Two Catholic University students' design altar, chair for pope

Published: 2008-01-29

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When Pope Benedict XVI celebrates Mass April 17 at Nationals Park, he will use an altar and chair designed by two students at The Catholic University of America in Washington. John-Paul Mikolajczyk and Ryan Mullen, first-year graduate students in the university's School of Architecture and Planning, designed the liturgical furniture as part of a competition jointly sponsored by the Archdiocese of Washington and the university's School of Architecture and Planning. Their designs were chosen from a field of 21 entrants in the competition. Architecture students, working alone or in groups of up to four people, prepared their models and drawings between Jan. 18 and Jan. 23. The entries were judged Jan. 24, and the winner was announced Jan. 29. "There is something very exciting about this work you designed, so focused on what we believe," Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl of Washington told Mikolajczyk and Mullen. "When all those people (at the papal Mass) are looking at this, you can say, 'He (the pope) is standing at my altar,'" he added.

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