4:00 PM
Jo-Anne Rowney
On the anniversary of the Papal Visit I've dug our my reflections from the time - this appeared in the Catholic Herald at the time.
As I stood waiting for the Holy Father I remembered my friend’s advice, “Don’t cry,” he said. “You know what you’re like.”
I was preparing to greet the Pope, scrambling among the others for a place. There was nervous laughter and excited chatter, then deafening silence.
“I can see his foot,” someone whispered. Peering over heads to see, I spotted the famous red shoes stepping from the car. My heart stopped, and I felt an overwhelming sense of excitement. Time seemed to slow down as I waited for the Pope to come into view.
Then I spotted him, a few feet away, nodding and smiling at us all. In that moment, despite my friend’s warning, tears blurred my vision – the momentous nature of the occasion, the whole papal visit, came to me in that second. The Pope had come to reaffirm our faith; my faith. I was struck that I could reach out and touch the successor of Peter, this humble and gentle man who exuded so much warmth. My heart was bursting, overcome with love for this frail figure.
Photos were taken in a flurry of clicking, and as quickly as they’d marked his entrance, I glimpsed the red shoes walking away marking his exit.
It was only the next day at Cofton that I finally understood my emotional epiphany. As we sang as one, I felt connected. Part of something beyond comprehension, the Pope had given me – no, us – hope. I’d never been so proud to be a Catholic.
This appeared in Catholic Herald
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