The “crazy” youth group at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in North Little Rock (Marche) is at it again.
Youth director Christie Powell wanted to organize a trip to Australia to see Pope Benedict XVI during World Youth Day this summer, but she was discerning if her parish could raise thousands of dollars for only a few teens to attend. Her pastor, Father Robert Dienert, told her last fall to pray about it. That day she learned that the pope would be coming to the United States in April.
“There’s your answer to your prayers,” the priest told her.
Following Powell’s lead, 75 students in sixth to 12th grades and their chaperones decided in November to step out in faith and travel to Washington, D.C., to see the pope during his first official visit to this country. Powell rallied the teens, parents and parishioners to support several fundraisers, including two successful bingo nights, and raised $20,000 to charter two buses for five days and pay for lodging.
Everyone seemed on board even though the group had no tickets to an official papal event. To Powell it seemed logical to travel 1,000 miles away without a guarantee of spotting the pontiff.
“I know it is crazy, but for years when the Holy Father would come to the U.S. I wouldn’t go because I didn’t have a ticket,” she said.
Powell wanted to encourage her youth group members to have faith when all signs were not hopeful.
“Our kids are so in love with our Church and John Paul II,” she said. “And I want (Pope Benedict XVI) to catch on with our kids.”
Tickets for the public Masses in New York City and Washington, D.C., were difficult to come by, especially for a large group. The diocesan administrator’s office received only 25 tickets to the Mass at the Nationals Park in Washington April 17.
Powell was not deterred in her plan.
“Let’s just go for it,” she told the adult leaders.
Powell planned a trip packed with religious and historical meaning. A visit to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and tour of the city were planned.
Powell said she contacted the Archdiocese of Washington several times to see if there was a possibility of getting tickets. When they offered no hope, Powell started studying the public papal routes where the group could stand and watch the pope drive by. Word started to spread that the Immaculate Heart of Mary group was going to Washington without tickets. On April 8 Powell received a call from The Catholic University of America where the pope is meeting privately with Catholic educators April 17. IHM was given 75 of the 6,000 tickets to have access to CUA that day and watch the pope travel across the campus in the popemobile to his next stop at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center.
“God gave us more than we asked for,” Powell said.
Joining her on the trip are 60 teens who attend Immaculate Heart of Mary School, and Mount St. Mary Academy and Catholic High School, both in Little Rock. Three students attend public school.
The group left North Little Rock April 16 and will return April 20. In preparation for the trip, the group assembled for Mass April 13 and asked Father Dienert to bless them on their journey. Many of the teens wore their white and yellow baseball jerseys with the papal emblem on the front. On the back there is a list of each pope since St. Peter.
“As much as people say that youth aren’t spiritual, they are,” she said. “They have caught the fever. Hopefully this will only flame the fire.”
