From Fr. James V. Schall, S.J.:
The Vatican actually has a council that deals with the pastoral care of tourists. It met in Cancun, Mexico, not an unknown tourist resort, April 23-27. Benedict directed a short but significant letter to the members attending.
“Tourism,” Benedict remarks, “is certainly a phenomenon characteristic of our times.” Almost all modern popes, of course, have spoken of tourism. John Paul II himself may have been the all-time top traveller of our time. It is estimated that he was seen in person by more human beings than any other man in history.
Moreover, the Vatican itself is probably the number one tourist destination in the world. In my Roman years (1965-77), I was ever struck by the numbers and varieties of tourists who came to Rome. But I also observed the fact that those popes who built churches, basilicas, chapels, and who sponsored art and gardens, were centuries ahead of their time. They were major contributors to Italian prosperity and Vatican uniqueness because they built and sponsored things of beauty.
So tourism is not just a phenomenon of our time. It goes back to Herodotus, to medieval pilgrims, to early modern explorers, to the Grand Tour, to the charm and perhaps illusion of different places. What Benedict wants to add to the fact of tourism is that “like other human realities, it is called to be enlightened and transformed by the Word of God.” The Church is not at all opposed to this opportunity of people to travel and meet others, but it is also aware of the darker side of tourism.
One of the names given to man, besides animal rationale, homo ludens, animal sociale, is homo viator, man the traveler, a phrase Benedict himself uses. The great travel stories and adventures are essential to human history and human reality. We have a sense that we must see more than ourselves and our local scenes, however much they are home to us.
Travel is not immigration; the traveler intends to return home having seen something of the world. The traveler can only catch glimpses of what is new and distant from his own local world. Often he does not know the language or customs of what he sees. He is both bewildered and fascinated. He knows he is not at home, yet he sees that other people are at home in places he does not know.
Read the entire post on the Catholic World Report blog.
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