What would you do if you unexpectedly got to meet the pope?

Nearly hyperventilating at the thought was St. Louisan Charleen Sartori, who will be traveling with a group of 100 people from the archdiocese by bus to New York later this month to see Pope Benedict XVI.

"Oh my gosh, I'd probably faint," said the parishioner of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in Oakville during a telephone interview last week.

"You know what?" she continued, after catching her breath. "I'd probably say, 'I love you' and just 'we support you.'"

Those heartfelt expressions speak to why Sartori, her husband, Ralph Sartori, and her sister, Diane Rademacher, want to take the trouble to make the April 17-21 pilgrimage by motor coach to the Big Apple.

Put simply, Charleen Sartori said, "Because he's the vicar of Christ."

She then elaborated, "We have to go. I mean, it's the pope. There's no other one we would ride on a bus for four days to see. We're very dedicated to our Catholic faith, and he's the head of the Catholic Church."

Sartori and her husband learned of the pilgrimage through the Review. They immediately signed on board, along with Sartori's sister, a South St. Louis resident who attends St. Vincent de Paul Parish in St. Louis.

The trio are going for the papal Mass, Sartori said, and then they'll turn around and come home.

With 60,000 people filling Yankee Stadium where the Mass will be celebrated, they don't really expect to come close to Pope Benedict. But they'll be there, nevertheless.

While 60,000 is a large number, "it's a small number compared with everyone in the country. To be one of 60,000 to attend Mass and see him" will be an incredible experience, Sartori said.

"It really doesn't matter where we are" in the stadium, she said. "It's just being there. Just to say we saw the pope."

All of New York is preparing for his visit, she noted. "There's nobody else in the world they would prepare for like that. To see that and just to be a part of that" will be something extraordinary, she said.

The Sartoris had the opportunity to see Pope John Paul II three times. They took a bus with a group from the St. Louis Archdiocese to see him in 1979 in Chicago, saw him again when he visited St. Louis in 1999 and once while they were in Rome.

Sartori plans to bring a button to New York that she bought in Chicago when Pope John Paul II came there. Its message reads: "I got a peek at the pope."

Fired up by faith and hope, she added gleefully, "Maybe I'll put an 's' on it. 'I got a peek at the popes.'"

Another local person who is looking to see the pope is Denise Siders. She missed out on the chance to see Pope John Paul II when he made his pastoral visit to St. Louis in 1999.

A sophomore studying elementary education at the University of Iowa at the time, Siders said there weren't enough tickets available through her school's Newman Center for her to be able to go.

That's why Siders, a religion teacher for sixth- through eighth-graders at St. Rose Philippine Duchesne School in Florissant, said she wasn't going to miss out on the chance to see Pope Benedict XVI when he makes his first pontifical visit to the United States later this month.

The parishioner of St. Martin de Porres in Hazelwood, who is expected to graduate in June with a master's degree in theological studies from Ave Maria University, signed up for the April 17-21 archdiocesan-sponsored pilgrimage to New York after reading about it in the Review.

After making an 18-hour journey by bus, the group will spend free time in Manhattan and participate in Mass April 22 with the pontiff at Yankee Stadium.

"Pope Benedict is amazing," said 28-year-old Siders, who added that she still has not had a chance to read his first encyclical, "Deus Caritas Est (God is Love)."

She said that the pontiff, when prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, had received a reputation as being stern and a watchdog for the morals and teachings of the Church.

But Siders added: "I think he is a humanitarian bringing the Church together" as pope. "When he was elected, he told the College of Cardinals that he would not be travelling" much; however, "he still does it for the sake of the Church and unity and peace."

Coming along for the ride with Siders is her childhood best friend, Karin O'Leary, who is considering becoming a member of the Catholic faith. The two became friends years ago when they attended a summer camp in Idaho for children with diabetes.

O'Leary, who lives in Washington state where she's studying for a master's degree in social work, will meet up with Siders in St. Louis before they head to New York.

"She wants to be Catholic, and this is probably the one thing that will make her go through RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults). This is going to cement it," Siders said of her friend.

As part of its professional development funding, St. Rose Philippine Duchesne is paying for part of Siders' trip to New York. When she returns, she will lead an assembly for the 300-plus student body, featuring pictures, video and personal stories from her trip.

Siders said she is looking forward to meeting the others going on the pilgrimage and sharing their faith stories with her students.

"I want to introduce the students to some of these people as positive role models in the Church," she said. "I wanted to meet people of like mind ... who are willing to go on a bus for 18 hours and talk to these people and hear their stories."

April 11, 2008

Local Catholics excited at chance to see pope
by Jean Schildz and Jennifer Brinker, Review Staff Writers