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In York the following day, the Pope turned to his controversial and conservative social stands. Once again he defined the sacrament of marriage as "an unbreakable alliance of total mutual self-giving . . . It is unconditional." But his tone was paternal rather than condemnatory. Though the church refuses Communion to those in second marriages, John Paul spoke to the divorced with sympathy: "Christ himself, the living source of grace and mercy, is close to all those whose marriage has known trial, pain or anguish. We must reach out with love, the love of Christ, to those who know the pain of failure in their marriages."
Though not drawing back from a quick and blunt attack on the "scourge of abortion," which is legal in Britain, the Pope invoked the need for a "renewed search for Christian unity" and spoke directly to Catholics who are married to non-Catholics. Mixed marriages create "special difficulties," he said, but "you live in your marriage the hopes and difficulties of the path to Christian unity." It was an arresting juxtaposition of elements; no one in the papal party, or in the British hierarchy, had ever before heard the Pontiff put the matter quite this way.
In the speech John Paul did not repeat his well-known view that any use of artificial birth control by married couples is sinful. Instead he spoke of "the spread of a contraceptive . . . mentality," referring to the unwillingness of couples to have children.
Scotland was the Pope's biggest surprise. Anticipating a mild reception in the motherland of Presbyterianism, he found the people there the warmest of all. At the opening event, a rousing youth rally Monday evening at Murrayfield, some 50,000 young people waited through the afternoon for John Paul to arrive. "John Paul, John Paul, John Paul," they chanted rugby-style as the Pope reached the stage. Then they broke into song with the gospel anthem that accompanied the Pope in so many places: He's Got the Whole World in His Hands.
Clearly moved, John Paul offered a paternal appeal to his young listeners. "You feel conscious of your own inadequacy and afraid of what the future may hold for you," he said. "I say to you: Place your lives in the hands of Jesus. . . He will make such use of your lives as will be beyond your greatest expectations . . . Do not let the sight of the world in turmoil shake your confidence in Jesus. Not even the threat of nuclear war." Like the speech containing similar moral lessons the previous Saturday at Wembley Stadium, which was interrupted 25 times with warm applause from a youthful audience, his strict admonitions against self-indulgence and "sexual irresponsibility" were received with surprising equanimity.