Pope Benedict XVI visits New York

By Sheri Krotzer
Edited by John Kennett

Never in my life did I think I would be able to attend a Papal Mass at Yankee Stadium two weeks before final exams.

This past weekend I hopped on a 15 passenger van with my closest friends for a 12 hour trek to New York City to see the pope. The experience was incredible and something I will never forget.

We left Friday, at 12:30 p.m., from Central Michigan University’s campus. One of the pilgrims on the trip, Jenny Pizzie, graciously invited all 18 of us to spend several nights at her parents’ house in New Jersey.

We arrived at the Pizzies’ house, exhausted, at 1 a.m. At 8 a.m. we departed for the city. Because of our connections through Fr. Will Prospero, S.J., we were able to find free parking and were granted two meal passes each, both at Fordham University (a jesuit university) in the Bronx.

After celebrating Mass at the jesuit university and enjoying lunch, we spent the afternoon touring Manhattan. One half of the group took the subway to Ground Zero and Times Square,and the other half visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Central Park.

Since I had previously been to NYC, I decided to take some time to tour St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Central Park – of which I had not visited on my last trip.

Upon returning to Fordham to retrieve our van and head back to the Pizzies’ house, we stumbled upon His Eminence, Cardinal Dulles. Cardinal Dulles had just returned from a private audience with Pope Benedict XVI.

Sadly, due to the Cardinal’s poor health, we were unable to speak with him and were only able to wave and continue on.

The next morning we left for Yankee Stadium for the event of the weekend – the Papal Mass.

After waiting several hours in the stadium, the pope finally made his entrance and Mass began.

The Mass was very elegant, intriguing, tiring and somewhat long. Overall, it was entirely worth the trip.

To hear the pope’s homily first hand is a memory I will hold on to. I was also very fortunate to have taken many pictures to remember the event for years to come.