Full disclosure: Today’s posts have no Shea Stadium, New York Mets or sports content at all. Loge13 readers and BlogsByFans.com brethren not interested in the Pope or Yankee Stadium: avert your eyes.
As we mentioned Saturday, Lady Kingman (a.k.a. the first freelance photojournalist in Loge13 history) was heading out to Yankee Stadium to see Pope Benedict XVI say Mass today. And she did a fantastic job.
Yes it’s Yankee Stadium and certainly this Pope is not everyone’s chalice of tea, but when the spiritual leader of one of the world’s biggest religions visits a doomed stadium in New York, Loge13 covers it. So what if the Pope bypassed Shea Stadium. That’s fine. Queens is already sacred ground. The Bronx needs all the papal assists it can get.
Lady Kingman left at 8:30 this morning, met my favorite aunt on the train and my favorite cousins at Penn Station. They also encountered a lost Deacon from Detroit and his wife (named John and Mary) and helped guide them up to the Bronx. It took over two hours to get into the stadium and through security. Lady Kingman ended up with very good seats, on the first level about 30 rows behind where first base would be, in Section 15. Here is the altar being prepped for Mass:
As you can see in this excellent wide shot, all the advertisements in Yankee Stadium were covered…except for the one for the 2008 All-Star Game.
Lady Kingman received a packet, which included the Mass schedule, the Catholic Digest magazine, a Papal handkerchief and even a rain poncho. Apparently, they ran out of these packets, so not everyone got them. Here is another shot of the altar, before the Pope’s arrival:
The pre-Pope festivities included a concert by Harry Connick, Jr:
Just before the Pope’s arrival, there was some quasi-liturgical dancing, at which point they released doves over the stadium:
And these dancers held symbolic doves over the altar:
Pope at Yankee Stadium - Complete Coverage:
Pope Benedict XVI at Yankee Stadium, Before Mass: Loge13 Roadtrip
Pope Benedict XVI Arrives At Yankee Stadium: Loge13 Roadtrip
Pope Benedict XVI Saying Mass At Yankee Stadium: Loge13 Roadtrip
Pope Benedict XVI Leaving Yankee Stadium: Loge13 Roadtrip
