ST. PAUL—The crowds were both blessing and blockade for seminarian Charles Fitzpatrick during a whirlwind trip to Washington D.C. and Philadelphia that he won in a raffle last spring at a house party for seminarians.
He traveled with 11 other seminarians and two priests to both cities with some hope of seeing Pope Francis.
He apologizes for his pictures, explaining that when Pope Francis went by in Washington, “I got pictures of the backs of deacons (all) trying to get out the door” to see the pope.
Deacon Fitzpatrick was with other seminarians in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception as the pope celebrated Mass on the basilica’s front steps.
In Philadelphia, he says, “There were so many people in front of me — I caught a glimpse of something white. It may have been the top of the popemobile.”
Although he missed getting close to Pope Francis, Deacon Fitzpatrick was blessed, he says, to have been invited to assist with the distribution of communion at both the canonization Mass in Washington, and the 4 p.m. Sunday Mass at the World Meeting of Families.
In D.C., he distributed communion inside the basilica, again far away from the Holy Father.
At the final Mass for the World Meeting of Families, Pope Francis celebrated Mass on the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Deacon Fitzpatrick and other Eucharistic ministers were directed to the other end of the event, to Logan Square.
That far-away moment proved to be his favorite.
The people in Logan Square were not expecting to be able to receive communion, he says.
“When we went out there, they were all very excited. I thought about the people’s hands (extended) to receive communion, and I thought about the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. I got a real, good feeling that that is why God called me (to the priesthood): to bring Jesus to the people and the people to Jesus.
“It was a really good moment,” he says.
Deacon Fitzpatrick came back to his Minnesota seminary with a positive attitude about all the crowds.
“People were really friendly,” he says. “Usually when it is that packed, people get testy, but that didn’t happen.”
Pope Francis, he adds, “seems a kind of a magnet. He draws the best out of people, and draws people to him.”