The Pope Comes to D.C.

By Broadside Staff Writer Tina Miller

Among the thousands, about 50 George Mason University students attended the celebration of Pope Benedict XVI’s mass at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. for 46,000 Americans last Thursday.

This was Pope Benedict’s first visit to the United States and was part of a six day trip in which he also visited New York City.

The message of the pope’s visit was one of hope and reconciliation.

“Who can deny that the present moment is a crossroads, not only for the church in America but also for society as a whole,” the pope said in his homily.

“It was great to see so many people sharing your faith,” said junior English major Kaitlin Huggins.

Freshman chemistry major Kassandra Jackson said, “It was one of those things I’ll remember forever.”

“I got to see the universal church in action.” said junior social work major, Christine Grote. “I saw people from all different walks of life—old people, newborn babies, people speaking English, Spanish, Korean. It was beautiful to know we all have something in common. We are all members of the Holy Catholic Church.”

The mass included music of many different languages and tastes. Opera stars Placido Domingo and Denyce Graves sang along with 570 other singers and an orchestra. There were a total of 10 languages different languages spoken and sung throughout the mass.

The stadium was transformed. Concession stands no longer sold beer, but breakfast items and some sold religious articles. Most of the grass of the field was covered in white tile on which sat lawn chairs for mostly white-robed clergy. Banners that read “Christ Our Hope” hung around the stadium, proclaiming the message of pope’s visit.

The attendees cheered and held up phones and cameras for pictures as the pope arrived on his pope mobile before the mass. He was driven in a circle around the ball park waving and greeting the people.

Junior and IT major Thomas Gallagher said, “It was great to see how excited [Pope Benedict] was in seeing how excited we were to see him.”

But when Pope Benedict spoke, the entire stadium fell to silence and then rose again to cheer.

Pope Benedict’s homily during the mass continued to address the issue of hope.

“Dear friends,” he said, “my visit to the United States is meant to be a witness to Christ, our hope. Americans have always been a people of hope: Your ancestors came to this country with the expectation of finding new freedom and opportunity, a new nation on new foundations.”

Mason students commented on the comfort of seeing such a vast number of Catholics in one place.

“There were so many people,” said junior communication major Catherine Schymanski. “When we said the mass responses, there were so many people speaking at once.”

Pope Benedict expressed his interest in the youth of America on Wednesday, saying, “The Church in America is faced with the challenge of recapturing the Catholic vision of reality and presenting it in an engaging and imaginative way,” he said. “I think in particular of our need to speak to the hearts of young people who, despite their constant exposure to messages contrary to the Gospel, continue to thirst for authenticity, goodness and truth.”

Pope Benedict also visited the White House on Wednesday and celebrated Mass in New York City. Numerous intersections were blocked and traffic was stopped as he made visits to Ground Zero, St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Yankee Stadium before he retured to the Vatican in Rome, Italy.

Pope Benedict’s celebrating Mass at the National’s stadium certainly received a positive response from Catholics at Mason.

The pope’s open air mass began at 10:30 a.m. and lasted until noon, but the stadium was filled with people by 8:30 a.m., when the gates closed.