NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      ST. LOUIS, 12 (NE) Less than 15 days away from the Pope's pastoral visit to St. Louis on the banks of the Mississippi River in Missouri, very intense activity is taking place at the American archdiocese. Coordination of the routes that the Pope will take in his visit, verification of the security systems at the different events, coordination of the mobilization of the great quantity of people that will attend them, go along with the spiritual preparation to receive the Vicar of Christ.

      Saint Louis' Cathedral, where the Holy Father will preside over a night of prayer, gets ready -as the St. Louis Post Dispatch recently pointed out- "to receive its most important visitor."

      "I just see him shuffling down the center aisle smiling and waving his hand in blessing," declared one of the members of the local staff preparing things for the visit, expressing the great expectation there is for the Holy Father's visit, especially for his presence at the Cathedral that he himself gave the title of Basilica in 1997.

      A great number of people have not been able to get tickets to attend the central events, many of them youths. In order to solve this problem, the Archdiocese plans to prepare a special area -that has been named "Papal Plaza" - so that a great number of youths may gather and participate in a more active way. Three Jumbotron video screens will transmit the most important events of these days at the "Papal Plaza."