Backgrounder
prepared by
Department of Communications
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 Fourth Street NE · Washington, DC 20017
202-541-3200 · 202-541-3173 fax · www.usccb.org/comm
Music Will Fill the Air When Holy Father Visits
The guests attending the arrival and departure ceremonies at Kennedy Airport for Pope Benedict XVI when he comes to New York in April will witness the musical talents of 250 singers and musicians drawn from parishes and schools throughout the Diocese of Brooklyn.
For the arrival ceremony on Friday morning, April 18, the diocesan music ministry and the 46-member Xaverian High School Band of Bay Ridge will combine to provide a program of sacred and classical music, according to Charles A. Mallia, director of music for the Diocese.
In the musical renderings prior to the Holy Father's departure on Sunday evening, April 20, the 61-member Diocesan Vicariate Choir, the newly formed Diocesan High School Choir, numbering 50, the Diocesan Youth Choir, also recently formed and comprised of 67 third- to eighth-graders, will perform on the program. The high school musicians invited to play is the 22-member String Ensemble of St. Francis Prep, Fresh Meadows. The St. James Cathedral Basilica Brass Quartet will also perform.
When Pope Benedict arrives for the formal departure ceremony, he will hear the 319th Statue of Liberty Army Band play the National and Vatican Anthems.
Meanwhile, two youngsters have been selected to present flowers to the Holy Father when he alights from his flight to JFK from Washington on Friday morning. Kaitlin Karcher is an eighth-grade student at Our Lady of Grace School in Howard Beach and Christopher Jordan, is a fifth-grader at Divine Mercy Catholic Academy in Ozone Park. The school principals said they were chosen for the way they express their religious faith, their accomplishments as students and outside involvements.