- P.S. (Pope-script): Everybody in Denver had a story to tell during Pope John Paul II's visit; but one of the most intriguing belonged to Christopher Kelley of Massachusetts.
Kelley travels country to country looking for "dynamic events" held at "dynamic sites." Once there, he paints enormous, pastel murals on the downtown sidewalks. He did a "Rafael" in Spain. He recently returned from Brussels, where he chalked a huge version of a famous Salvador Dali.In Denver he did the Sistine Chapel - Adam reaching out for God - next to a yogurt stand on lower 16th.
"We knew the Pope was coming here, and we wanted to support him," said Kelley. "Painting for young people is great."
When Kelley left Denver, his monstrous sidewalk mural began to slowly wash away in the rain.
"I see it as a performance," he says. "You know, you go to a concert, hear a song and then the song is gone. There's no way to trap or frame it. All you have is the memory of the art."
And I have memories of Christopher Kelley. Watch for him at a dynamic site near you.
- PITCHING THE POPE: If the past 10 years were the "information decade," the '90s just might be the "marketing decade." In Denver during the Pope's stay, everyone seemed to be selling something.
Here's a brief list of souvenirs available from shops and stands around town. See if you can pick out the two items that were both approved and marketed by World Youth Day itself:
1. Beer, in phony stained-glass bottles.
2. A T-shirt featuring a drawing of the Pope with both thumbs up. The slogan reads "Most Excellent!"
3. A T-shirt with the Pope on Roller Blades, with the words "Holy Roller" beneath him.
4. Pope shower soap being sold as "Pope on a rope."
5. A black "miracle mug" that represents the darkness of the world. When filled with hot coffee, the mug turns white and the Pope appears.
ANSWER: World Youth Day produced and marketed items 2 and 5.
- THE LAST WORD: Finally, some sober thoughts.
The Pope does wear many hats - both literally and figuratively: a godfather to the children, museum curator, judge.
But in Denver, he wore a hat not many of us have seen: the Pope as four-star general with an army of Christian soldiers. By the fourth day, John Paul II had the kids ready for holy war - not a war of planes and tanks, but a war of conscience.
The Pope had come to Denver to fight fire with a refiner's fire. Catholicism, traditionally associated with guilt, suffering and most recently scandal, is striking back. The church showed a new face in Denver: evangelical Catholicism.
"Young people of Denver," he told the 250,000 at a vigil, "you are strong! I feel you are strong!"
And later at McNichols Arena: "Pray! Ardent, humble, confident prayer! America needs much prayer lest it lose its soul!"
In Denver, the Pope put on the armor of God. He was a proud commander, a new crusader.
And when he left, he left a behind a fresh era of Catholic zeal and missionary fervor.