Some in area saw pope up close

By KAYLEIGH KARUTIS, The Leader-Herald
A handful of local people witnessed history in the making when they attended ceremonies in New York and Washington, D.C., during Pope Benedict XVI’s first visit to America.

A youth ministry group from St. Mary’s of Mount Carmel and Sacred Heart churches in Gloversville sent six teenagers and one chaperone to St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers Saturday for a papal concert, complete with a rapping priest.

Ann Marie Simonson, who chaperoned the six high schoolers, said the churches received a notice from the Albany Diocese asking if they would like to be entered into a lottery for tickets to attend the ceremony. She found out the youth group had been chosen only six days before the ceremony. The churches’ Women’s Society, Simonson said, paid for the bus tickets.

“I chose the students by who was the most active and who would be the most receptive and get the most out of it,” she said.

One of those students was Chris Stanyon, a Gloversville senior, who flew home early from a family vacation in Florida to attend the event.

“I was really pleased when I found out I was going. It’s really a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Stanyon said Monday.

Stanyon said he did not expect the ceremony to include bands, singers or “American Idol’s” Kelly Clarkson.

“I was expecting more churchy music,” Stanyon said. “It was really impressive.”

And as for the main event, Pope Benedict?

“It was amazing to be near someone of that magnitude, with that level of power,” he said.

Being at such an event, Stanyon said, brought him closer to his fellow youth group members.

“I think being in that setting, you create a special bond with the people you’re with,” he said.

Mackenzie Marotta, a Gloversville sophomore, agreed.

“It was a lot of fun, and I think I got to know everyone a bit better,” she said.

About 20,000 people attended the event in Yonkers, creating a massive crowd Marotta said she was astonishing to see.

“To see everyone’s enthusiasm was really overwhelming,” she said.

Pope Benedict’s address, Marotta said, was “very touching. He understands young people. He said we affected him, but he greatly affected us.”

Other students who attended the event included Ally Gray, Will Eagan, Dan Wehn and Violet Burkus.

Montgomery County Sheriff Michael Amato attended a ceremony on the White House lawn Wednesday, where he saw President Bush and the pope address a crowd of about 12,000.

As president of the New York State Sheriff’s Association and a Catholic as well, Amato was chosen by the national Sheriff’s Association to represent the state at the ceremony.

The White House, Amato said, was decorated beautifully for the event. The crowd sang “Happy Birthday” to the pontiff, who celebrated his 81st birthday that day.

“Everything was very well done … you could tell the people feel like [the pope] is a magnet,” Amato said.

Both Bush and the pope addressed the crowd with carefully measured words, Amato said.

“You can tell they were watching what they were saying. They were enthusiastic and positive about the American people,” he said.

The experience, Amato said, was exciting and interesting.

“It seemed like it was a day that had nothing to do with politics. It was just about feeling good about who you were,” Amato said.



Kayleigh Karutis covers rural Fulton County. She can be reached at ruralnews@leaderherald.com.