c. 1999 Religion News Service

ST. LOUIS Pope John Paul II said goodbye to this city and perhaps for the last time to the United States returning to Rome Wednesday (Jan. 27) after telling 100,000 Catholics gathered for the largest indoor Mass ever to look toward the millennium as a time for spiritual rejuvenation.

“Living in the Holy Spirit, the church looks forward to the millennium as a time of far-reaching spiritual renewal,” the pope said. “The spirit will truly bring about a new springtime of faith if Christian hearts are filled with attitudes of humility, generosity and openness to this purifying grace.”

John Paul’s millennial message was in line with his often-repeated hope that the 2,000th anniversary of Jesus’ birth the Great Jubilee, as he calls it will unleash a wave of religious fervor throughout the global church. He has said he hopes to visit Jerusalem to launch the millennium if political conditions, and his faltering health, allow.

Many ordinary Catholics at the papal Mass shared a sense that the visit here of the 78-year-old pontiff, who is suffering from what is believed to be Parkinson’s disease, would probably be his last to North America.

“Yeah, I very much think he won’t be back, which is why seeing him today was just so special,” said Jerry O’Connor, a 61-year-old retired public school administrator from Arnold, Mo. “He’s gutsy, but his human body is failing.”

History’s most traveled pontiff ended his 30-hour visit to St. Louis one-third of whose residents are Catholic with an evening prayer service at which local Reform Rabbi Robert Jacobs read a passage in Hebrew from the biblical Book of Isaiah. St. Louis archdiocese officials said they could not recall a Jewish religious leader ever having participated in a Catholic worship service led by a pope.

At the cathedral, which boasts the largest collection of mosaics in the world, John Paul returned to the millennial theme, calling the start of the new century “a decisive turning point for the world.”

In addition to Jewish leaders, a variety of Protestant, Orthodox Christian, Mormon, Hindu, Unitarian, Muslim, Baha’i and Buddhist representatives attended the vesper service.

Also there, was civil rights icon Rosa Parks, whose whose 1995 refusal in Montgomery, Ala., to yield her bus seat to a white passenger, sparked a movement. The pope greeted Parks gave the pope a copy of her book, “Quiet Strength,” which chronicles her civil rihts struggle.

“Today, divine providence has brought us all together and enabled us to pray: `O, God, let all the nations praise you!”’ the pontiff, arguably the world’s best known religious figure told the assembly. “May this prayer signify our shared commitment to ever greater understanding and cooperation.”

The pope departed the city’s Lambert Field International Airport at about 8:25 p.m. local time (9:25 EST) aboard Shepherd I, his specially configured TWA jumbo jet. Vice President Al Gore, his wife Tipper, and Secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala were on hand to see the pontiff off.

The pope’s visit marked the 85th foreign journey of his 20-year pontificate, the longest of the 20th century. The St. Louis visit was his fifth major trip to the United States. His first was in 1979.

Trans World Dome normally a football stadium and an adjoining convention center were packed to capacity for the early-morning papal Mass, for which the doors opened at 3:00 a.m. The crowd estimated at more than 100,000 was reported by church officials to be the largest indoor Mass ever.

In Mexico City, which the pope visited prior to St. Louis, he celebrated an outdoor Mass for some 1 million Catholics gathered at an auto racetrack.

The solemnity of the Trans World Dome Mass was in marked contrast to Tuesday’s all-day Kiel Center youth rally, where some 20,000 mostly high school and college-age young people were pumped up by seven hours of Christian-rock music before John Paul addressed them.

To transform the dome into a church, yellow and white papal bunting was draped around the stadium and a large cross hung from the dome’s ceiling. Behind it was a small-scale replica of the Gateway Arch, St. Louis’ trademark.

John Paul’s themes in St. Louis were the familiar ones long associated with his reign as head of the 1 billion-member Catholic Church. At the Mass, he stressed the importance of the traditional family to maintaining “the dignity of human life,” just as he had urged Americans to “resist the culture of death” and instead “stand steadfastly on the side of life” Tuesday during his arrival speech delivered in the presence of President Bill Clinton.

“One doesn’t go to see the pope to be surprised,” said Monsignor Francis Maniscalco, a spokesman for the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. “The great novelty of the pope is he’s never novel.”

At the Mass, a visibly tired pope condemned abortion and euthanasia, racism and the death penalty as “a terrible rejection of God’s gift of life and love.” The death penalty reference put the pope in the middle of a local controversy.

In November, the Missouri Supreme Court postponed without explanation the scheduled execution of Darrell J. Mease, 42, who was on the state’s death row for killing three people in 1998. Mease was scheduled to die Wednesday. His execution is now set for Feb. 10.

Dr. Joaquin Navarro Valls, the pope’s chief spokesman, called the postponement “a mockery.” Valls also labeled opposition to capital punishment a “moral idea, not a political idea.”

Wednesday, John Paul said “a sign of hope is the increasing recognition that the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil. Modern society has the means of protecting itself, without definitively denying criminals the chance to reform.”

The death penalty, he said, “is both cruel and unnecessary.”

While the pope’s death penalty comments drew applause from those at the Mass, surveys show that American Catholics as a whole overwhelmingly support capital punishment. Maniscalco put the level of support at about 70 percent.

In St. Louis, the pope’s declining health was evident. He read his talks in a droning monotone that was difficult to understand. His face generally lacked expression and for a spell during the Mass he sat slack-jawed with his eyes closed. In addition, his hands appeared to shake more than during past visits to the United States and he shuffled even more slowly as he walked.

One exception to the pope’s generally listless demeanor came at the Kiel Center youth rally.

After he was presented with a hockey stick and St. Louis Blues hockey team jersey bearing his name, the pope joked, “so I am prepared to return once more to play hockey.” He also playfully held his cane as if it were a hockey stick.

His actions touched off gleeful applause and shouts of “We love the pope.”

DEA END RIFKIN