Waiting for the pope: Planning to chat with him about peace and cats

Published: 2008-04-15

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md. (CNS) -- Hundreds of military personnel and their families and dozens of students from a nearby Catholic high school perched on bleachers set up at the edge of the tarmac at Andrews Air Force Base to greet Pope Benedict XVI on his first U.S. visit as pope. As they watched last-minute preparations, some of them talked about what they'd like to discuss with the pope if given the chance to sit down with him. "I want to talk to him about his cat," said 8-year-old Katie Lengyel. She and her mom, Sally Lengyel, live on the base, where their dad and husband, Col. Joseph Lengyel, is assigned with the Air National Guard. Katie had been given the day off from St. John the Evangelist Catholic School in Clinton, Md., for the occasion. Katie explained that her teacher had read the class a story about the pope and his cat, and she wanted to compare notes with him about her cat, Kona, named for the black sand beach in Hawaii. She also might let him know that she used to live in Germany, which she learned is the pope's homeland.

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