Polish Chicagoans eager to see German pontiff
A busload of 50 young Polish Americans left Chicago’s Northwest Side Friday, bound for New York City and an appearance there by Pope Benedict XVI.
Ranging in age from 11 to their mid-20s, the group was accompanied by four nuns and a priest. They planned to drive 13 hours, through the night, to make it to New York for a youth rally Saturday afternoon outside St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers.
(Courtesy)
In addition to the appearance by the pontiff, music stars such as Kelly Clarkson also were slated to perform at the gathering, which was expected to draw 25,000 young people from around the country.
Comprised of parishioners from several Polish churches, the Chicago group made the pilgrimage not only for personal spiritual nourishment “but also to express our unity with the universal church,” said Sister Margaret Lekan, a Dominican nun serving as spiritual adviser for the trip.
“The bottom line is really the love for the church that every single one of us has,” Lekan said.
Before group set off, the Rev. Michael Osuch, pastor of St. Hyacinth Basilica, bestowed a blessing and passed along greetings from Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Paprocki.
Each traveler paid $400 to make the journey for Benedict’s first U.S. trip as pope.
“For Polish youths, meeting with the pope is a very big celebration,” said Jacek Chaba, Polish youth coordinator for the Archdiocese of Chicago.
Pope John Paul II was extremely popular in Chicago, Chaba said, but so is Benedict. And the fact that he’s German and not Polish, as John Paul II was, doesn’t matter, he said.
“The pope is the pope for us," Chaba said.
