In drawing 800,000 people to the streets of Paris, Pope Leo has done what no other American could. Even Taylor Swift fell short -- by a factor of 20 -- and no member of the US government could come close.
■ It’s not that France has experienced a sudden outburst of religious fervor; French Mass attendance, like elsewhere in Europe, is a shadow of its past. Nor is it a matter of access; the Vatican is only a 2-hour, $200 flight away.
■ There’s a very good chance that much, if not most of the momentum is simply a reflection of a hunger for continuity. There is a global appetite for certitude, and the Catholic Church is in a rare position to offer an institutional form of it. Whatever might happen to any other trans-national organization, from the Olympic Games to NATO to the International Criminal Court, one thing is completely certain: Someone will be Pope a hundred years from now.
■ And this Pope is a good one, with an unassuming manner, an easy wit, a globetrotting biography, and a quick mind. He has many of the qualities people seek in a leader, and yet of course he wasn’t popularly elected.
■ His very presence conveys a reassuring message that America can produce leaders of good character, peaceful demeanor, and constructive long-term vision. It also says that there are still sources of worldly (or divine) authority to be found away from politics. That message couldn’t be more important in an era of widespread institutional disruption. The world could very eagerly use more charismatic figures like him.