The Pope on human rightsand wrongs
After eight international tours that have covered IS nations, tumultuous motorcades and clamoring multitudes have become familiar when Pope John Paul II is on the road. But the papal procession across the Philippines last weekhis ninth foreign journey and his first to Asiaalso displayed ample elements of stagecraft along with spontaneous outpourings of devotion.
On the one hand, there were memorable eruptions of unprogrammed exuberance. At Manila's Baclaran Church, John Paul's mere appearance sent 2,000 nuns into a wave of near ecstasy. During a pep rally at...