wore his faith on his sleeve but lived it fully. For his successes he had a trophy named after him; the same trophy these two teams will be battling for. While the NFL has Lombardi's trophy, we suspect Lombardi has his trophy in Heaven. As for the outcome of Sunday's affair in San Diego, don't underestimate the prayer-power of the Archbishop of Denver, who would seem to have an "in" with the Holy Father after his brilliant and inspirational speech to his fellow bishops at the American Synod calling for a return to striving for personal holiness. If Denver does pull off what many say "would be a miracle," the Archbishop has indicated he will not celebrate or rub it in. Rather he will stay around after the game to minister to heart-broken Green Bay fans, consoling and counseling the cheeseheads.
Yet Bishop Banks is confident the Archbishop will have to make a hasty exit. And don't forget the odds that Archbishop Chaput's compadre-in-para-mutuel will be in Havana with his holiness at the same time the big game is going on. So who has the better "in" with the Pope is up for conjecture since we were unable to reach the Holy Father for a comment, but we strongly suspect he will remain neutral. After all, he has more pressing matters at hand. Guess, we'll have to leave it up to the great Coach above. No, not Vince Lombardi, but rather the Almighty One. They don't come better than that! Deo Gratias!