Throughout the United States today marks another celebration of a 20th century man on a journey. In most American cities today, whether in the freeze that has grabbed many parts of our land or in some of the warmer climates, there will be speeches, there will be parades, there will be special programs honoring MARTIN LUTHER KING.I cannot help thinking in the mind of a number of the African American children who greet me many days in our school or those I came to know while living in downtown Washington DC some years ago. For these young people Martin Luther King became a hero. For them he became the model, the leader ... truly the first black man to achieve such public recognition and adulation.
And where are you today when you are confronted with the celebrations, the memorials, the tv specials that again celebrate for us the man and his memories ... all depictions of his personal spiritual journey that have been summed in his own words: "I have a dream."
I also could not help but thinking of this man and that even today his reputation and his mission are a stumbling block to some of the "enlightened" contemporary American population. In his speeches, in his sermons, his dream was freedom ... for his African American sisters and brothers as well as all Americans. He wanted all of us to be free. Yesterday, Sunday, high above the more than 200,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, the words of the same tenor were delivered to the world. The words of Pope Benedict XVI, no ordinary words because of the recent controversy in Rome, could be entitled "A Professor's Dream."
These words that follow were spoken from the heart. They are words that to me are filled with the same passion and vision that grabbed the heart and the journey of Dr. King. I invite you to read and reflect on Pope Benedict's words and transfer them to the celebration that means so much to my young African American friends.
Pope Benedict XVI said: "The university environment, which for many years was my world, linked for me a love for the seeking of truth, for exchange, for frank and respectful dialogue between differing positions. All this, too, is the mission of the church, charged to faithfully follow Jesus, the Teacher of life, of truth and of love. As a professor, so to say, emeritus, who's encountered many students in his life, I encourage you, dear collegians, to always be respectful of other people's opinions and to seek out, with a free and responsible spirit, the truth and the good. To all and each of you I renew the expression of my gratitude, assuring you of my affection and prayers."
The controversy: The Holy Father was to speak at a local Rome university at the beginning of the new semester. However, a number of students initiated several protests against the Holy Father and his impending lecture at the campus. The students reject the Pope's position regarding science in our lives. Interestingly enough, the name of the Rome university is La Sapienza. Translated that is--Wisdom University. The Holy Father decided it would not be prudent to visit the campus until a later time.
