By Gretchen Keiser

In his first words to the people of South Carolina, Pope John Paul II linked the faith of Catholics to the central belief of all Christians -- a personal faith in Jesus Christ.

"You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God," the pope said, recalling the words of Peter, the first apostle and the first pope, to Jesus.

"These words of Peter express the heart of our faith," he told 550 people, mostly Catholic, gathered at St. Peter's Church in Columbia, SC, "for they reveal the mystery of Christ."

In a state where Catholics make up less than three percent of the population and where many Protestant denominations emphasize the need for a personal relationship with Jesus, the pope based his reflection upon the faith statement of the first pope.

"From that day … Peter's life was radically changed. And not only his life," the pope said. "The other apostles, and other disciples as well, were granted the gift of faith and they too became witnesses of the words and deeds of Jesus. A whole new era began in the history of the world, in the history of salvation."

Emphasizing the continuity of the gift of faith, Pope John Paul II said, "And so it has continued down through the ages. People of all centuries, people from all countries have, like Peter, come to know Jesus…"

The person of Jesus Christ and His word are forever the center of the Church's life," he said.

The white-robed pontiff, appearing radiant but tired, was greeted with music, waves of applause, and a sea of outstretched hands as he entered St. Peter's Church in the first stop in a brief, four-hour visit to South Carolina that emphasized ecumenical relations with other Christian denominations. Later he would meet with a select group of 26 Christian leaders at the University of South Carolina in Columbia and then proceed to an ecumenical prayer service with 60,000 people at the Williams-Brice Stadium.

Throughout the day, events requiring tickets were crowded with people, mostly Catholic, but along the streets where hundreds of thousands of onlookers had been anticipated, only a few thousand people gathered to catch a brief glimpse of the pope in his bullet-proof, glass-enclosed popemobile.

He reached St. Peter's Church almost exactly on time as the church, filled with priests, sisters, brothers and three representatives from each South Carolina parish, was alive with an air of anticipation. A 45-minute prayer service of Scripture and music had preceded his arrival from Miami on the second day of his American visit.

While he was in the church less than an hour, he spent much of the time blessing and embracing and touching ordinary people. He spoke in German to a St. Peter's parishioner who asked him, in German, if she could "hug is neck," and he touched many others as he entered and left the church. One Franciscan priest stood up and sang in Italian, spontaneously, and, in a planned gesture designed to touch the pope, St. Peter's choir sang one verse of a Marian hymn in Polish.

"Your famous southern hospitality makes me feel at home," the pope said, as he responded to the greeting of Bishop Ernest Unterkoefler of Charleston, welcoming the pope to his diocese. Then in a departure from his prepared text, the pope added, "But who feels here at home especially is the Cardinal Bernardin who was baptized in this church." Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, a native of Columbia seated with other cardinals on the altar, beamed as the congregation applauded and cheered the pope's remarks. Along the front row were a dozen bishops, including present and retired bishops of North Carolina and South Carolina, the bishop of Nashville, TN, and former abbots of Belmont Abbey, NC. Monsignor John F. McDonough, diocesan administrator, represented the archdiocese of Atlanta.

Even more numerous were photographers and reporters, seated to the right, who climbed up on the pews of St. Peter's, as did most of the audience, when the pope entered. Despite this effort to see, the pope was engulfed by the reaching arms and crush of those trying to touch him. As he came in, he went slowly from pew to pew along the right side of the church and as he left the church, he made the same slow procession along the left side, speaking to each bishop, and taking the time to respond to the outstretched hands of many people.

Hildegard Langford, a St. Peter's parishioner for 18 years who cares for the altar linens, spoke in German to the pope, asking if she could embrace him, and after speaking to her in German, he blessed her and hugged her. "He blessed me and then he grabbed me," she said after the service, adding, "I'm ready to pass out. I'm ready to faint." She told the pope she was born in the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia, in answer to his question.

The pope told the congregation spontaneously that "we have celebrated this meeting in four languages," English, Latin, Polish and "now some words in German."

Many of those in the church were children and teenagers, since each parish had been asked to choose young people among their representatives.

Sixteen-year-old Roger Lacson from Atlanta stood on his pew and stretched across nearly 10 people to touch the pope and was elated. "I love him so much," he said later. "This is a thrill of a lifetime. It was great."

Before the service started, Secret Service men kept an eye on those waiting with tickets who would have their purses and packages searched and walk between metal detectors before going in. First in line was 88-year-old Sister Ignatius Gavaghan, who had never seen a pope before, although she has served the Catholic Church since 1918.

A member of the Sisters of Charity of Our Lady of Mercy, a native South Carolina order started by the first bishop, John England, Sister Gavaghan was born in Atlanta, Georgia, in the Grant Park area where the Atlanta Zoo now stands.

Leaning upon a cane in the sweltering afternoon sun, Sister Gavaghan said, "I hope that the Holy Father's trip to the South will confirm the good relationships already established among Christians" in South Carolina. In her decades of work she has seen relations between Catholics and other Christians gradually improve as communication has grown. The opening of Catholic schools to all denominations and all racial groups has brought "more understanding, more comradeship," she said.

Seeing the pope in South Carolina, she said, "is like a climax to my life."

The pope urged South Carolina Catholics to continue their ecumenical efforts.

"From Christ, we must learn the way to overcome those sad divisions which still exist today among Christians," he said. "At the same time you must never cease to strive for personal holiness and conversion of heart."

He acknowledged South Carolina Catholics' historical search for ecumenical dialogue and collaboration with other religious denominations.

"First of all, because you are a distinct minority, less than 3 percent of the population. Moreover, the Catholic Church here has a long tradition of ecumenical initiative," he said.

The pope noted that the diocese's first bishop, John England, preached in other Christian churches in the early 1800s.

"With the passage of the years, you have never lost this ecumenical spirit," the pope said.

Later in the day, the pope would be meeting and praying with Christian leaders at the University of South Carolina and Williams-Brice Stadium. But at St. Peter's Church, speaking to Catholics, he said, "never forget that faith in Jesus Christ brings you to salvation and eternal life."