By Dennis Sadowski, Editor
Two years ago Jean Barry, a member of Immaculate Conception Church, Willoughby, was able to shake Pope Benedict XVI’s hand just before a preview showing of a movie on the life of Pope John Paul II in a Rome auditorium.

Back then, she and her husband, Frank, ended up sitting just eight rows behind the pontiff as they watched the film. “We can say we went to the movies with the pope,” Barry says.
On April 20, the Barrys know the venue will be far less intimate as they take their seats hundreds of feet above the temporary altar on the Yankee Stadium field during Pope Benedict’s New York City Mass. Still, the retired couple will be happy to be in the presence of Pope Benedict when he celebrates an afternoon liturgy in one of America’s most venerable sports shrines.
“We’re very excited,” Barry says. “We’ve been to Rome three times, but we’ve never attended a (papal) Mass.”
The Barrys are among about 100 people from across the diocese who will trek to the Bronx for the 2:00 p.m. Mass. Most obtained tickets through a lottery after being nominated by their parishes.
All have had to undergo security clearance by the Secret Service. They will have to show up about five hours before the Mass and wait patiently for the pope’s arrival. No one seems to mind, however. Many say the excitement they feel in anticipation of the liturgy makes up for the inconveniences.
Fred Kramer of St. Bernard Parish, Akron, sees the Mass as an opportunity of a lifetime. “You don’t have the Holy Father coming to the United States much,” he says.
“I couldn’t be more delighted to have the opportunity,” says Rose Austin, 51, president of the parish council at St. Martin of Tours Parish, Valley City. “It’s all wonderful and new to me.
“To me the pope is the holiest person in today’s world,” adds Austin, who will travel with her friend, Jackie Gluck. If I have an opportunity to be in the presence of somebody anointed by God, it’s an honor for me.
“This is going to be one of the highlights of my life.”
Tony Vento, Newman Catholic campus minister at Case Western Reserve University, is taking his daughter Grace to the Mass. It’ll be the ninth birthday for the daughter of Vento and his wife, Gayle Kanary. They consider Grace a miracle child.
“She’s heard many words of gratitude of her birth,” says Vento, who belongs to St. Patrick Parish on Bridge Avenue on Cleveland’s Near West Side. “We were told we weren’t going to have kids. That’s her name.”
Vento says the Mass will have added meaning, especially because Pope Benedict will have addressed the United Nations two days prior to the Mass.
“Knowing it will continue the tradition of Paul VI and John Paul II calling the world to its vocation of shalom, to help build a bridge to bring the message of Christ’s peace, a message of right relationships, a message of good will.
“I’m just so glad as a father, as a parent to point her (Grace) toward that bridge.”
On the other end of the spectrum, one of the oldest Clevelanders making the trip is Geraldine Kersey, 80, a member of the diocese’s newest parish, Holy Spirit in Garfield Heights.
She will travel to New York City in honor of her 92-year-old mother, who died in December 2004, four months after being beaten and stabbed by muggers in her Southeast Cleveland neighborhood.
“If I can be there and be present, I get a feeling I’m going to be blessed,” Kersey says. “I’m very thankful I can go.”
Patricia Clarke of St. Ann Parish, Cleveland Heights, also is honoring her German mother by attending the Mass. She will be taking her oldest daughter, 14-year-old Elizabeth, as well.
“To have a German pope is almost as surprising as having a Polish one,” Clarke says.
Chardon St. Mary Parish members Thomas and Judy Benda are looking forward to welcoming the pontiff to the United States with their presence at the Mass. It will be their second time seeing the pope. Two years ago during a visit to the Vatican, Judy Benda briefly touched Pope Benedict as he rode through St. Peter’s Square after his usual Wednesday audience.
The Bendas will meet family members in New York who also received Mass tickets from their parish.
“I know we won’t be as up close and personal as we were in Italy,” Judy Benda says.
“We’re praying that his presence will evangelize and re-evangelize U.S. Catholics,” adds Thomas Benda, who retired from Lubirzol Corp. three years ago. “It’s going to be exciting to be there. ... to be able to bring that energy back here for our work in the diocese.”
For John Carroll University student Virginia Sykes being at the Mass gives her the chance to celebrate her faith. She was able to get tickets after she and a friend met Bishop Richard G. Lennon following a Mass on campus earlier this year. They asked about going to the papal Mass. The bishop asked them to write a letter explaining their intentions.
“It’s not enough to just go to church every Sunday. There’s so much more,” says Sykes, 20, who made the trip to Washington in January for the annual Right to Life March.
She will be joined by fellow student and friend Erin McBride, whose family in Rochester also received tickets to the Yankee Stadium liturgy. She had seen the pope last year when she was studying in Ireland and made a trip to Rome for one of Benedict’s weekly Wednesday audiences.
“It’s a great day to get together and rejuvenate your faith and knowing you’re not alone on the journey,” McBride says.