Patience and perhaps some Divine intervention were at work when Rosann Mucciolo, friend and photographer for the Grayfriar News, found herself at the right time and place outside the front steps of St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers to capture this striking photo of the visiting Pontiff.

The universal excitement surrounding the first visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the United States as pontiff is only now beginning to fade as the days since his departure pass by. Although the emotions of the festivities are starting to wane, the memories of our encounters with the Pope remain. Indeed, it seems as though our remembrances grow more fervent with the passage of time.

A few months before the arrival of His Holiness to American soil, the archdiocesan office coordinating the events of the pontiff’s visit called with an invitation to the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal. At the request of His Eminence, Edward Cardinal Egan, we were asked to have twenty friars present for Pope Benedict’s arrival in New York from Washington, D.C. He was to arrive at John F. Kennedy Airport and then be taken by helicopter to Manhattan to address the United Nations General Assembly. Only two hundred and fifty guests were to be on hand for this initial touchdown in New York City. The Community was truly honored.

Anticipation built each day as the moment of His Holiness’arrival approached. Security checks had to be authorized. Identifications were to be verified and cross-checked. We were told that the Secret Service had to review all lists of invited guests. Arrangements were made for transportation in secure vehicles that could pass through police checkpoints with minimal difficulty.

I am a generally a very sound sleeper. I am told by my confreres that I could probably sleep through a nuclear holocaust. Late-night car alarms, early-morning Bronx roosters, and ringing doorbells at any time of day or night are unable to disturb my slumber. When my head hits the pillow, it lies there undisturbed until the morning call to prayer. The night of April 17, 2008, however, was quite different. I found it almost impossible to get any sleep in joyful anticipation of soon being in the presence of the Holy Father.

The Cardinal’s guests were to assemble at St. Joseph Seminary by 6:00 a.m. We were then transported by bus to JFK airport. We were led through several police checkpoints, belongings passed through X-ray monitors, and names were checked on “cleared lists.” We were escorted to an airport hangar, where a local Catholic High School orchestra serenaded the crowd as they awaited the arrival of Shepherd One.

Dignitaries of the state and city, Church officials, and official greeters all lined up for the now imminent moment. The aircraft slowly rolled toward the assembly. The stairs were put in place. The crowd began to shout for joy! And then he appeared. Peter was in our midst.

The Holy Father stepped out of the plane, waved to the assembled, and then sprinted (yes, sprinted!) down the stairs. He spent a few moments with each of the dignitaries, received flowers from representative children, and then dashed to the waiting helicopter. It was all very quick, a bit surreal, but wondrously profound. He spoke no public words; he was some distance from the crowd. But all present knew that Peter was truly in our midst.

Later that same evening (Friday, April 18, 2008) the Friars and Sisters of the Renewal, along with the Sisters of Life, the Knights of Columbus, Communion and Liberation, and the Young Adult Office of the New York archdiocese, arranged for Eucharistic adoration and music at several Manhattan parishes. The intent was to pray for the success of the Holy Father’s visit. The hour of prayer and adoration was followed by a candlelight procession to the residence of the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations. It was here that His Holiness was spending the night.

The several processions, each with several hundred marchers, converged at the residence of the Nuncio. With hymns and litanies intoned, the people processed through the streets of New York, proudly bearing witness to their Catholic faith. They were going to be a prayerful presence in vigil for their supreme Shepherd. They knew that Peter was in their midst.

As the crowds began to converge on the Nuncio’s residence, police barricades and numberless officers and Secret Service agents kept the assembled some distance from the entrance. Security for the Holy Father’s visit was intense. But the faithful were undaunted, and they continued to pray in vigil, chanting hymns and interceding for their father.

It was then that I experienced a moment of surprise and grace —a true gift from the Lord. One of the Sisters of Life waved to me to come forward. She was drawing several people out of the crowd who were to be brought to the entrance of the Nuncio’s residence to actually greet the Holy Father. It was a prearranged encounter, unofficial and kept secret due to security concerns. Each person’s pass into the secured area was being identified by the superior of the Sisters’ community.

As this select group of forty stood before the entrance of the residence, the word was passed about, “Don’t scream! Just sing ‘Salve Regina’ when Pope Benedict comes out!” As I listened to these instructions, the words “Don’t scream; just sing; don’t scream, just sing” kept running through my head. The brief wait for the Holy Father’s presence seemed more interminable than that sleeplessness of the night before. But every moment of expectation was filled with delight that Peter was in our midst.

Suddenly, almost without warning, he appeared. Instead of just coming out and waving to the crowd, the Holy Father walked right up to the barricade and began to greet the people gathered. Needless to say, everyone screamed and no one sang. When finally someone intoned the ‘Salve Regina’, it was in a key that even a practiced soprano from the Metropolitan Opera would have had to stretch to hit.

The Holy Father began to move down the line shaking hands and nodding to all. Due to my rather pronounced stature of 6'5", I was not in the front row. I acquiesced to those more petite in size. Nonetheless, I extended my hand in hopes of a moment of contact with Peter in our midst.

It was then that time seemed to slow almost to a standstill. Cardinal Egan was escorting His Holiness down the line of admirers. As the Pope was about to pass by my spot, the Cardinal stopped the Holy Father and began to introduce me to His Holiness, all in Italian (at least I think it was Italian!). The Holy Father then put out His hand to grasp mine. His kindly gaze met my eyes, and I knew that I was truly in the presence of Peter. The exchange was brief, but the piercing look of pastoral kindness will be remembered for a lifetime.

As Franciscans of the Renewal, we feel strongly that the renewal of our Catholic faith and culture is bound to a deep respect for and holy submission to the Vicar of Christ. As the supreme authority in the Church, the Holy Father not merely represents but in a mysterious fashion manifests the Lord’s presence to His people. Saint Francis always wanted his brothers to have deep respect and a wholehearted submission to the person here on earth who represents the Lord in heaven whom we follow. Our Constitutions state:

Recalling the ardent desire of Saint Francis, all the friars are to be faithful sons of the Catholic Church. We hold in reverence, respect, and obedience, our Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome, Pope John Paul II and his lawful successors. (Constitutions #57)

The days of our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to America have had a profound impact on our little community, the Church here in New York and, I would say, most Americans — Catholic and other. It was a time of surprising grace, poignant moments of healing presence (e.g. Ground Zero), and spiritual enrichment for so many. Reports of vocation interest to the diocesan priesthood were said to be of “tsunami proportions.” Many who felt estranged from the communion of the faithful were reconciled. Many who had endured the horrors of the abuse scandal of recent years knew that they were heard by the highest authority in the Church. Priests and religious were encouraged. And the life of the faithful was rejuvenated.

Let us give thanks to God for the visit of Pope Benedict to America. For truly, Peter has been in our midst!

	His Call, His Joy - When he was just a boy, Father Benedict Groeschel felt the call “to become a priest who would help poor people.” And this, in fact, he would do. As a young student friar he would feed the hobos who traveled on the trains near the friary. Later, as a priest, he was assigned to work with the disadvantaged inner city boys at an orphanage. And now today, aided by a small army of dedicated workers, every year he is able to distribute hundreds of holiday packages to New York’s neediest families. Truly, Father Benedict is happy not only because he is faithfully living his call in helping the poor, but also the rich, and everyone in between!
Welcome Aboard - Investiture day is always a happy event for the friars, not only for the brand new novices, but also for those responsible for their religious formation. In this Grayfriar photo we see (top row, l-r) Fr. Bernard Marie Murphy, community servant; Fr. Leo Fisher, postulant director; Br. Miguel Pro Madrid (Texas), Br. Tanzi Ibisi (Nigeria), Br. Innocent Montgomery (Nebraska), (front row, l-r) Br. John Baptist Jordan (Alabama), Br. Roch Greiner (California), Br. Didacus Rivero (Venezuela), Br. Timothy Sgoutas (Connecticut), and Fr. Richard Roemer, novice director.

Picture Perfect - Postulants Jeremiah Jordan and Jennifer Fedele, who hail from Alabama and Tennessee, had to bundle up a bit extra to brave New York winter weather as they portrayed Joseph and Mary in the friar’s outdoor Nativity pageant. Evidently the brisk December morning did little to discourage scores of friends and neighbors from filling the street in order to enjoy yet another South Bronx extravaganza. Few in the crowd, however, knew why this year’s baby Jesus was especially cute - that’s because “he” was played by Maria Victoria, daughter of friends and lay missionaries Daniel and Michelle Hinckley!

Fraternal Visit - For the former Capuchin friars who began the Friars of the Renewal over twenty years ago, the visit of Father Mauro Jöhri, Minister General of the Capuchin Order, was not just a social call, but a small bit of history. Father Mauro (center) who is originally from Switzerland, is pictured with his translator, Father Charles Serignat (back left) and his English speaking secretary, Father Ramon Frias (front right). Before returning to Rome, Father General graciously found the time not only for a personal meeting with Fr. Bernard Murphy and his Council, but also to share a simple lunch with a gathering of friars and sisters.