Faithful from Diocese of Scranton Attending Papal Events
 

The Diocese of Scranton’s bishops, a number of priests and several hundred lay faithful will have encountered Pope Benedict XVI this week during his first apostolic visit to the United States.

The Holy Father arrived in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday evening, and he met with President George W. Bush and first lady Laura Bush on Wednesday on the south lawn of the White House. This is only the second time in history that a pope has visited the White House. Following the ceremonies on the south lawn, President Bush and the Holy Father were to meet privately.

Later on Wednesday, the pope met with the 350 bishops of the United States in the crypt Church at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Among them were Scranton Bishop Joseph F. Martino, Auxiliary Bishop John M. Dougherty, and Bishop Emeritus James C. Timlin. 

The pope will offer Mass at the Nationals Stadium in Washington on Thursday, April 17. This will be the first non-baseball event at the new stadium. Later in the day, he will meet with the heads of more than 200 U.S. Catholic colleges and universities, and superintendents of schools from 195 Catholic dioceses. The pope is expected to speak on the importance of Catholic education in America.

Among the educators will be Joseph G. Casciano, Diocesan Secretary for Catholic Education/Superintendent of Schools. That meeting will take place on the campus of The Catholic University of America, the only college in the United States operated by bishops.

On Friday morning, Pope Benedict will travel to New York for a three-day visit, where he will address the General Assembly of the United Nations. On Saturday, he will celebrate a Mass for priests, deacons, and men and women in consecrated life at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City and, later in the day, lead a rally for young people at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers.

On Sunday morning, the Holy Father will be at Ground Zero to pray for victims and heroes of the World Trade Center tragedy. The pope’s visit will culminate on Sunday afternoon with a Pontifical Mass at Yankee Stadium.

Three hundred individuals from 80 parishes in the Diocese of Scranton will attend the liturgy. Ten priests from the Diocese will help to distribute communion. They are:

Father David Cramer, St. Bernadette Church, Canadensis; Father Anthony Gali, St. Jude Church, Mountaintop; Father Edward Michelini, St. John the Evangelist Church, Pittston; Father Gerald Mullally, St. Patrick Church, Milford; Father Balireddy Ponnapati, St. Nicholas Church, Wilkes-Barre; Monsignor Dale Rupert, St. Mary of the Assumption Church, Scranton; Father Robert Simon, St. Catherine of Siena Church, Moscow; Father Navy Kumar Thomas, Immaculate Conception Church, Scranton; Father Devasahayam Undralla, St. Patrick Church, Scranton; and Father Brian VanFossen, St. John Neumann Academy, Williamsport.

The Archdiocese of New York made 300 tickets available to local Catholics for Sunday’s Mass.

“The Diocese of Scranton is most grateful to His Eminence Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop of New York, and to His Excellency Donald W. Wuerl, Archbishop of Washington, and their staffs for making it possible for the faithful of Scranton to be a part of this historic visit,” said Janet Benestad, Diocesan Secretary for Parish Life and Evangelization, whose office has coordinated the distribution of tickets to the Papal Mass.

The local pilgrims will be traveling to New York on six buses leaving from various points in the Diocese as early as 6 a.m. on April 20.

“Buses are being coordinated through Charter Demand of Phoenix, Arizona, which is the preferred provider engaged by the New York Archdiocese to coordinate transport from all areas of the country to the Mass in New York,” said David Clarke, director for social concerns/pro-life for the Diocese of Scranton, who is coordinating local transportation. “We are also grateful to John Madden of Travel World, Scranton, who has worked with us to arrange buses at convenient pick-up and drop-off points in the various sections of the Diocese.”

Faithful from the parishes of the Diocese who will be traveling to the Pontifical Mass have been cleared by New York security and will be required to present government-issued identification in order to be admitted to the stadium.

“The Archdiocese has informed us that the U.S. Secret Service, the New York City Police Department and the Vatican have been involved in providing security for the pontiff’s visit, which is considered a presidential-level security event,” said Mrs. Benestad.

The Holy Father’s visit to the United States is an episcopal visit and a state visit, and will be covered by EWTN and broadcast by CTV: Catholic Television of the Diocese of Scranton.