Christopher Jordan, a fifth-grader at Divine Mercy Catholic Academy, Ozone Park, is one of only two students in the Diocese of Brooklyn who will present flowers to Pope Benedict XVI when he arrives in Queens on Friday, April 18.

When Sister Frances Marie Wystepek, CSFN, principal at Divine Mercy and the one who nominated him to meet Pope Benedict XVI, was asked why she chose him, she said that it “only seemed fitting.”

“This is something I thought he deserved,” she said. “His good Catholic background is something that is very important, too. This is a recognition that he deserves and will have… I chose based on character and Christian values, and Chris is such a wonderful kid.”

He sat down with his parents, Scott and Phyllis, in their home across the street from their church, Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Ozone Park, on a recent Friday afternoon.

The Jordan Family

His parents knew for almost a month beforehand that Christopher was being considered for the role of greeting the Holy Father.

Phyllis was at work when she received the phone call from Sister Frances Marie. “First she asked if I was sitting down. When she told me, I couldn’t believe it,” she said, pausing. “It was unbelievable.”

The Jordan family likes surprises, and it seems they like surprising each other. Initially, Christopher’s parents weren’t going to tell him anything at all until the morning of April 18, hours before he was to greet the pope. Christopher didn’t even know he had been nominated.

But when The Tablet published Christopher’s name along with co-flower bearer Kaitlin Karcher, “we had to tell him then!” his father laughed.

Scott, who is himself an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion and one of 18,000 Knights of the Holy Sepulchre, said, “Chris was chosen because of his faith. He is doing everything that I could have never dreamed of doing.”

When it was time for his principal to tell Christopher, “Sister Francis Marie called me to her office while I was in class,” he said. “I thought I was in trouble!” As he sat down with her, she told him of the very honor she had nominated him for. “I was like… Wow! I’ll be giving flowers right up next to the pope!” he relates, his big blue eyes lighting up as he recalled his initial reaction.

Christopher, who is an altar server, had the distinction of serving Mass at the Vatican every morning for seven days over the Christmas break in 2006.

The devoted, well-spoken and hard-working 10-year-old has also served for four bishops: retired Bishop Thomas V. Daily, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, and Auxiliary Bishops Frank Caggiano and Guy Sansaricq.

He serves Mass regularly, sometimes as many as four times in one day, and will often fill in at St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr, also in Ozone Park.

Christopher, who wants to become a veterinarian when he grows up, is also a baseball catcher with the Ozone-Howard Little League and plays basketball and ice hockey. First and foremost, he is quite the animal lover. He especially loves horses. He recently won second place in an equestrian contest, and grooms and rides horses and helps with the therapeutic program at the Jamaica Bay Riding Academy in Brooklyn on Sundays.

“I thought the highlight of my life was going to be in Rome last year,” Christopher said, while he was there on a family and friend vacation. “I was three feet away from the pope and I thought to myself, ‘This is the closest I am ever going to get.’ Now, with this… I think this all just means that I am very, very blessed.”

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