INSULT TO INJURY: VISIT OFFERS PROPHETS TO BE OBEYED, PROFITS TO BE MADE

"The Church acknowledges the legitimate role of profit as an indication that a business is functioning well."

-- John Paul II

"Centesimus Annus," 1991

If you can ignore Dick Vermeil and the Rams for just a moment, it has been a good 10-months for St. Louis and the surrounding area.

First, there was Mark McGwire and his six-month assault on the most sacrosanct number in baseball -- Roger Maris' single-season home run record. From opening day at Busch, the eyes of the sports world were turned not simply on McGwire, but on the city in toto.

When the sports analysts began to run out of ways to describe the massive homers launched by McGwire's Popeye-muscled arms, they began to talk about the fine baseball tradition of St. Louis and what a great baseball town it was, et cetera and so on. In sports circles, St. Louis was the place to be, they said.

Sweet.

And as if all that pontificating weren't enough, the time for even more pontificating has arrived -- this time from the real Pontiff. Beginning tomorrow, Pope John Paul II will visit the city.

Impressive though McGwire's feat was, it pales in comparison to what is happening in the city as St. Louis readies itself for the Holy Father. Stands to reason. As any good Catholic will tell you, the only thing that outranks a Cardinal is the Pope.

Since Archbishop Justin Rigali announced the pastoral visit last April, the media of St. Louis have been heralding the visit as the biggest thing to happen to the city since the 1904 World's Fair. Estimates are that crowds upwards of a million will line the parade route to see the Pope pass by, shattering the record of 700,000 that jammed the streets to see Lucky Lindy when he returned to St. Louis after his transatlantic flight. And at last someone will accomplish what the Rams can't seem to do -- fill the Trans World Dome with people who want to be there.

About every third story in every St. Louis newspaper and suburban journal has something to do with the papal visit -- from features on the nuns who will cook his meals and the woman who designed the sheets for the papal bed to business stories on the specialized golf carts that will be taking the pope for rides.

But it is the economic impact of the visit that seems to have become the hot item for discussion. The St. Louis RCGA estimates that residents and businesses will spend $14 million during the visit and that over $25 million will be pumped into the local economy. And that's not counting the residual amount that will find its way to the city thanks to the exposure that the papal sojourn will bring.

Jill McGuire, director of the Regional Arts Commission in St. Louis, said this past week, "When you talk about marketing the area, it's been an amazing event."

Amazing is right.

A classified ad pitched the rental of a private two-bedroom fully furnished condo with a great view of the parade route for $650 a night.

A supermarket advertised Popes' Wine, dry white and red table wines with the official Vatican label, at $7.99 a bottle. Each bottle comes with a certificate of authenticity and an explanation that the wine has been bottled under the label of the Holy See since the first papal jubilee under Boniface VIII in the year of our Lord 1300.

Like any good event, there are souvenirs and trinkets bought and sold in the area. A kiosk at a St. Louis mall sold papal commemoratives, including tote bags, T-shirts, sweatshirts and ball caps in assorted designer colors. There were even bandanas in blue and yellow (Rams' colors no less) for the event.

There are limited edition plates, limited edition coffee mugs and limited edition 14-karat gold over sterling necklaces.

What's next? Pope soap on a rope?

Don't misunderstand. I have nothing but admiration for what John Paul II has been able to accomplish. There is much to admire in a man who takes so seriously his faith's commission to go into all the world and preach the gospel. In the 20-plus years since he has ascended to the throne of Peter, he has traveled over a half-million miles to deliver the evangel. Agree or disagree with what he says, you still have to admire the conviction with which he says it.

Nor do I have anything against money. On the contrary. I like money. I like it a lot. In fact, I wish I had more of it and will gladly accept any donations to the cause. Will write for food!

But there's something very odd about vendor hawking John Paul videotapes and key fobs between a booth hustling sunglasses and a jumbo pretzel stand.

It's the whole God and mammon thing that has me confused, the sense that once again humanity has allowed money-changers in the temple and exchanged a living faith for a golden calf. And I wonder if the supplanting of the spiritual by the mercantile will allow people to hear his words above the din of the cash registers.

Consider: before coming to St. Louis, John Paul delivered a 38-page papal exhortation to the bishops of the western hemisphere. "Ecclesia in America." In it, the pontiff called for a new way of living in America, "centered," he said, "in a spirituality of prayer committed to the demands of the Gospel in all aspects."

Will anyone hear what he has to say?

~Jeffrey Jackson is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.