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Pope Benedict XVI To Meet With Educators At CUA
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WASHINGTON—Pope Benedict XVI will address educators from more that 200 Catholic colleges and universities in the U.S. and representatives from all 195 Catholic dioceses in the nation in a speech at The Catholic University of America, April 17. The speech is part of the pope's three-day Washington visit during his six-day trip to the U.S. The pope will spend April 18 – 20 in New York before returning to Rome.
The pope will be introduced by Catholic University president, Father David O'Connell. Admission to this event is by ticket only. Upon arriving, the pope will be greeted by more than 4,000 Catholic University students and community members. Another 6,000 tickets have been made available to Catholic students from other Washington area Catholic and public colleges and universities and Church-sponsored Catholic organizations (including parishes) to see the pope later that evening as he travels across Catholic University in the popemobile to the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center on Harewood Road. Requests for these tickets must be made through sponsoring Catholic organizations and are available in blocks of 50 or more. Submission for blocks of tickets must be sent no later than Thursday, April 10, to papalvisit@cua.edu. Name, address and affiliation are required.
Greeting the pope inside as he arrives will be 63 seminarians and nine faculty members from Theological College, Catholic University's seminary. An additional 150 seminarians from other Washington area seminaries will join those gathered on the lawn.
For those ticketed to campus events, the day begins early with an opportunity to view a Jumbotron transmission of the papal Mass from Nationals Park on the Catholic University lawn, between the Edward J. Pryzbyla Center and the Columbus Law School. Afterwards, a movie and day-long musical entertainment will be provided on the lawn. Pope Benedict's address to the college and university heads will be transmitted via the Jumbotron.
The pope's visit marks the third one of a pope to a U.S. college or university and the second papal visit to Catholic University. Founded in 1887, Catholic University, with an undergraduate and graduate school enrollment of approximately 6,400 students, is unique among Catholic colleges in having been established by and for U.S. Catholic bishops. The first visit to Catholic University occurred in 1979 during Pope John Paul II's six-city U.S. tour when he addressed Catholic educators, theologians and university presidents.
Eight years later, at Xavier University in New Orleans, he again addressed higher education Catholic leaders including approximately 1,800 Catholic elementary and secondary teachers and religious instructors.