VATICAN CORNER
There were some side stories which came out of the Pope’s visit to the U.S. When riding in the Popemobile surrounded by cheering crowds on the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pope Francis chuckled when he saw 4-month old Quinn Madden dressed like himself. Her mother and father handed baby Quinn to a security guard who brought her to him. The Pope kissed her and whispered a message to the guard, who then returned her to her parents and relayed the message. Francis said “tell them they have a great sense of humor.” Quinn’s mother, Dana, said later, “We couldn’t believe we were able to make him laugh. What an amazing experience.”
It may have been divine intervention, but the South-facing wall at 494 Eighth Ave. that towers over Madison Square Garden in New York City, which is used as a 225-foot-tall billboard space, was available for the month of September. The Diocese of Brooklyn was able to commission a project of spiritual significance, a 180-foot-tall painting of Pope Francis. For the past 8 years, Artist Van Hecht-Nielsen and his team of 3 have painted advertisements on that wall, like pictures of Cadillacs. The hand painted mural using hogshair brushes and 80 to100 gallons of paint may have been the largest portrait of Pope Francis ever created. Careful detail was used on the Pope’s face. The mural was seen by as many as 700,000 people a week through the month of September and was used to raise awareness of the papal visit and to build excitement. The creators of the mural said they were eager for Pope Francis to see it first-hand and they hoped he took a selfie in front of it.
While in Washington D.C., Pope Francis met with Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Her attorney afterwards portrayed the meeting as an endorsement of her views. But the Vatican stated that it was no more than a typical brief greeting arranged by the Vatican’s Washington D. C. ambassador and “should not be considered a form of support of her position in all of its particular and complex aspects.” The “real audience” with the Pope was had by Yayo Grassi, a 67 year-old gay man and former student of his at an Argentine Jesuit high school. They have known each other since the 1960s. Grassi partner of 19 years along with 4 friends accompanied him.
In order to keep him from getting nervous, Bobby Hill a 14-year-old soprano and aspiring opera singer at the World Meeting of Families event in Philadelphia was told only 5 minutes before that he was needed to perform an unscheduled solo to fill a stage transition, and that it would be without music. His response was “Cool.” He performed like an angel and after the performance in another unscripted moment; he walked right up to Pope Francis and gave him his small good luck rock from Antartica, the world’s only continent unrepresented.
Sources: 6ABC.com, nytimes.com, catholic new service, nytimes.com, businessinsider.com, xpxi.com, nbcnewyork.com