Video: The Pope Arriving Via Motorcade

Meaghan Byrnes, our Editor-at-Large, was able to capture some video of the pope arriving via motorcade this afternoon at The Catholic University of America.

Small Law School Crowd relaxes in shade

Attendance at “Rock The Pope” has under whelmed expectation. About 100 students are lounging in the grass on either side of the dividing line between the north and south lawn of the law school.

Most are taking the opportunity to sunbathe and nap in the mild weather and ample sun.

“There were even less here during the mass” said Sophomore Jillian Anderson.

A jumobo-tron, set up to broadcast the papal mass, the movie “Sister Act” and the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI on campus is currently showing a graphic of benedict with the title “Christ our Hope,” which is the overarching theme of Benedicts visit to the United States.

Occasionally organizers and staff begin a chant of “the pope is coming” followed by hoots from the smattering of attendants. Arrivals from the papal mass are expected to trickle in as the day moves toward the moment of Benedict’s arrival.

-Ben Newell

CUA All-Night Adoration

Catholic University students are praying throughout the night in adoration for the pope’s visit to the university tomorrow. Events for “Rock the Pope” on the lawn of the law school start at 9 a.m. Mass at National’s Stadium will be televised, followed by Sister Act and performances by student a capella groups Take Note and Redline.

Pictures from the adoration can also be viewed here.

Stolen Vehicle on John McCormack

Security around Catholic University was tested today when DC police officers and Secret Service discovered that a stolen vehicle had been parked on John McCormack Road, which borders the west side of campus. This afternoon students reported watching authorities with bomb sniffing dogs inspect the vehicle and even take fingerprints off the door handle. In the end it seems like there was no threat, but the police are seriously looking into every threat there is.

Students!! Remember John McCormack, while currently open to traffic, is closed for parking. You can park in the DuFour Lot further down John McCormack road.

Catholic University Welcomes Pope on YouTube

A ten minute video posted on YouTube welcomes the pontiff to CUA. It features Father O’Connell and the CUA Cheerleaders, among many others.

Benedict Benefits Brookland’s Brooks

While Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the Basilica may have been a traffic issue for some in the Brookland community, restaurants like Colonel Brook’s Tavern at 9th & Monroe were bustling with spectators leaving campus. At dinnertime, the line was out the door. (Picture and info courtesy of editor at large Meaghan Byrnes).

The great thing about blogging, you can get away with cheesy headlines like this one.

From Our Foreign Corespondent…

J. Peter Donald, a CUA junior, writes us from Belgium:

“Like many other CUA students who are abroad I won’t see the Holy Father today at the Basilica of the National Shrine or tomorrow when he travels back to our campus to address Catholic educators. Sure we have had a great experience abroad, but we will not have the once in a lifetime opportunity to welcome him to our university.

This blog may be better than “TV broadcasts or newspapers”, and it may have been plugged by the Washington Post but, seriously, go see the real thing. So, if you’re around campus, sitting in your room reading this – RIGHT NOW - get out and cheer on the Pope. Catholic or not, these opportunities don’t come around every day – don’t let this one pass you up.”

POPEATCUA.com welcomes students’ thoughts on the papal visit, and aims to serve as a time capsule for this once in a lifetime experience. To share your thoughts with us, e-mail news@cuatower.com.

Anti-Church Protestors Arrive

Along Harewood Road, among people waiting to greet the pope, protestors are demonstrating against the Church.

 They were carrying signs saying things such as, “Roman Catholicism is of the devil, it will send you to Hell.” They were also voicing their opinions from a megaphone.

 “Jesus does not have a personal relationship with you, you need to have a personal relationship with the living God with not a personal relationship with your priest, not with somebody, but with the living God whose name is Jesus Christ,” the protestor said.

 The group declined to answer questions saying, “You want answers, look in your Bible.”

 The men were arguing with other people awaiting the pope’s arrival. A security guard asked not to interact with the protestors.

 -Field Report by Justine Garbarino, Assistant News Editor of The Tower

Picture of the Decked Out Great Room of the Pryzbyla Center

This is a picture of the Great Room of the Pryzbyla Center, where Pope Benedict XVI will address Catholic educators.

Pope Will Bless Keane Hall

From The Chronicle of Higher Education:

During a visit to Catholic University tomorrow, Pope Benedict XVI will bless a building that—let’s be frank—only an architectural historian could love.

Known until now as Keane Hall, the structure is a 50-year-old example of the stripped-down historicism that was popular on many campuses as architects tried to blend new buildings in with their older neighbors. Keane, which originally housed the physics department, is one of a pair of buildings that flank the university’s neo-Romanesque 1928 library and face the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, a Byzantine-style church that was begun in 1920 and opened in 1959—and that has Modernist overtones itself.

The Pope’s blessing is not an aesthetic judgment, however. Keane is now being renovated to house the John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, a graduate school of theology affiliated with both Catholic University and the Pontifical Lateran University, in Rome. The makeover, planned by Little Diversified Architectural Consulting, involves gutting the 35,000-square-foot building and replacing all of its mechanical systems. When the project is completed, the building will have four classrooms, a 120-seat auditorium, and offices, according to the university.

The building will also have a new name, McGivney Hall, after the Rev. Michael J. McGivney, who founded the Knights of Columbus in 1882. The organization gave the university $8-million to help pay for the renovation.

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