Benedict XVI Comes To CUA Campus

"My pastoral visit here is an opportunity to strengthen further the bonds of communion that unite us."
-Benedict XVI: 16 April, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

The Pope's Apostolic visit to the United States kicked off with a series of events in the Nation's capital this week; many of which brought him to The National Basilica and/or Catholic University's campus. Seeing as how I live on the grounds of the aforementioned University and Basilica, this was pretty much the most awesome thing I could possibly have imagined.

Apparently a majority of the CUA community shared my enthusiasm: and why not? It's the friggin Pope! While I remain a vehement critic of the way American college students (well... actually the way world youth in general) view the Papacy and thus greet the Holy Father, I feel I now have a much better understanding of why it is an important (though not by any means amply respectful or theologically sound) aspect of the faith. The look on Benedict's face when he exited the Pryzbala Center to a chorus of hundreds of students chanting "C! U! A! Loves! The! Pope!" was undoubtedly priceless.

*I know this because I was about twenty feet away from the man... Ha! Ha!*

The Catholic youth are the pulse of our Church, and if they are taken with the Pope then they'll hopefully listen carefully to what he has to say. All of which, in my humble opinion, is awesome.


Aside: May I just say, the popemobile is pretty sweet... I'm a fan.

I'm sorry, this picture still blows my mind. This is the Pope standing in front of the place where I eat lunch everyday. I'd take it for that old photoshop magic if I hadn't taken the damn picture myself. Amazing. The following picture is the only one in the post that isn't mine. The credit goes to my friend Ray Bosche who had a camera of infinitely better quality than my little point and shoot.


The Apostolic Journey to the US couldn't have come at a better time in my opinion. The three years since the death of John Paul II seem to have left the American youth either ignorant or apathetic in terms of the Papacy. The excitement I experienced in the crowd certainly was reminiscent of the video footage of JPII's trip to campus in 1979; a good sign. A sign which I will now proceed to rub in the face of every critic of Benedict's charisma and ability to attract youth. For crying out loud people, he's the Vicar of Christ... he can handle it.

Look for more Pope-themed stuff on this blog coming soon, but give me some time... I'm a full time student and part time blogger.