Whenever a Pope comes to America his visit garners wall-to-wall coverage in the television networks and the mainstream press. This has always puzzled me, because no other world leader commands such attention, and America is much more of a secular nation than ever before, so why this interest in the visit of a religious figure? Could it be that these communication institutions view this event as an opportunity to cleverly bash the Catholic Church?

Today the Pope arrives in New York City, and we can expect to read articles along the lines of, “The Pope heads the Catholic Church, ‘but.'” That inevitable “but” will precede a litany of issues on which American Catholics are at odds with the Vatican. Usually the articles are written by disaffected nonpracticing Catholics, but in the New York Times, an article written by Dan Barry, “The View From My Pew,” was slightly different. Mr. Barry wrote that he is a practicing Catholic, “but,” like many Catholics, he feels disconnected from the Pope. Yet what distinguishes Roman Catholics from the majority of Christian faiths is allegiance to the papacy. Why be a Catholic if you don’t recognize the authority of the Pope?

Many converts to Catholicism came to the faith primarily because of that teaching authority of the Church called the Magisterium that was lacking in their various religions.

Another example of what we can expect this weekend will be more articles like the one by Phyllis Zagano in the Staten Island Advance complaining that papal masses are dominated by men. Can I give a Cheney response: So?

Sister Donna Quinn, coordinator of the National Coalition of American Nuns, is quoted by the Associated Press as saying, “We cannot welcome this pope until he begins to do away with the church’s continuing violence of sexism.” I’ve known a lot of nuns in my life, having attended Catholic schools for 12 years, and I can’t imagine any of them belonging to this progressive, pro-choice, pro-gay rights organization. The habited nuns who warmly greeted Pope Benedict XVI and kissed his ring would probably have been ridiculed by this group of quasi-religious women who need to examine the definition of vocation and the importance of humility.

I had to laugh at a cable anchor who mindlessly suggested that the Pope’s visit might open up a much-needed debate on modernizing the church’s position on celibacy, gay rights, women priests, divorce, etc. He obviously had no idea what the papacy is all about.

St. Peter was the first pope, and every subsequent pontiff is said to sit at the chair of St. Peter. His duty is not to attract members into the Catholic faith but to keep the church true to the teachings of Jesus Christ. He is only infallible when speaking ex cathedra, which means “from the chair,” and when he defines a doctrine regarding faith and morals universal to the church. Historically, this has only occurred twice: declaring the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption of Mary into heaven.

On the plane headed to Washington, D.C., Pope Benedict issued a blunt statement on the priest scandals that still haunt him. He strongly denounced predatory priests, who have no place in the church. “Pedophilia is completely incompatible with the practice of ministry. It is better to have good priests rather than have many,” he said. Nevertheless, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, “SNAP,” held a press conference criticizing the pope for not doing enough. William Donohue of the Catholic League denounced this group in a statement that read, “SNAP’s ideological bias stems from the fact that it positively refuses to recognize the incredible progress that has been made — exactly five priests out of more than 40,000 had accusations made against them for abusing a minor in 2007 — yet for SNAP it’s never enough. Financially, it derives much of its funding from the ambulance-chasing lawyers who have fleeced the ‘deep pocket’ Catholic Church.”

Add Bill Maher to the Pope-bashers. On his HBO show, he called Pope Benedict XVI an ex-Nazi, a leader of a cult, and the Bear Stearns of organized pedophilia. Sadly his rant garnered cheers and applause from his audience. History was made Tuesday when a sitting American president greeted a foreign head of state at the airport for the first time. A Washington Post article recently suggested that President Bush is a closet Catholic. I rather think that his respect for the Pontiff is the empathy of a kindred soul who’s endured just as many slings and arrows.

Welcome to New York, Your Holiness.

acolon@nysun.com