For archbishop highlight of papal trip will be Nationals Park Mass

Published: 2008-04-09

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- For Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl, perhaps the highlight of Pope Benedict XVI's three-day visit to the nation's capital will be when they stand near the altar for the beginning of the papal Mass at the new Nationals Park April 17. He said he looked forward to looking out at the more than 45,000 people in the stadium, and telling the pope, "These people welcome you." The archbishop smiled and added, "To be able to introduce the church of Washington to the pope, and say, 'This is us, Holy Father, we've all come out to see you.'" Archbishop Wuerl remembers the thrill he felt as a seminarian in Rome in the early 1960s when he gathered with classmates along a road around dawn, to see Pope Paul VI leaving for his historic visit to the Holy Land. Now, he will get to ride with Pope Benedict in the popemobile in Washington.

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