Bono on the Death of Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul 2 knew the need to engage with pop culture to reach the youth of his generation. World Youth Days saw all day rock concerts, Bob Dylan was invited to play for the Pontif and Irish rock legends and social activists Bob Geldof and Bono met him during their Drop the Debt Campaign. Bono’s own passionate Christian faith made such a meeting even more fascinating. U2’s front man was born to a Protestant father and a Catholic mother. His own clearly Christian spiritual journey has always transcended both traditions but seen him drop comfortably and uncomfortably into each at times. Since 1999 he has worn, during every concert, the Rosary beads given to him by Pope John Paul 2.
U2 have always drawn the events of the world headlines into the spiritual depth of their rock shows. Their vitriolic response to the Enniskillen bombing of 1988 was documented when that night’s version of Sunday Bloody Sunday was part of their Rattle and Hum movie. The entire second leg of their Elevation Tour in late 2001 was spent sensitively pastoring American audiences in shock and grief post 9/11. Last Sunday night in Anaheim they were never going to ignore a Catholic world in mourning. And so as the concert was drawing to a conclusion with perhaps the most spiritually charged encore in rock history – the testifying All Because Of You, the prayerful commitment of Yahweh and their version of a Psalm 40 – Bono introduced the Psalm with "Tonight we sing this for the Holy Father, a friend to the world's poor." As the song ends the crowd sings the refrain as the band leave the stage one by one. Bono took off his treasured Rosary Beads, kissed the cross and hung them over the microphone stand as he left. He would later make a statement on the band’s official website U2.com, "The best front man the Catholic Church ever had. A great show man, a great communicator of ideas even if you didn't agree with all of them, a great friend to the world’s poor which is how I got to meet him. Without John Paul II it’s hard to imagine the Drop the Debt campaign succeeding as it did."
And it was those two things, faith and justice for the poor that most linked Bono and the late Pope. In an interview in a recent LA Times Bono said, "I'm not sure if it's Catholic guilt or what, but I genuinely believe that second only to personal redemption, the most important thing in the Scriptures -- 2,103 passages in all -- refers to taking care of the world's poor." I am sure that that is one piece of Catholic guilt that Pope John Paul 2 would have been very proud to have instilled, not just in Bono but in us all.
Back
