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Show Reflections Visit of Pope a bonanza For entrepreneurs By TOM HARALDSEN Clipper Newt Editor Though it is not an event that involves the state of Utah, and for that matter probably not many Utah residents, the visit of Pope John Paul II to the United States next week is causing a lot of excitement in the cities and states that he will visit. In California, where Catholicism still reigns as the prominent religion, the Pope will hold Mass at Dodger Stadium. Hollywood Holly-wood couldn't resist getting involved in this one, and actor Ricardo Montalban has been chosen to emcee the "Pre-Mass" entertainment extravaganza. When the Pope reaches Texas, an outdoor Mass near San Antonio is expected to draw nearly two million people. A friend of mine from college days has been hired to produce a $500,000 televised presentation of that Mass. And in Phoenix next Monday, employees of most downtown businesses have been given the day off not as a tribute to the Pontiffs visit, but as a safety precaution. You see, Phoenix is a city without any semblance of a road system, and businessmen expect nothing but problems when the Pope visits a Cathedral downtown after holding Mass at the site of the Fiesta Bowl, Sun Devil Stadium. In fact, concern across the nation is that Pope John Paul's visit will cause, in the words of Johnny Carson, "immaculate congestion" to streets and freeways. Now I don't expect that visiting a foreign country and eating foreign food will be anything new to the leader of the world's Catholics. After all, this Pope has already done more traveling than most of his predecessors. But America will expose him to something he may not have seen anywhere else: the Free Enter- pnse system. Definition: Exploitation of the Mass to the max. In Phoenix, for example, the hot new summertime ice cream item is the "Pope-sycle." A number of posters are being sold, one showing the Pope with two former Beatles titled "John Paul, George and Ringo." Stores are selling such items as the Pope on a Rope soap (the bar of soap looks like the Pope), and a lawn-sprinkling system called, honest, "Let Us Spray." I'm sure this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what's being sold in honor of his visit. And after the tour of America ends, the same nation that produced a videotape of Oliver . North's testimony just days after the Iran-Contra hearings is sure to produce another tape of the Pontiff's visit. There are certain to be many people who are upset at this type of exploitation, who feel it detracts from the purpose of the Pope's visit. In many ways, they're probably right. Still, this is America, where the same freedom that allows us to practice the religion of our choice also guarantees our rights to "profit" from the practices of others. I've tried to envision a few ideas myself. Perhaps we could fill Dodger Stadium with harmonica players, then take a photo of Pope John Paul preaching the Gospel to them. After all, what better setting for a poster celebrating 1987, the year of the so-called Harmonic Conversion. Or maybe he could bless the Dodgers while he's there, if it's not too late. Perhaps in Miami, he can persuade Crockett and Tubbs not to shoot everyone they meet. At any rate, you can believe that the visit of the Pope to America will be a media event to the upmost. Exploitation? Yes, plenty of that. But it's a way of life in 1987. No one is immune, not even those of us living. Listened to your scriptures on cassette lately? |