Central America.

VATICAN City; UNITED States

JOHN Paul II, Pope, 1920-2005; GEORGE, Francis E. (Francis Eugene), 1937-2015; BUSH, George W. (George Walker), 1946-

This article focuses on issues that will confront the next Pope. Last spring, two prominent Americans met with an ailing Pope John Paul II in Rome. President Bush's visit sparked massive protests and earned him both a public scolding from the Pope for the U.S. invasion of Iraq and thanks for his leadership on abortion. A second visitor, arriving a few days earlier, was less conspicuous, but no less significant. Chicago's Cardinal Francis George came to Rome for a routine Vatican meeting and used the occasion to tell the Pope about the plight of the American Church. While the next Pope will undoubtedly have to wrestle with many other issues--such as confrontation and dialogue with Islam and the future of increasingly Catholic Africa--addressing the plight of the American Church will occupy an important place on his to-do list. The primary task for the next Pope and the next generation of American Catholic leaders will be to manage the transition from a Catholic culture to a Catholic creed.