Anything for a peek at the pope

When they heard that the leader of the world’s 1.5 billion Catholics would be spending six days in the United States at the end of September, a number of Orange County Catholics were hoping to get as close to Pope Francis as possible.

But Lesa Truxaw will admit she was a bit apprehensive about making the trip to the East since she has a fear of crowds. She also would have to cut short her vacation with her husband.

To make the right decision, the director of worship for the Diocese of Orange consulted with a priest friend, who told Truxaw this would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He finally asked her: “Will you regret it if you don’t go?”

“The Catholic guilt worked,” she said with a laugh after her return this week.

So Truxaw, a parishioner of Christ our Savior Catholic Parish in Santa Ana, flew to Washington, D.C., on Sept. 29 and stayed with a friend who lives there.

On the morning of the hoped-for papal sighting, the two rode a Metro train to the area of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the University Mall at The Catholic University of America, where Pope Francis would celebrate Mass and canonize Junipero Serra. Serra was a Spanish-born Franciscan friar credited with starting nine Spanish missions in California in the 1700s, including Mission San Juan Capistrano.

Truxaw, her friend and another visiting girlfriend waited in the security line for an hour and a half. The check-in process went smoothly, she said. After being screened, she was asked to turn on her cellphone to ensure that the device was a phone.

The day was warm and organizers had arranged for sandwich vendors and water stations for the anticipated crowd.

Visitors arrived in their best clothes, Truxaw said. Women wore dresses and men suited up.

“I was really taken with the fact that people had this sense of going someplace special,” she said. “There really wasn’t that pushing and shoving to see him. There was a sense of respectfulness and being united in prayer.”

Truxaw, who said she was fortunate to get a seat, sat next to two Spanish-speaking women from the Archdiocese of Washington. While waiting a few hours for the pope to descend the basilica steps, Truxaw said, she visited with priest friends who had found seats in the California diocese section, including Msgr. Michael McKiernan from Mission Basilica San Juan Capistrano, as the church building and parish at the site in Orange County is known.

Moments later, the crowd grew excited. The pope’s motorcade could be spotted zipping around the grounds.

Truxaw caught a glimpse of the pontiff and watched him go inside the basilica.

“It was so obvious that he was enjoying himself, waving to people,” she said. “When the pope arrived, it was electric. I didn’t anticipate that awesome feeling. You felt that holiness of the Holy Father and it was pervasive in the group. People were very kind and friendly. This was a sense of pilgrimage.”

Truxaw said she was most excited to watch the canonization of Junipero Serra, hear the litany of the saints being sung and listen to the dialogue between Pope Francis and cardinals, the senior officials who have been elevated to their positions by a pope.

“I have worshipped in Serra Chapel at Mission Basilica [in San Juan Capistrano], and just to be connected in that way was really strong for me and very exciting,” Truxaw said.

The experience of attending a papal Mass also was special for JSerra Catholic High School senior Joey Santoro.

Santoro said the school’s administrative staff sent out a message to the students that anyone interested in making the trip could apply. The staff selected students who displayed maturity in a spiritual life, and Santoro was one of 16 students and three faculty members who traveled to see the pope. They paid their own way.

“I was blessed enough to get it,” said Santoro, a San Clemente resident. “I was really excited to see the pope and the canonization. It was such an honor to be there.”

Santoro said he and his classmates were able to hear Pope Francis address the crowd from the Speaker’s Balcony on Capitol Hill on Sept. 24. He said after Francis’ appearance on the West Front of the Capitol, he was able to stand where the pope blessed the thousands of people on the Mall.

A large banner bearing Serra’s image that hung down the side of the basilica was shipped back to the high school and now is displayed in JSerra’s gymnasium.

“Every time I come back, I can look at that and remember that I was there when it happened,” Santoro said as he stood in the gym after his return and glanced at the blue and gold cloth. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment.”