There are just two weeks until Pope Francis arrives in New York City as part of his visit to the United States, and Fordham is making arrangements to get the University community as involved as possible.
The week begins with Masses of Anticipation on Sunday, Sept. 20 at 8 p.m. in the University Church at Rose Hill and 7 p.m. in the Pope Auditorium at Lincoln Center. These will be followed by ice cream socials for students and the University community.
In the days leading up to the pope’s visit, Fordham will be preparing “spiritually and pastorally” in every way it can, said Lito Salazar, SJ, executive director of campus ministry.
“We are encouraging daily and Sunday Mass homilists to consider invoking Pope Francis’ words or commenting on his global pastoral ministry whenever relevant to unpacking Scriptures at liturgical celebrations,” Father Lito said.
“In addition, the intentions of the pope and his visit have been and will continue to be in the intercessory prayers of the faithful. The Holy Hour devotion set for Mondays will have the same intention.”
Watch the pope live
On Thursday, Sept. 24, the day the pope travels from D.C. to New York, Fordham will live stream Pope Francis’ morning address to the U. S. Congress on all three campuses, beginning at 9:20 a.m.: the McGinley lobby at Rose Hill; Lowenstein 2nd floor plaza at Lincoln Center; and Room 228 at Westchester.
The pope’s address to the United Nations, which takes place Friday, Sept. 25 at 8:30 a.m., will also be live streamed from these locations.
In addition, students can enter into a lottery to win a ticket to that evening’s papal Mass at Madison Square Garden. The lottery can be found in the student tab at my.fordham.edu.
Students and community members will also have the opportunity to pray evening vespers along with the pope as he leads evening prayer at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Thursday, Sept 24. Beginning 6:45 p.m., the vespers will be streamed at University Church and Our Lady’s Chapel at Rose Hill and at Blessed Rupert Mayer, SJ Chapel at Lincoln Center.
Community service
On Saturday, Sept. 26, students are invited to participate in a community service project in honor of the pope’s visit. Participants will join Habitat for Humanity’s Pope Francis House in Yonkers to help construct homes
“Care for the poor and the marginalized is a central theme of Pope Francis’ papacy, and using our gifts and talents to care for the needs of others is something that’s part of Fordham’s identity as a Catholic and Jesuit school,” said Conor O’Kane, director of campus ministry at Rose Hill.
“The pope has an authenticity and spiritual freedom that resonates with our students,” O’Kane said. “His leadership and emphasis on what it means to be a person of faith in the world today is a question that’s relevant to all of our students. So his messages have been animating all that we say and do here [in campus ministry].”
Over the next two weeks, the University community can keep an eye out for papal experts from Fordham, who the Office of Communications has lined up to appear in the news. A full list of faculty experts and where they will be appearing is available here.
