Despite obstacles, Connecticut teens make it to youth rally with Pope Benedict

By Lois Fusco

ENFIELD, Conn. – The prayers of many of the 550 teenagers from the Archdiocese of Hartford did not go unanswered on Saturday, April 19. Even as an Arizona bus company’s error nearly dashed their dreams, members of various youth groups and four high schools throughout the archdiocese, as well as their chaperons and spiritual leaders, held on to their faith.

Gathered at sunrise at St. Martha Church in Enfield, with no buses in sight, the 42 members of a town-wide Catholic youth group, organized two years ago by Father Daniel McElheron, prayed the rosary, as seven adults made frantic calls for assistance.

The group was supposed to be headed to St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y., for a youth rally with Pope Benedict XVI. At least two students had returned home from college for the weekend to join the Enfield contingent.

The failure of the buses to arrive spread disappointment throughout the archdiocese, from Enfield to as far away as Waterbury. But nearly four hours later, the prayers of the Enfield youth were answered as a local school bus driver, Tim Lamay, arrived from Smyth Bus Inc.

With just two-and-one-half hours remaining to get to the seminary, 120 miles away, before the gates were locked, “It was as if God had cleared the highways,” said adult chaperon Kathy Thomson of Holy Family Church.

When bus company President Richard Smyth was contacted by one of the chaperones at 10:30 that morning after three hours of prayers, regrouping and frantic appeals to others, he realized, he said, “This was an extraordinary need so I did everything I could to help.”

Although not Catholic himself, Smyth has long been associated with Catholic entities. His company has served for decades as Enfield’s school bus company for both public and Catholic schools, and in a previous business, he worked for the area’s Catholic cemeteries. “It’s always been more than just a job to me. I enjoy helping others,” Smyth said.

But the challenges did not stop there. Because the school bus was not one of the ones originally scheduled to transport the group and because it would arrive so late, Lamay had to park at Yonkers Raceway one-and-a-half miles away. A second school bus transported them to the seminary just before the gates closed. Later, they chose to walk back rather than face the six-block wait to board a shuttle.

One of the group’s adult leaders, Father Robert Villa of Holy Family Church, said that everything happens for a reason. Although situated behind the bleachers without a view of the stage, the group’s faith and effort were rewarded when they got an up-close look at the pontiff as he drove by them not 20 feet away in his popemobile with the windows open.

“We saw him very clearly. I couldn’t believe he was coming our way,” said Michele Chenard, a 16-year-old from Holy Family who was one of those lucky enough to make it to Yonkers.

“Had we gone to Rome, we wouldn’t have gotten as close,” said Thomson who was celebrating her birthday on Saturday. “Nothing will top this birthday. It will be the celebration I always remember,” she said.

Thomson did get to hear a chorus of “Happy Birthday” – in German – sung by the crowd to the pontiff. What she saw on the jumbo screens that had been set up in the field was a humble man who was really enjoying his time with the sea of youth that surrounded him.

“You could see it in his eyes,” the MassMutual employee said. Thomson added that Pope Benedict listened attentively and made eye contact with everyone who presented to him. “It’s one (story) for the grandchildren,” she said, and other adult chaperones agreed.

For Father Villa, seeing the pontiff was the highlight of his ministry, but what surprised him, he said, was how the youth embraced him. The native of Puerto Rico noted that as soon as Pope Benedict reached the stage, silence fell over the field.

“They seemed to get so much from seeing him,” Father Villa said. The teenagers waved yellow and white bandanas as the pontiff arrived, interrupting his 25-minute speech several times with their applause. On the trip home, Father Villa said he heard many of the teens call it “the best bus ride ever,” indifferent to the fact that they originally had been scheduled to ride coach.

As for the buses, no one seems to know what happened, although Charter Demand did accept responsibility, according to one highly placed source who has asked not to be identified. Only about half of the 550 youths from the Hartford Archdiocese who had been scheduled actually made it to New York on Saturday, joining 35,000 or so others who attended the youth rally.

Despite the obstacles, Chenard said she would do it again. Father Villa did just that. After returning to Enfield at 1 a.m., he was right back on a bus to New York at dawn. He had been one of the priests invited to the Bronx on Sunday to serve Communion to the crowds at Yankee Stadium.