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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, JUNE 4, 1982
PAGE 9
also be interesting that Mr. Armstrong met Prince Charles a few days
earlier after the Horowitz concert during Mr. Armstrong's recent trip to
England.
The "Carnival" in Glasgow
I did not travel with the Papal roadshow to Coventry and Liverpool since
that was on Pentecost. Instead, I enjoyed a wonderful holy day with the
brethren in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
I picked up the tour again in
Glasgow, Scotland, a city which, along with surrounding regions, contains
numerous Catholic believers--many of whom are descendants of immigrants who
came over from Ireland. The highlight of the Pope's trip to Scotland which
also included a number of events at Edinburgh, the capital, was a tremen
dous mass held in Bellahouston Park. The attendance for this open air mass
was put at roughly 260,000. To me it seemed something akin to a religious
Nuremberg rally.
Before the Pope arrived by helicopter from Edinburgh mid-afternoon, the
announcers, mainly priests, conducted all sorts of festivities for the
people including quite a number of more modern religious songs. One song
repeated over and over again was
11
He
1
s Got the Whole World In His Hands."
When the people sang it, however, I could not tell whether they were refer
ring to God or to a man, John Paul II. In their own mind, I am sure that the
Pope was uppermost.
Because there were so many people who were so far away from the dais at
which the Pope spoke, a huge television screen was installed above the
rostrum. It was the size, some guessed, of a double-decker bus--a truly
awesome-sized screen. Right next to it was located its control box upon
which was painted in bright red "by Mitsubishi Electric."
When the Pope arrived by helicopter, the crowd which had been surprisingly
quiet and self-controlled erupted in almost pandemonium. The crowd was
actually tipped off about the Pope
1
s imminent arrival by the television
screen just before they saw the helicopter. After the Pope arrived, he was
immediately ushered into one of the four armor-plated bulletproof glass,
safety-tired Popemobiles which escorted him on a winding pathway up and
down the section of the park where the people were standing. It took, I
believe, almost a half hour for his car to wind its way through.
The Scottish newspaper DAILY RECORD perhaps best expressed the reaction of
the assembled in its main article the next day titled "Welcome to the
Carnival--Never Before Have So Many Gathered for Just One Man."
Some
excerpts from the article should prove interesting and will give you an
indication of the crowd's reaction.
Never before has a crowd this size assembled in Scotland. And it
is doubtful if there will ever be one like it again. Only one
man, assuming we are prepared to discount the second coming for
the moment, could have brought out such a crowd.
But then never
has there been a Pope like John Paul II. To this incredible man,
the only world leader who kisses babies and doesn't need votes,
Rome seems to be little more than the spot to have a decent sleep
between jet journeys around his worldwide 800-million-strong
flock•..•