Archdiocesan priest was in St. Peter's Square
to see the new pope

By Sean Gallagher

For centuries, St. Peter’s Square in Rome has been a place where history has been made. Over the last three weeks, it has been the location of the announcement of the death of a pope, his funeral, the proclamation of the election of his successor and the celebration of his inaugural Mass.

Father Stanley Pondo, a priest of the archdiocese studying canon law in Rome, was in the square for all of these events.

In a recent interview with The Criterion, Father Pondo explained how he learned on April 19 of the election of a new pope and how he made his way to the square.

He had planned to leave for the square at about 6 p.m., about an hour before the time that ballots were expected to be burned if there were two inconclusive afternoon votes.

But at about 5:50 p.m., Father Pondo and some of his priest friends in his house of studies saw a report on television that smoke was pouring from the Sistine Chapel’s chimney.

“We debated whether the smoke was white or black until about 6:02 [p.m.] when the camera focused on the bell showed it beginning to move,” Father Pondo said. “The eight of us in the room cleared out before the bell even sounded. We walked extremely quickly to St. Peter’s, and made what is normally a thirty-minute walk in about twenty minutes.”

As Father Pondo and his friends began their trek, the streets weren’t crowded, but their haste caught the attention of people they passed.

“Some people along the way noticed and asked in Italian what was going on,” Father Pondo said. “One of our guys kept responding in Italian that there was a new pope.”

As they got closer to the square, he started to notice others scurrying there.

“The closer we got to the Vatican, though, the more people we saw heading that way, and the streets became increasingly crowded,” Father Pondo said. “We were passed by a group of French junior high school kids running to get to the square while their adult leaders yelled at them to stay in a group. We ourselves passed many people along the route that we took.”

Father Pondo and his friends arrived in the square about 20 minutes before the announcement of the new pope was made and the pontiff appeared before the crowds. Father Pondo stood slightly behind and to the right of the obelisk in the square.

When Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s name was announced as the new pope, he was “pleasantly surprised” and joined in the cheers of the crowd all around him.

Father Pondo, who experienced his priestly formation at the Benedictine Saint Meinrad School of Theology in southern Indiana, was especially pleased that the new pope took the name of Benedict.

“I also was pleased because St. Benedict is one of the patrons of Europe, and it seems that the Holy Father is emphasizing the re-evangelization of Europe, which I think is needed,” he said.

When Pope Benedict began to speak, Father Pondo and those around him quickly became quiet.

“Pope Benedict speaks Italian well, which is important because he is the Bishop of Rome,” Father Pondo said. “The Italians seemed very pleased that he spoke their language so well.”

Father Pondo was as struck by what the Holy Father had to say as by the language in which he said it.

“I was very impressed with his comments,” he said. “I was pleased that he honored Pope John Paul II, and that he referred to him as ‘the great.’ I was pleased that Pope Benedict sees himself as a simple worker for the Lord.”

Five days later, Father Pondo and a priest friend made their way back to the square for Pope Benedict’s inaugural Mass.

Unlike Pope John Paul’s funeral, for which he had special-seating tickets, Father Pondo had to stand in the square for this liturgy, ending up in the middle of a large crowd in the square that extended down the Via della Conciliazione that Father Pondo estimated was as large as the one for the funeral.

Around him were German teenagers, Polish women religious and American seminarians, as well as others from the Philippines.

“It was difficult not having a seat because I ended up standing in virtually the same spot for over five hours,” Father Pondo said. “There was quite a crush of people at Communion and when the Holy Father was driven through the crowd in the open popemobile.”

Watching Pope Benedict greet those in attendance in the square from his open popemobile after the Mass was a touching experience for Father Pondo.

“I thought that it was wonderful and that it harkened back to Pope John Paul,” he said. “I think that it is a sign that the Holy Father is not a cold, disembodied intellect, but a true man of God who wants to minister to and shepherd God’s people.” †