Diocese Sends 1,500 to Papal Youth Rally in Yonkers

By Marie Elena Giossi

Surrounded by about 25,000 young Catholics from throughout the United States, the Vicar of Christ ushered in the third anniversary of his pontificate at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers on April 19 by exhorting youth “to be guiding stars for others, walking Christ’s way of forgiveness, reconciliation, humility, joy and peace.”

Warmth and genuine concern marked the Holy Father’s address to young men and women, seminarians, religious sisters and brothers, and priests in attendance. As Americans, he noted, they “enjoy the liberties … of democracy and respect for human rights.” He also acknowledged the many difficulties they face — “activities and mindsets which stifle hope, pathways which seem to lead to happiness and … end only in confusion and fear.”

Cathedral Prep Students attended the papal youth rally at St. Joseph’s Seminary with Father John Cush, third from left, and met Prep alum and current seminarian, Daniel Kingsley, center. They’re displaying commemorative pictures of Pope Benedict they received upon entering the venue.

“Marred by a sinister regime” was how he described his own teen years and recognized that “darkness of heart and mind” exists in today’s world as well.

He called on youth to be “a hand of hope,” to people affected by drug and substance abuse, homelessness and poverty, racism, violence and degradation. He spoke against the exploitation and manipulation of humanity and the earth itself. In their search for truth, he pointed youths to the example of Christ and the saints; the value of personal prayer, liturgical prayer, acts of charity and vocations; and cautioned all to be aware of manipulated truths and false freedoms promoted by people with ulterior motives.

“The hope which never disappoints is Jesus Christ,” he proclaimed.

Daylong Extravaganza

The Holy Father’s late afternoon address capped a daylong extravaganza that began at 9 a.m. when the seminary gates, adorned in amusement-parkesque flags and streamers in gold and royal purple, opened to allow crowds onto the 42-acre grounds of the New York Archdiocese’s major seminary in the Dunwoodie section of Yonkers.

Kelly Clarkson headlined the musical program, which kicked off at noon with performances from Christian rock artists Matt Maher, Salvador, Third Day, Three Graces, and Father Stan Fortuna, C.F.R., among others, who hyped up throngs of teenagers watching the artists on giant video screens while sitting festival-style in Chidwick Field, reminiscent of Marienfeld at the 2005 World Youth Day in Cologne. Opportunities for private prayer and the sacrament of reconciliation were available in the festival area, as were food concessions, commemorative memorabilia and bathroom facilities.

Chants of “Viva Il Papa,” “B16” and “Benedictus” could be heard as His Holiness was seen on video screens arriving via motorcade around 4:30 p.m. He was welcomed by Cardinal Edward M. Egan and Bishop Gerald T. Walsh, seminary rector, who ushered him into SS. Peter and Paul Chapel sanctuary, where he met and blessed young people with disabilities and their caregivers and enjoyed a performance by the Archdiocesan Deaf Choir.

His Holiness then boarded his popemobile and circled the field, alive with the shouts of sun-kissed youths, including about 5,000 seminarians, before arriving at the rally stage.

Youth presented gifts of dark bread, light bread, rice, unleavened bread and maize, representing the five continents, to the pontiff, before singing “Happy Birthday” to him in his native language. He later gave them an “A plus” for their German pronunciation.

Among the birthday presents he received were a spiritual bouquet, three books about Catholic history in New York and images of six men and women who were born in or served in New York and have been declared saints, blessed or venerable by the Church.

Brooklyn Diocese ‘Very Blessed’

The Diocese of Brooklyn had a youth “representation of almost 1,500. We are very blessed,” said Marilyn Santos, diocesan coordinator of adolescent faith formation.

Brooklyn and Queens were represented by young men and women from diocesan high schools, parishes and ecclesial movements. High schools were each allotted 20-25 tickets, including two for adult chaperones. Each of the diocese’s 204 parishes received three tickets for young people. Rather than have an adult chaperone from each parish, which would have reduced the volume of tickets for the youth, the diocese provided its own chaperones. Selected to serve were over 50 Virtus-trained adults, mostly diocesan employees.

Young people boarded about 25 chartered buses around 9 a.m. at one of six centrally located diocesan high schools: in Brooklyn, at Nazareth Regional, Flatbush, and Xaverian, Bay Ridge, and in Queens, the sites were Christ the King Regional, Middle Village; St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows; Stella Maris, Rockaway Beach; and St. John’s Prep, Astoria.

“None of our young people were asked to pay for transportation (buses). Bishop DiMarzio did not want the cost on the backs of our kids,” Santos said. If not for the bishop’s generosity, she noted buses would have cost about $25-30 per person.

Chartered buses drove to Yonkers Raceway in Dunwoodie, where youth then waited under the blazing sun, in many cases for more than an hour, until they were herded onto yellow school bus shuttles, coordinated by the archdiocese, which took them to the seminary.

Jovenes de Valor sent around 35 youths who wore distinctive “Too Blessed To be Stressed” black T-shirts.

Thirty-three youth leaders, delegates and members from over 15 parishes represented the diocesan Jornada Movement in green T-shirts. “We chose the leaders and delegates and then raffled off 18 tickets,” said Deacon Jimmy Garcia, spiritual director of the movement with Father David Espinosa. Both Deacon Garcia and Father Espinosa sacrificed their tickets, as did Carlos Garcia, administrator of SS. Peter and Paul Spirituality Center’s Brooklyn site, so three youths could go in their place.

Special red tickets were distributed to 32 local seminarians, including 19 from Cathedral Seminary Residence, Douglaston; eight from Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington; one who’s currently studying in Washington, D.C., and four visiting from Haiti. The evening before the rally, they attended a Holy Hour for Vocations at Immaculate Conception Seminary, part of a weekend-long joint retreat with seminarians from neighboring dioceses.

“It is very exciting seeing the pope right in our own backyard,” said Douglaston seminarian Giancarlo Pattugalan, who traveled with fellow seminarian Paul Kim.

“It’s a time of spiritual renewal for young Catholics and for young men to consider vocations.”

Pattugalan and Kim stopped to say hello to some boys from Cathedral Preparatory Seminary high school in Elmhurst who attended the rally with Father John Cush, formation director, and Daniel O’Keefe, vice principal.

“It’s a great privilege to be here. I was very happy to be asked,” said freshman Kevin Freile, a parishioner at St. Luke’s, Whitestone, who hopes to be a priest one day.
Nearby Transitional Deacons James Rodriguez and Allan Sikorski were on a hill watching the crowds fill the field in anticipation of the pope’s arrival.

Culture Shock

“This is very powerful for me as someone so close to ordination. It’s almost surreal,” said Deacon Rodriguez, who will be ordained to the priesthood on June 7. He noted how impressed he was with the country’s and the city’s reaction to the papal visit. “The whole culture seemed to change with the pope’s arrival. There is a profound respect for him,” he said.

As he awaited the pope’s arrival, Regis High School student Ryan Mahoney told another attendee how grateful he was to receive a ticket from Father John Maloney of St. Virgilius, Broad Channel. “I thought it would be a good experience to see the pope, hear what he has to say and revitalize my faith,” he said.

He expressed his hope that the pope would “address ethics issues in the Church and apply Christian values to today’s concerns,” specifically the genocide in Darfur, about which Mahoney is deeply concerned.

Adjacent to the field where the rally took place, several girls from Stella Maris H.S., Rockaway Beach, were among the hungry horde trying to redeem food and drink vouchers.

Many teens waited an hour or two or more for a simple bottle of water, a hamburger and a cookie.

One adult was observed offering a teenage boy $20 for a small container of French fries and two chicken fingers. He refused, putting his dust-covered hands over his fried food, and pushing his way back out of the mob.

Stella freshman Denisse Ovalle didn’t regret her decision to be there. “It’s definitely an experience. I’m going to see the pope in New York. I’m not going to have the chance to do this again,” she said.

Stella students were smart to return to the main field when they did as Secret Service and Yonkers police closed down the path between the festival grounds and the rally site before the pope arrived. They separated many young people from their chaperones in an area that did not seem equipped with a sound system.

Courtney Quintero from St. Anastasia’s, Douglaston, was separated from her older brother Jamie and their friend, Andrew Marcy, all students at Great Neck South H.S., Long Island.

“I thought they (organizers) meant well, but I got locked on the other side so I didn’t hear anything,” said Courtney, vice president of her parish youth group. Her vantage point, however, did enable her to see the pope in his popemobile, not once, but twice, which was enough to make the whole day worthwhile for her.

In the shuttle bus back to Yonkers Raceway, Marcy filled Courtney in on what she missed. He noted how Pope Benedict spoke “very eloquently. He was talking about how people in this country need to appreciate the liberties they have.”

Hearing the pope talk about vocations inspired 14-year-old Sal Isabella to attend Cathedral Prep Seminary high school this fall.

When Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio visited St. Eliabeth parish, Ozone Park, during Holy Week, Isabella, a parishioner at neighboring St. Thomas the Apostle, Woodhaven, went to see the Bishop of Brooklyn, who conferred the sacrament of Confirmation on him last year, and asked for a ticket to the papal youth rally.

“I told him ‘I am very Catholic, I’m an altar server and I’m thinking about going to Cathedral Prep because I want to become a priest,’” he said. Priesthood is a life choice he’s seriously considering and has discussed with his great aunt, Sister Rose Carmel, O.P. The bishop told him that he was going to “try hard” to get him a ticket to the rally.

Over a week ago, Isabella called Bishop DiMarzio’s office and was assured that his name was on the list for the rally.

“The bishop didn’t forget about me,” he said, smiling.

“Today I listened to his (the pope’s) words and what I heard him say was that it’s my life and I need to do what I want to do.” After wavering between public and Catholic school, Isabella said that he’s certain what he wants and that is “to go to Cathedral in September.”

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