THE PAPAL VISIT : John Paul’s Meeting With Indians Will Emphasize Newly Won Rights

Pope John Paul II will meet with 16,000 Catholic American Indians at the Arizona Memorial Coliseum today in what organizers hope will mark a step forward in the sometimes stormy relations between Indians and Catholicism.

The gathering, in which representatives of more than 200 tribes will pray with the pontiff, dance and sing, will incorporate Indian customs only recently permitted as a part of worship by the nation’s 285,000 Catholic American Indians. Bishop Donald Pelotte of Gallup, N.M., the first--and only--Catholic bishop in the United States who is an Indian, will be among the participants.

Planners hope it will be seen as an important and constructive milestone in a relationship that dates from the very earliest explorations of the white man in North America and that remains problematic in some ways even today.

Harmful Influence

Bishop Pelotte noted that when missionary priests accompanied the conquering Spanish soldiers into Indian territories during the late 17th and 18th centuries, they were part of the destructive influence on traditional Indian religions.

Father Gilbert Hemauer, director of the Tekakwitha Conference, the Catholic Church’s major outreach to Indians, said: “Spanish missions in general went hand in hand with the Spanish government in securing things for the crown. By imposing a foreign way of life and cultural arrogance . . . they failed to recognize the gifts God had given to a people in terms of their own life, language and style. It was, in some cases, a very disruptive influence.”

Bishop Pelotte, born to a full-blooded Abenaki father and a French-Canadian mother, pointed to a 1977 statement by the U.S. bishops that acknowledges the right of Catholic Indians to be faithful members of the church while at the same time following their own traditional religions.

Prelates Questioned

The decision came, Pelotte said, “after an uncomfortable meeting” in South Dakota between four Catholic bishops and a group of 66 Indians who formed a circle around the prelates and asked them “very hard questions.”

The U.S. bishops’ statement acknowledges that “efforts of the church to promote the Gospel among Indian communities have at times . . . failed to respect Indian cultures. . . . Both respect for cultural diversity and dialogue between cultures are indispensable if the legitimate quest for cultural identity is to lead to human development and social progress.”

Then, in 1986, the Vatican approved a translation of major portions of the Mass into Navajo--the first American Indian language to receive such approval. And use of Choctaw for the Mass was approved last April.

Concern for Indians

John Paul has underlined his concern for native peoples in several speeches during his travels. In a talk to Indians near Quebec City in September, 1984, the pontiff said:

“Without losing any of your cultural identity, you have understood that God has sent the Christian message to you just as he did to others.”

And last November the Pope urged Australian aborigines to “take heart” because many of their languages and much of their culture had been preserved.

“Share them with each other and teach them to your children,” the Pope said. “Your songs, your stories, your paintings, your dances, your languages, must never be lost.”

Pelotte said Catholic American Indians had hoped that during the Pope’s visit here he would make a Mohawk woman the first native American saint.

Steps Toward Sainthood

Kateri Tekakwitha was beatified, the second of three steps to Roman Catholic sainthood, by the Pope in 1980. But, for canonization, a second miracle, occurring through the candidate’s intercession, must be proved. (Beatification requires the first miracle.) Tekakwitha, or Lily of the Mohawks, as she is known by Indian Catholics, died of smallpox in 1680 at age 24 after living “a life of purest charity,” according to the Pope.

Process Not Finished

The Vatican has said the process for Tekakwitha’s canonization is not complete--the same reason it gave for the Pope’s decision not to beatify Father Junipero Serra, founder of the California mission chain, during the pontiff’s stop in Carmel on Thursday.

While the Tekakwitha decision disappointed Indian Catholics, postponement of Serra’s beatification pleased them, according to Father Michael Galvan, director of liturgy for the Diocese of Oakland.

“It allows us to focus on issues of greatest importance . . . such as preserving our cultures, traditions and languages,” he said at a press conference here.

Some Indians have objected to beatifying Serra on grounds that he cruelly mistreated Indians at his mission in Carmel during the 18th Century.

In California, four members of the Costanoan Band of Carmel Mission Indians opposed to Serra’s sainthood traced the Franciscan’s steps from one mission to another in a two-day car caravan over the weekend to join a protest encampment in Carmel.

In Phoenix, the Pope is expected to talk to the Indians about their spirituality, education, family concerns and quality of life. His visit coincides with the three-day annual meeting of the inter-tribal Tekakwitha Conference.

THE POPE’S DAY: PHOENIXMonday, Sept. 14: All times are local to the area SAN ANTONIO 8:30 a.m. Departs Kelly AFB for Phoenix. PHOENIX 8:30 a.m. Arrives Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport. 9 a.m. visits pediatrics ward at St. Joseph’s Hospital. 9:40 a.m. Parade to St. Mary’s Basilica. 10:10 a.m. Speaks at St. Mary’s Basilica plaza. 10:55 a.m. Meets with Catholic Health Assn., Civic Plaza. 12:30 p.m. Welcome by Bishop Thomas J. O’Brien, Sts. Simon and Jude Cathedral. 4:30 p.m. Meets with representatives of Native Americans at Memorial Coliseum. 6:30 p.m. Celebrates Mass and sacrament of anointing of sick, Arizona State University Stadium. DIOCESE OF PHOENIX Established: 1969. Bishop: thomas J. O’Brien (installed 1982). Catholic Population: 464,890 (25% of total population). Parishes: 85 in four counties. Priests: 260. Nuns: 275.