St. Joe’s students hold a sign reading “Bienvenido Papa Francisco” as they await Pope Francis’ arrival at St. Joe’s, Sept. 27, 2015. PHOTOS: SHANNON ADAMS ’16, MATTHEW HAUBENSTEIN, M.A. ’17, AND JOEY TOCZYLOWSKI ’17 / THE HAWK
This article was originally published Sept. 23, 2015.
In anticipation of Pope Francis’ historic visit, Saint Joseph’s University will be hosting a number of campus events. St. Joe’s hopes to highlight both the religious and academic points of the Pope’s visit and the World Meeting of Families
In addition to the campus discussions and events, 200 St. Joe’s students will travel to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Sunday, Sept. 27. Here students will participate as volunteers at the Papal Mass, according to Tom Sheibley, director of Campus Ministry. They will be communion assistants and accompany the priests who are distributing communion along the parkway.
An email was sent out to students from Sheibley advertising the opportunity to volunteer during the mass, and according to Sheibley, the response was overwhelming. The system malfunctioned, allowing more students to sign up than there were spots available. Some students were later emailed, telling them that they would no longer be one of the 200 selected students.
Kellie O’Brien ’19 was one of the 200 students selected.
“[Saint Joseph’s University] will transport us into the city…[and] when they distribute holy communion I will either be helping a priest or holding up [a] sign saying what section of people need to receive holy communion,” said O’Brien.
There are also 160 students traveling to and staying at St. Joe’s from six other Jesuit colleges around the country—Georgetown University, Marquette University, Creighton University, John Carroll University, Canisius College and Wheeling Jesuit University. They are heading to Philadelphia to see the Pope speak and hold mass on Sunday. They will stay in O’Pake Recreation Center and plan to walk six miles into the city to get a glimpse of the historic moment.
The St. Joe’s community will also be hosting an event on Friday, Sept. 25, honoring the 50-year friendship between the Jewish and Catholic communities of Philadelphia. In honor of this relationship, an original sculpture entitled “Synagoga and Ecclesia in Our Time,” by local artist Joshua Koffman will be dedicated to St. Joe’s, located on the lawn between Campion Dining Hall and the St. Joe’s Chapel.
Medieval cathedrals in Europe would often have similar statues representing the relationship between Jews and Catholics, said James Caccamo, Ph.D, associate professor and chair of theology and religious studies. These statues would generally have two female figures, said Caccamo, one would be holding the bible, the other would be holding the torah. He added that the sculpture was going to be artistically significant, as well.
St. Joe’s will be offering a number of options for student activity throughout the papal visit, both academic and religious oriented. Students are encouraged to take part in on-campus events and take advantage of this historic World Meeting of Families.
“I encourage people to listen to what the Pope is saying,” said Sheibley. “Whatever faith background we are coming from…I think that there are messages that he has to share that I think anyone could really value and would really benefit from discussing.”