Pope encourages Catholic faithful at historic papal Mass

By Kimberley Heatherington

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Preaching at his first papal Mass in the United States, Pope Benedict XVI used the occasion to urge Catholic Americans to help ease the pain of the sexual abuse crisis by fostering “healing and reconciliation” while at the same time supporting and loving their priests.

 “No words of mine could describe the pain and harm inflicted by such abuse,” the Pope said. “It is important that those who have suffered be given loving pastoral attention.”

During his April 17 homily during Mass at Nationals Park, the pope urged continued work to heal the wounds inflicted by the scandal, and he praised the “great efforts” being made to make sure that children “can grow up in a safe environment.”

“These efforts to protect children must continue. Yesterday I spoke with your bishops about this. Today I encourage each of you to do what you can to foster healing and reconciliation, and to assist those who have been hurt.”
“Also,” the pope added, “I ask you to love your priests, and to affirm them in the excellent work that they do.”

Speaking in accented but clear English, he both praised the Church in the United States and challenged it.
Both the Church and society are at a crossroads, he said. “It is a time of great promise, as we see the human family in many ways drawing closer together and becoming ever more interdependent.

“Yet at the same time we see clear signs of a disturbing breakdown in the very foundations of society: signs of alienation, anger and polarization on the part of many of our contemporaries; increased violence; a weakening of the moral sense; a coarsening of social relations; and a growing forgetfulness of God.”

Nonetheless, the pope said, Americans “have always been a people of hope: Your ancestors came to this country with the expectation of finding new freedom and opportunity, while the vastness of the unexplored wilderness inspired in them the hope of being able to start completely anew, building a new nation on new foundations.”
Pope Benedict XVI’s message was ultimately hopeful in tone, mixing almost blunt realism with optimism and a call to action.

“Let us trust in the Spirit's power to inspire conversion, to heal every wound, to overcome every division, and to inspire new life and freedom,” the pope said. “How much we need these gifts! And how close at hand they are, particularly in the Sacrament of Penance! The liberating power of this sacrament, in which our honest confession of sin is met by God’s merciful word of pardon and peace, needs to be rediscovered and reappropriated by every Catholic. To a great extent, the renewal of the Church in America depends on the renewal of the practice of penance and the growth in holiness which that sacrament both inspires and accomplishes.”

Concluding his homily, Pope Benedict urged Catholics in America “to be a leaven of evangelical hope in American society, striving to bring the light and truth of the Gospel to the task of building an ever more just and free world for generations yet to come.”

The Mass’ setting, Major League Baseball’s newest stadium, with its gleaming glass, steel and concrete offered panoramic views of the nearby Anacostia River, Navy Yard, U.S. Capitol and Washington Monument to the thousands who attended.

While the majority of ticket holders live in the host Archdiocese of Washington and neighboring dioceses, some 14,000 Catholics from around the country also attended, with most winning the prized, free papal Mass tickets in diocesan and parish lotteries.

The Archdiocese of Washington — home to almost 600,000 Catholics — received requests from nearly 120 U.S. dioceses for more than three times the 46,000 available spaces.

Pre-Mass activities began before sunrise, with the gates of the stadium opening at 5:15 a.m. Intense security surrounded crowd arrivals, as holders of Mass tickets presented photo IDs and passed through metal detectors, while those carrying bags had them searched.

One hundred priests heard confession from 6 to 8 a.m. in a concourse area under the scoreboard.
Videos made by local Catholic youth groups to welcome Pope Benedict played throughout the early morning on the ballpark’s massive, high definition screen, which was framed by two equally large American flags.

Catholic churches throughout the country also sent their videotaped greetings. Images of worship and parish life — churches large and small, Catholics young and old — flashed in succession, providing a visual testament to the universality of American Catholicism.

Fourteen cardinals, 250 bishops and 1,300 priests concelebrated Mass with the pontiff.

Father Lawrence Manchas of St. Sebastian’s Parish in Belle Vernon, Pa., said that concelebrating a Mass with the pope was “just tremendous, just tremendous; being able to concelebrate this Mass is really a privilege for me.”
Father Alex Martinez — a priest originally from El Salvador who serves at St. Ambrose Parish in Cheverly, Md. — was also excited at the prospect of concelebrating with Pope Benedict. “It’s a great privilege to share Communion with the Holy Father — with the rock, the head of the Catholic Church. It’s amazing; it’s terrific.”

At approximately 9 a.m., to the strains of “Go Up to the Altar of God,” a procession of bishops began. For this Mass of the Holy Spirit, the pope and clergy were attired in white miters and blazing red vestments.   

At precisely 9:30 a.m., Pope Benedict’s white Mercedes popemobile appeared and began to slowly circle the perimeter of the baseball field.  The crowd rose almost as one to its feet, with deafening cheers and applause resonating in waves as the pontiff passed each section of worshippers.

American mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves — a native Washingtonian who has often been partnered on the operatic stage with tenor Plácido Domingo —  sang “We Are One in Spirit,” followed by an entrance chant as a processional cross from Washington’s Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle led the pope and concelebrants from the home plate dugout to the outfield altar.

Located in centerfield in order to accommodate hundreds of extra  Massgoers seated on the playing field in folding chairs, a simple but elegant 75-foot-tall canopy hovered over a 50-foot-square sanctuary draped in papal gold and white, with a deep gold curtain backdrop. Lillies decorated the front and rear of the altar.

The altar, pulpit and ambo (lectern), and papal chair were designed by two Catholic University of America graduate students, John-Paul Mikolajczyk and Ryan Mullen.

Following the popes homily, general intercessions were offered in English, Spanish, the West African Igbo language, Korean, Vietnamese and the Philippine Tagalog dialect, reflecting the diversity of the Washington archdiocese, where on any given Sunday Mass is celebrated in about 24 languages throughout the archdiocese’s 140 parishes.

Four deacons — two from the Dominican Republic, one from Argentina, and a former Capitol Hill legislative aide — were among a group of eight men scheduled to be ordained as priests in June. Each had special roles in the Mass, while laypeople assisted as lectors and gift bearers.

Among the gift bearers were a three-generation family, Jack and Elizabeth Holly, both aged in their 80s and thrice-weekly Mass attendees, and their granddaughter, Janet Wright and husband Kevin Wright, whose 7-year-old daughter Amber weekly presents the gifts at the parish all attend, Our Lady’s Church at Medley’s Neck in Leonardtown, Md.

Among those who brought gifts to the altar were several people with disabilities — a deaf man, a non-ambulatory young woman and a man with Down syndrome — also brought bread to the altar, including 77-year-old Theresa Travis, who, while blind since her mid-30s, nonetheless raised three children, earned a master’s degree in mental health counseling and directed rehabilitation programs for Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind.

“When you think about the millions of people who would like to be there, it’s a nice thought that I will be a part of it,” Travis earlier commented.

The pontiff warmly greeted the gift bearers, grasping their hands and exchanging smiles and a few words with each.

Fifty people received Communion directly from the Holy Father.

Despite the enormous crowd and only one rehearsal, distribution of holy Communion took only 20 minutes. Some 300 priests and deacons dispersed throughout the stadium to bring the Body of Christ to the faithful.

Music for the liturgy was provided by four ensembles singing in 10 languages, which included a 250-voice papal Mass choir, a children’s choir of 175 children from parish and Catholic school choirs, a gospel choir with 80 singers, and 65 vocalists who formed an intercultural choir representing some 35 countries. Forty-five orchestral musicians accompanied during the Mass and prelude music.

Music for the Mass — chosen by an Archdiocese of Washington committee, and with approval from the Vatican — was reflective of the diverse tapestry of American musical styles and traditions, including the soaring strains of traditional Latin and English hymns alongside the boisterous, swaying joy of Gospel music.
Following Communion, Spanish tenor Plácido Domingo sang “Panis Angelicus” (“Bread of Angels”).

Reaction to the Stadium Papal Mass

By Kimberley Heatherington

WASHINGTON, DC – Catholics attending the papal Mass at Nationals Park April 17 appreciated both the historical moment and the spiritual significance.

Sister Mary Michael, a Nashville Dominican who is studying for a doctoral degree, said “to be here with the Holy Father is to be in solidarity with who he is, and what he’s saying to the world right now with his message of hope and love.”

The pope is saying: “‘There’s hope — and there’s great hope, because Christ is our hope.’ So to be here with him is to live in that hope, and to live in that faith, and to walk forward with the Church in this marvelous springtime.”
Deacon Doug Tromblee — who serves two Texas parishes, St. Roch in Mentz and St. Peter and Paul in Frelsburg — emerged from the canopied confessional area where priests sat face-to-face with penitents in wooden folding chairs. The opportunity to receive the sacrament at a papal Mass, he said, “means everything … this is a beginning of a new evangelization here in the United States again. We desperaely need it.”

Tromblee felt that Pope Benedict’s message was not simply for the Catholic faithful. “I think this is something that the entire country is really looking to as a rejuvenation, a start over of everything that we’re about, and the goodness of our country.”

Anticipating the pope’s homily, Tromblee said he thought the pope had “a lot to say. Not that we don’t already know it — but to hear it directly from him, right here today, in our country,” would, he was convinced, have a more profound impact.

Abir Halloun of Holy Transfiguration Parish in McLean, Va., clutched nine boxed rosaries for families and friends. Halloun — who planned to have the rosaries blessed by the pope during the Mass — had stood in line for more than an hour to buy them. “There’re really no words to describe it,” she said. “I’ve had chills since I walked into the stadium.” 

For Archbishop Timothy Broglio — who heads the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA — the opportunity to concelebrate Mass with Pope Benedict was “a great honor. It will be the first time that I’m able to concelebrate with him since he was elected to the See of Peter, so obviously it’s a very powerful experience.” Powerful, and yet intimate: “Certainly, yesterday, in his words to us, he manifested himself as a father and as a friend,” Archbishop Broglio said. “So I think it’s with those sentiments that we concelebrate with him today.”

Joanne Casey, a singer from Little Flower Catholic Parish in Bethesda, Md., and a member of the papal Mass choir, said, “I like it all … the wonderful chants, as well as some of the contemporary pieces that we’re all familiar with.” Casey, a veteran singer who also performed when Pope John Paul II visited in 1979, said the preparations for Pope Benedict’s Mass left her with the impression that “this seems a bit grander … a little bit more pomp and circumstance.” Asked if this performance would be the highlight of her musical life, Casey responded, “It’s up there, yes!”