They're making the final preparations before the plane door is opened.  It's called Shepherd I.

He will leave by helicopter, as we said.  And the reception line is forming now.

The young boy you see, his name is Thomas Annanea of Des Moines.  He is the boy who will present those flowers to the Pope and welcome him.  His message is, "Your Holiness, on behalf of all the Catholic school children, our teachers and principals, I have the honor of saying welcome to Des Moines.  We are all very excited and happy that you came.  You are someone we pray for every day.  Thank you for coming."  His parents are Joseph and Kathleen Annanea of Des Moines.  I talked with him earlier this week and he said he practiced many times so he wouldn't forget the speech.

The decision to come to the heartland was made by the Pope.  The encouragement that he visit was bolstered by the invitation of a plain spoken Iowa farmer.  Joe Hays, then as now, is a man of faith, father of five and a conscientious steward of the soil.  The true rural Iowa farmer had heard the announcement that the Pope would visit the U.S. and he has reasoned the Pontiff might have an interest in the Midwest.

Joe Hays: I looked over at Father Connelly and I said, Father Paul, I've got an idea.  He said, what's that?  I said, why don't we just invite him to come out here to the Midwest?  I said, he's going to talk about the resources of America and what we are in America and what the people are, I said, we've got probably the best when you talk about food for people of the land, I said, we're right here, right in the bread basket.  He said, yeah, could be.  And he kind of glances at me like this, like are you stupid or what?  He says, why don't you go ahead and write that letter?  I said, well, I could and I did.  I wrote a rough and just handed it to him and it wasn't that day but it was the next following day and he said, you've got to do a little brush up on this, I think we've got a good idea.

The notion was hardly as naive as it might seem at first glance ... one of rural America's strongest advocates.

It would never have happened except for Joe Hays.

It was decided to use helicopters to make transportation as rapid as possible and I think the people here in this part of rural America would say that's okay.

The Pope's encounter with Iowans would be a trilogy of stops.  First, the blessing of the 7000 who greeted his plane, then a message to a small rural parish and finally a full mass at Living History Farms.

There he goes to the church where 240 parishioners are waiting and so is Dean Borg.

It's a beautiful day here in the rolling countryside.  What the Pope will see here is a rural Catholicism.  The Pope has a special love for the land, he sees it as a source of survival for all humanity and he sees these parishioners are representatives of all rural folk in America, for that matter throughout the entire world.  For the Pontiff, this is the place to pause, to pray and also to show his concern for farm problems.

This site is directly across a graveled road from St. Patrick's Church adjacent to the farmstead of the John Conner family.  John and Marilyn Conner and their five children are greeting the Pope.

Marilyn Conner: One of the stories that we always like to tell in the family is when John's mother was alive she lived about a half mile down the land and she was always after him to clean up the weeds along the lane because she wanted it to be neat.  And he'd say to her, well who do you think is coming, the Pope?  She had just died the year before so she had the last laugh.

Now you hear the church bell, it's going to be rung in honor of Pope John Paul II as he comes to this country parish.

As planned the church congregation singing an anthem as the Pope enters their church.

Your Holiness, welcome to St. Patrick's at Irish Settlement.  I want to introduce to Your Holiness the people of St. Patrick's parish at Irish Settlement.

Pope John Paul II: Very nice.  My pastoral journey through the United States would have seemed incomplete without a visit, although short, to a rural community like this.  Let me share with you some thoughts that this particular setting brings to mind and that are prompted by my meeting with the families who make up this rural parish.  On your farms you are close to God's nature.  In your work on the land you soil the _____ of the seasons.  And in your hearts you feel close to each other as children of a common father and as brothers and sisters in Christ.  How privileged you are that in such a setting you can worship God together, celebrate your spiritual unity, feel grateful to God for the blessings he gives you not least for the blessing of belonging to this rural parish community.  May our heavenly Father bless you, each and every one of you.  My greetings and best wishes go also to the whole state of Iowa, to the ________ and to all the people who have so generously extended to me hospitality marked by kindness.  My greetings go also to your parish priest who is standing there near the door. 

Pope John Paul II: May God bless you through the intercession of Mary, the mother of Jesus and the mother of his church.  Thank you very much.

Father Richter, even though he wanted to stay out of the limelight, brought into the limelight by the Pope, just a year and a half into the priesthood.  Before he goes out he's going to be shaking some hands inside.

As they meet this world leader, the head of their church, it's difficult to imagine the pride and the jubilation they feel.  For that matter, to pretend to measure the impact of what Pope John Paul has told them about the importance of their contribution to this world it must be a tremendous inspiration, a dramatic elevation of human dignity.

John Conner: To me it was very touching to watch him walk down the aisle and touch all of the kids, it just brings tears to your eyes.

Not all of the 204 I wouldn't believe would be able to touch his hand in the time that he is allotted here but as Sarah Ivy admitted earlier this Pope does not keep a timed schedule.  Church officials wanted this moment to be very, very private and we do not have our microphones near this group.  In fact, there are no microphones there.

The chance for them to meet just a little bit more and talk with this man who has honored them today -- the church social that they'll be having in just a few minutes isn't something that is contrived by St. Patrick's congregation just for today.  They often gathered here after Sunday mass for food and a chance to visit.  It certainly is a very tangible portrait of the unity within this parish community.  That, I believe, is what John Paul II was emphasizing to all the world by his visit here, the value and dignity of rural life and the importance of interdependence among families in a community.

This is the Papal helicopter.  Every face here is upturned to the sky, the anticipation I can feel the electric excitement growing as it may reach between 350,000 and 400,000 people watching his arrival.

As the Papal helicopter neared touchdown the sun broke through the clouds heralding not only the Pontiff's arrival but also warming the multitude that awaited him and the legion of volunteers who had prepared the visit.

Governor Robert Ray: I had a habit of working late at night and it was about 10:30 as I recall and I was working in the lower office and the telephone rang and someone else answered it but when I came on it was Bishop Dingman and Bishop Dingman was a wonderful, wonderful person and he said, governor, he said, we might have a possibility of having the Pope come and visit us.  I sat up pretty straight when I heard that.

This is the time for people to get uptight.

And the governor called in the National Guard.  The Guard's logistical expertise harnessed the ecumenical spirit in the community.  Over the next six weeks local governments, labor unions, churches, Catholic, Protestant and Jewish were to construct and solvate a site to accommodate the needs of hundreds of thousands.

Governor Robert Ray: This had never happened before and we had absolutely no idea what the turnout would be or where to have the Pope come but everybody went to work and the pieces started to fit together.

The logistical effort recognized and utilized spiritual principles.  Given the views of Christ about commerce in a holy place there would be no souvenir vendors in a six mile zone around Living History Farms.  There would be an ecumenical service prior to the Papal mass.  Indeed, several non-Catholic religious leaders would be present during the mass.  And to facilitate the orderly movement of an enormous number of people to the site, church and civic leaders encouraged people to walk.

Governor Robert Ray: They had to close the interstates and people walked quite a distance to go the location and they waited a long, long time.

This doesn't happen too often.

And now an overwhelming welcome.

Every hand is raised in welcome, banners are being waved, everyone is pushing forward for a better look.

The young lady that you see standing before Pope John Paul II is Zirota R_______ from Des Moines, eleven years old, a Polish extraction she speaks the language of Polish fluently and may be communicating with the Holy Father in that language right now.  When she was asked why she liked the Pope she said, because he's Polish.  The Pope, as he has done all day, pausing to spend more than a little time with each and every person that is greeting him and a rather famous gentleman is supposed to be appearing very shortly, Mr. Joe Hays, the Pope's pen pal if you will.

Joe Hays: The Bishop says, Your Holiness, this is Joe Hays, his wife Ann and his children.  He stops and says, excuse me, this is the farmer who wrote you the letter inviting you to come to Iowa and to the Midwest.  And the Pope turned around, probably ten foot off, come back, gets me in close, gets a hold of my hand and pulls it in, he says, ah, yes, we are all farmers.  I took that for what it was worth.  It was like not thinking about milk and cows, we're thinking about other things here but we're all farmers.  I took that as a very significant statement.

I imagine now what is happening is that he is going to change into the vestments for the ceremony of the mass.  There is an almost biblical quality to it even though, of course, it's all in modern dress.

One can't help but think that the huge crowds that we often read about in scripture followed our Lord ... this opening song All Creatures of our God and King.

It was chosen to open the celebration because of the spirited melody of the source of the text which is St. Francis ______ is sung.

I think many are joining in other than the choir.

This alter and platform area and the tapestry that you see that is behind the Holy Father's chair and the logo are all reminders of our ties to the land.  The alter, for instance, is constructed of 100 year old white oak timber salvaged from an Iowa corn crib and barn as are the pulpit and the lectern.  The platform itself as you see the Holy Father standing on is a mound of Earth leveled in terrace and planted with shrubs and flowers in the autumn season.  In fact, the platform is supposed to be the impression that it's coming right out of the ground.  The logo that we'll see later is also to give a sense of the land and the rural life within the arms of the cross, the _____ reflecting plowed fields in which the seed was planted and the hope of a bountiful harvest begins its realization.

The thorns that surround the cross speaks to the contours of the land, fields shaped to the Earth, the colors are those of the four seasons, the blues and grays express winter, the light greens and yellows symbolizing spring, autumn in orange and brown and summer is deep greens and browns.  The seasons and their colors, all reminders of growth's full cycle.

It is my _________ Your Holiness to welcome you to the diocese of Des Moines.  I do so in the name of the priests, the religious and the laity of this diocese.  The significance of the visit of Your Holiness extends far beyond the geographic boundaries of this diocese.  My fellow bishops from the state of Iowa have joined me in preparing a fitting welcome for you.  44 dioceses embracing twelve states are now in the process of writing a statement on the land.  The providence of God is very evident in this event and in all of rural America.  As we gather on this knoll with the beauty of God's handy work about us, may this occasion be a celebration of thanksgiving as well as a reminder of our responsibilities to the whole world.  The church is a field to be cultivated.  Our logo high above the chair of Your Holiness speaks to this land which we call rural America.  The leaves, the furls, the streams, the seeds all speak about God, his beauty, his majesty, his power and his goodness.  This setting so reminiscent of Assize places us in the proper disposition of mind and heart and soul.  Three words summarize our preparation for this historic occasion.  We are a pilgrim people on a pilgrimage, we have practiced hospitality and we have tried to mirror simplicity in our every effort.  On this feast of St. Francis we pray with the liturgy that the Father may help us to reflect the image of Christ through a life of poverty and humility by walking in the footsteps of Francis of Assize and by imitating his joyful love.  To a pilgrim Pope, we a pilgrim people extend our heartfelt welcome.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, peace be with you.

We gather together us God's holy people with confidence let us call upon the Lord for He is gracious and merciful. 

 (singing)

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, here in the heartland of America, in the middle of the bountiful fields at harvest time I come to celebrate the Eucharist.  As I stand in your presence in this period of autumn harvest those words which I repeated whenever people gather for the Eucharist seem to be so appropriate.  Blessed are you Lord God of all creation.  Through your goodness we have this breadth to offer which Earth has given and human hands have made. 

To all of you who are farmers and all who are associated with agricultural production I want to say this, the church highly esteems your work.  Christ himself showed his esteem for agricultural life when he described God, his Father as the _______.  Every day the farmer is reminded of how much he depends upon God.  From the heavens come the rain, the wind and the sunshine, they occur without the farmer's command or control.  The farmer prepares the soil, plants the seed and cultivates the crop.  But God makes it grow.  He alone is the source of life.  Even the natural disasters, such as hailstorms and droughts, tornados or floods, remind the farmer of his dependence upon God.  Surely it was this awareness that prompted the early pilgrims to America to establish the feast which you call Thanksgiving.  Bring with you to Christ the products of your hands, the fruit of the land, that which Earth has given and human hands have made.  This alter, these gifts, will be transformed into the Eucharist of the Lord.

Bring with you your efforts to make fruitful the land, your labor and your weariness.  At this alter because of the life, death and resurrection of Christ all human activity is sanctified, lifted up and fulfilled.  Bring your families and dedicate them and you to Christ so that they may continue to be the working, living and loving community where nature is revered, where ______ are shared and where the Lord is praised in gratitude.  Amen.

We're beginning the second major portion of the mass, of the liturgy, the first we have just finished hearing the word of God and listening to the homely by the Holy Father.  Now we move to the second part, the liturgy of the Eucharist.  The procession you're seeing now is the bringing of the materials to prepare the alter.  The alter table is prepared at this time, the gifts of the bread and wine referred to as the gifts are prepared and the liturgy of the Eucharist begins in preparation of the alter table and the gifts that I have just mentioned.

The procession is led by two standards of colors of the _____ and harvest sections of the emblem of the Holy Father's visit to Des Moines and to rural America.  _____ are from the high school student representatives of high schools in this area.  The alter cloth that you'll see brought up is especially woven for the celebration by a woman from the city of Des Moines.

As part of this celebration the gifts of the harvest are being carried to the alter and ________________________.

The idea of people giving back to God and joining into the sacrifice ________, the gift of God has been generously given to all of us.  We see now the alter cloth being placed on the alter.  The first of the gifts to be brought up is that of peppers, zucchini.  The second of potatoes and apples.  Another is corn and grapes and wheat.

They are bringing corn.  These gifts are being presented by a number of people from the state of Iowa.

They grew them themselves I understand, these couples that are making the presentations grew these.

Yes, they did, this produce.

We see the Holy Father accepting the gifts that are being placed near the alter.

They are carrots and pumpkins.

Joe Hays: I have this friend Paul, Paul was pretty neat, Paul is not 42 and is mentally retarded from birth and they had just kind of cringed about a lot of things that were going on, too many people and all that but the major of the issues was hyperactivity and Paul goes over and leans down, takes the Pope by the hand and said, Pope John Paul II, that's what he said to him, and the Pope says -- again he gets his eye contact with Paul and like I said Paul had been a pretty big basket case for a lot of things and many changes in his life were instrumental for excitement and after that greeting and a special blessing by the Pope at the time up there on the alter Paul's behavior kind of leveled off, he has moved up, things got better.  There's no doubt in my mind blessings don't hurt a thing.

The bread and the wine are being carried in the procession by the Joseph Hays family which is the man who wrote the original letter of invitation to Pope John Paul II and is considered instrumental in bringing him here.

Perhaps the most significant of the gifts is not shown on the television set.  That is brought up by members of the ____________________.  There will be planted corn which was growing in soil that was brought from the 44 diocese groups that are involved in the issuing of the ____ statement which perhaps will be ready sometime next spring and early at the beginning of this project representatives from those 44 diocese brought soil from each of their home diocese and mixed it together and planted this corn plant representing the unity.

The night he was betrayed he took bread and gave you thanks and praise.  He broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said, take this all of you and eat it, this is my body which will be given up for you.

When supper was ended he took the cup.  Again he gave you thanks and praise, gave the cup to his disciples and said, take this all of you and drink from it, this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant.  It will be shed for you and for all man so that sins may be forgiven.  Do this in memory of me.

Through him, with him, in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, oh glory and honor with you Almighty Father.

Jesus told us to call God our father and so we have the courage to say, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.  Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.  And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.  Deliver us Lord from every evil and grant us peace in our day.

140 Iowans plus ten from out of state have been chosen by the Catholic Diocese of Des Moines to receive Holy Communion from the hands of the Holy Father during this mass at Living History Farms.  Members of the diocese and pastoral council, a consultative body to Bishop Maurice Dingman representing the laity and clergy of the diocese and their families form the largest delegation.

Also represented are Iowa's Indo-Chinese and American Indian communities, nuns who work in the diocese and national representatives at the National Catholic Rural Life Conference.  250 priests and deacons have made their way into the crowd, among medical ambulance rows, priests and deacons of the diocese of Des Moines and approximately 50 priests from the other diocese of Iowa, the arch diocese of Dubuque and the diocese of Sioux City and Davenport ministers of the communion.  Approximately 40,000 people will be able to receive Holy Communion.

The communion service is drawing to a close.  It was planned that when the Holy Father had included distributing Holy Communion that the other servers of Holy Communion would also stop serving.  So, the mass is going to proceed now and what will be happening next and probably be happening fairly soon?

If there is a moment of thanksgiving, perhaps this time of thanksgiving and then we move onto the concluding rights, the blessing.

So it depends now on how soon he continues with the mass.

So, we are very near the end of this service.  This has been the climax of the service having been nourished by word of the Eucharist.

Now I believe we are coming to the conclusion of the service.

Yes.

Let us pray.  Lord, by the holy Eucharist we have celebrated.  Help us to imitate the apostolic love and seal of St. Francis.  May we who receive your love share it for the salvation of all mankind.  We ask peace through Christ our Lord. 

Bow down your heads and pray for God's blessing. 

 (Prayer)

Pope John Paul II is now mingling with the crowd which is absolutely enormous, estimates of up to 400,000 people.  We have concluded the complete celebration of the Roman Catholic mass.  We have seen three very different types of services today, a very brief blessing at the Des Moines Airport, a greeting of the congregation at St. Patrick's Church and now this full mass served before 100,000 people at Living History Farms.

The measure of such a gathering is how its message endures, how it is remembered.

Governor Robert Ray: People look up to the Pope and the Pope gives direction and there is an acceptance of the Pope regardless of your religion.  I think Iowans sense that, felt it, wanted to be a part of it and it was very exciting to me.