Pope’s U.S. visit excites Five Towners

Five Towners who are parishioners of St. Joachim R.C. Church in Cedarhurst are excited that Pope Francis will be visiting the U.S., including stops in Washington D.C., Manhattan and Philadelphia.
“It means a lot to me to have the Pope come to the United States,” Joan Ayers, a Cedarhurst resident and lifetime parishioner of St. Joachim said. “I haven’t seen past popes but I would love to see Pope Francis. He is a wonderful example of humility, kindness and caring for people of all faiths.”
On Sept. 22, the papal leader, the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere and the first non-European pope since the Syrian Gregory III in 741, is scheduled to arrive in the nation’s capital from Cuba at 4 p.m. On the following day, the pope meets with President Barack Obama at the White House. Later that day Pope Francs is expected to take part in midday prayers with the U.S. bishops at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, and attend the canonization Mass of Junipero Serra in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. He will then address a joint session of Congress on Sept. 24, and then head to New York City.
“It is a very exciting and needed visit,” said 40-year St. Joachim parishioner, Margaret Buckley of Lawrence. “I would love to see him on this trip. I saw a pope many years ago in Rome.”
In New York, Francis will attend an evening prayer service at St. Patrick’s Cathedral with Cardinal Timothy Dolan, also on Sept. 24. He plans to spend a full day in the city the next day and at 8:30 a.m. he will address the United Nations General Assembly. At 11:30 a.m., he will attend a multi religious service at the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, at the World Trade Center. Then Francis will meet with students and immigrant families, including those who illegally entered the U.S. as unaccompanied minors at Our Lady Queen of Angels School. At 6 p.m. he will attend a mass at Madison Square Garden.

“As the leader of the Catholic Church, His Holiness, Pope Francis’ visit to New York will be an emotional as well as spiritual experience that I look forward to celebrating,” said Lawrence resident Hannah O’Rourke, a parishioner of St. Joachim’s for 40 years. She attended the 1995 papal mass celebrated by Pope John Paul II at Giants Stadium in 1995.
Francis will spend the final two days of his U.S. in Philadelphia, where he will attend morning mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, and visit the Independence Mall and the Festival of Families on Benjamin Franklin Parkway. He is scheduled to meet with bishops, visit prisoners at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, and will attend an outdoor mass at the conclusion of the World Meeting of Families. At 8 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27, he will head back to Rome.
Phillip Lynch, a Cedarhurst resident who became a St. Joachim parishioner in 1939, said he has never seen a Pope in person, and added that the parish is very happy about the visit and that they all wish him a successful and safe trip. “A Holy Man reaching out to international leaders may inspire many others by speaking at the U.N.,” he said.