By Tricia Hempel

The Holy Father is asked about "a certain quiet attrition" by which Catholics are abandoning the practice of the faith, sometimes by an explicit decision, but often by distancing themselves quietly and gradually from attendance at Mass and identification with the church.

As the active member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops with the longest tenure in his diocese, Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel E. Pilarczyk was one of three members of the episcopacy who offered questions to Pope Benedict XVI at Washington’s Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on April 16.

CNS PHOTO/NANCY WIECHEC

Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of Steubenville listens as Pope Benedict XVI addresses the U.S. hierarchy April 16 in Washington.

But for Archbishop Pilarczyk, the former Cardinal Josef Ratzinger had a nod, a smile, a wave, and later, singled him out for a handshake indicating their longstanding acquaintance.

"And because I’m such a swell guy," the archbishop said with a hearty laugh, back in his offices after two hectic days in Washington for the papal visit. "Obviously, he recognizes me. I have dealt with him over the years; we’ve been around."

The two men worked together when Archbishop Pilarczyk was vice president and then president of the U.S. bishops’ conference in the late 1980s and early 1990s. At least three meetings a year in Rome would include time spent with then-Cardinal Ratzinger. During the archbishop’s time as chairman of the National Catholic Bioethics Center he played host to the current pope on a visit to the United States, and they worked together when the archbishop was chairman of the bishops’ committee on doctrine and when he chaired ICEL.

"We talked liturgy, doctrine, a wide range of stuff over the years," Archbishop Pilarczyk said.

Despite their acquaintance, the questions asked of the pope by the bishops’ representatives amounted to "a ceremonial exchange," the archbishop explained. He didn’t write the question he asked (italicized above); it was "a joint effort between the bishops’ conference and the Vatican. I had no input whatsoever."

"But I thought it was a pretty good question," he said.

And he was pleased with the answer he received, too. "The pope said that much of the situation has to do with the passing away of religious culture, which is very true," he explained. "A lot of people who are not going to church anymore didn’t have much faith to begin with. So I thought his was a very thoughtful insight."

Pope Benedict’s emphasis on prayer was also important, he said. "He implied that programs alone aren’t going to do it. I think we encourage our priests to preach the faith and we count on our parishes to continue adult education programs — and we pray."

The pope also spoke of the need to nourish faith, and Archbishop Pilarczyk appreciated that. "You’ve got to work at it, you’ve got to work at being a Christian believer, and you have to be nourished in it, encouraged, supported."

The archbishop noted Pope Benedict’s phrase in response to his question: "We need to acknowledge with concern the almost complete eclipse of an eschatological sense in many of our Christian societies."

"I had not thought of that," Archbishop Pilarczyk said. "I found myself thinking, yes, that’s right. We have forgotten we have a purpose. It’s about salvation. If I don’t think there is a need to be saved, then I won’t go to Mass on Sunday or keep the commandments."

He believes that his brother bishops were very pleased with the pope’s address. "It offered encouragement. There was an awareness that the pope knows our reality and can address it." Throughout the talk and the pope’s visit to the U.S., "there was a lot of talk about hope, and I’m all for that," the archbishop observed. "There was a lot of talk about secularism, and how people are paying lip service to Christian values, but when you come to the real questions about good and evil . . . if people are saying that the here and now is what counts, then there’s not much of a reason for the Christian faith, and there’s little or no hope."

Throughout the pope’s U.S. trip, Archbishop Pilarczyk said he noted several times that the pope "looked like he was having a good time." Because Benedict XVI is known as a more shy, private man than his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, and not known to be gregarious, he was struck by this. He also was "astounded" that the pope waded out into a sea of mass-goers following the liturgy at Nationals Stadium.

But on the U.S. trip, it was clear that "he did what he set out to do," the archbishop said. "He didn’t come to ‘set the bishops straight’ or to solve all of the problems of sexual abuse, although his meeting with abuse victims was a stroke of pastoral genius."

"But if you ask people in this country today, are they feeling more positive or negative about the pope, a lot more people are going to say they are feeling positive. Did he come to burnish his image? No. He came to further the bonds of communion in the church, and he did that."

Had Archbishop Pilarczyk been able to ask Pope Benedict a question of his own authorship, he said he’d need a great deal more time to think about what he would ask. But when pressed, off the top of his head he said he would ask, "Are you content with the church in the U.S.? Are you glad you came?"

"I think his trip was a success, and I’m grateful for it," the archbishop concluded.