RIDGWAY – A local priest had a chance of a lifetime when he was
invited to attend Pope Benedict XVI’s reception at the White House
last month.
The Rev. Ted Marconi of St. Leo Church in Ridgway was given the
rare honor of attending the ceremony on the South Lawn thanks to a
former parishioner. The whole experience was “overwhelming,”
according to Marconi.
“It all started in 1983 when I went to Corry for the summer,”
Marconi said. “I was to be ordained the next year and was living in
the parish for the summer.”
Marconi met a family with five children and became friends with
them. He eventually performed all of their marriage ceremonies and
baptized their babies and has remained friends.
One of the boy’s wife works at the White House.
“When the people at the White House got in the invitation to go
to this thing, she called me,” Marconi said. “Joel was working in
Africa and would be unable to attend the ceremony.”
Marconi went to Washington on Tuesday and Pope Benedict XVI
arrived on April 16, which was also his 81st birthday. This was his
first visit to the United States as Pope. On April 17, he performed
Mass at the (Washington) Nationals Stadium. Marconi was also
present for that.
The ceremony at the White House was the first time that
bleachers were erected on the South Lawn.
“It was pretty amazing,” Marconi said. “It was simple, but
elegant. The Knights of Columbus were invited to the ceremony for
the first time in history. The Girl and Boy Scouts were present as
well as dozens of church officials. Each person present received an
American and Papal flag to wave.”
When the Pope appeared, “the crowd went crazy,” Marconi said,
adding people started to spontaneously sing “Happy Birthday” to the
Pope. There was also a 21-gun salute for the Pope.
“They were really loud,” Marconi said. “It was amazing. They
were playing the National Anthem of the Holy See. That was pretty
awesome.”
Marconi said when President Bush welcomed the Pope, what he was
to him was really beautiful.
“He has faith,” Marconi explained. “I was just so proud of the
President’s welcoming the Pope. He was just gracious and
hospitable. After the Pope spoke, President Bush said, ‘Awesome
speech.'”
Marconi felt the President was just really moved at this
point.
“It was definitely a once in a lifetime kind of thing to be
invited to the White House, but to have the head of our church and
the head of our country together was such an honor,” Marconi said.
“I was choked up most of the time on the South Lawn.”
Marconi spent the rest of the day visiting monuments and talking
to people. He was wearing his collar, so people knew why he was
there. People would just come up to talk to him.
“It happened a few times … it was nice,” he said.
On Thursday, Marconi got in a caravan with senior White House
aides to attend the Mass at Nationals Stadium. He was seated with
members of Congress.
“They were just normal, regular people,” Marconi said. “There
were a few protesters at the Masses, but for the most part, the
thousands of people who were there just ignored them.”
The church was also given tickets to the Pope’s Mass at Yankee
Stadium in New York City. So after being back in Ridgway for a day,
Marconi boarded a bus with members from the local area and went to
New York. There were 250 people from the Erie Diocese at that
Mass.
“The hardest part for me was who to give the tickets to,”
Marconi admitted. “With around a dozen tickets and hundreds of
parishioners, not everybody could go.
“One of the amazing parts of both masses was going to Communion.
Thousands of people went. At a stadium, you think of carrying on,
but people went to Communion the way they do at church. It was
quiet.”
Marconi is only 5 foot, 4 inches tall, but people were saying
they were looking for him on TV.
“That was kinda cool to be able to go and say I am going to take
your prayer intercession with me,” Marconi said. “They felt this
connection.
“I think people were hesitant that Pope Benedict wouldn’t be as
well received as Pope John Paul was because he was so beloved. I
think people were surprised at how people were. The more he was
here, the more he seemed comfortable with it and engaged with
people.”
Marconi said “I think overall, the Pope’s visit to the U.S.
helped Catholics feel proud again of being Catholic and I think
people who aren’t Catholic got a better appreciation of the church.
I was pleasantly surprised by the positive media coverage for his
visit.”
This isn’t the first time Marconi has been to a Mass conducted
by Pope Benedict XVI; he and his family went to Italy and attended
a weekly Mass at the Vatican. Marconi went early to save seats for
his parents and the rest of the family and decided to sit near the
back. He met a family there and began talking to them. They were
from upstate New York and now keep in touch and they regularly stop
in Ridgway on their way through the area.
When the Pope was going by the audience, his mother held up her
Rosary and they were blessed by the Pope.
“We were nose-to-nose, it was pretty amazing,” Marconi said. “I
was thinking about the experience and how beautiful it was. I have
had quite a few Pope experiences.”
