'Twas The Night Before . . .

This series of Blogs began with the August 9th entry. If you missed the previous, you might want to back up and get caught up.

Friday, September 18, 1987!

The time had come!

Late afternoon Pope John Paul II arrived at Detroit Metropolitan Airport.

The Papal Visit was underway.

After proper greetings and welcomes from the appropriate civic and religious leaders, John Paul was whisked off by helicopter to the campus of Sacred Heart Major Seminary. There he first greeted and met with faculty and students before being taken away for a bit to get refreshed and probably get a bite to eat as well.

Meantime, ticketed guests were arriving at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral where the Pontiff would arrive shortly to lead a prayer service and speak his first official words in Detroit. That would be his final appearance for the day.

I would be a part of the gathering at the Cathedral, joining clergy from around the Archdiocese, most traveling that evening by buses, leaving cars in designated parking spots so as to keep the traffic around the Cathedral area reduced and manageable.

Service over - back to those buses and back to our cars and then back home.

The next day there would be a Papal Visit to Hamtramck, then a public appearance at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit and a meeting with the Deacons in the old Ford Auditorium and finally on to Pontiac and the Silverdome and the Mass.

Meantime, on this night before, I was home, safe and sound and quiet - at least 

until . . . the phone rang.

"Washington calling!"

It was one of my newly acquired Secret Service friends. And he had a special task for me and I had to get on it ASAP - like in the next minute or two before we hung up.

He needed me to name one of my ministers or co-workers who already had security clearance, someone who could get deeper clearance before the end of the night. And whomever I named could not even know of the deeper clearance process at least until I got word that he or she was fully cleared. Then I could reveal what had happened.

And the matter at hand requiring such action?

The Vice-President of the United States, George H.W. Bush, was coming to the Mass and he was bringing with him several staff members and they would be sharing one of the suites and many of them were Catholics and wanted to receive Communion.

Someone had to be designated to go exclusively to that suite bringing Communion and that someone had to have the highest security clearance.

And, no, I did not name myself!

As momentous as that opportunity might have been, I was not budging from my position. See, because I had a strong say in ticketing and seating, I had placed myself on the podium, right next to the pulpit (ambo) and directly across from the altar and the seat of His Holiness, John Paul II.

I was not moving!

But as luck would have it, one of my mezzanine level team was a military chaplain, active with the National Guard. He should already have a healthy level of clearance and he would be working right nearby where needed. So he got named.

And he got cleared.

And the next morning, Saturday, September 19, 1987, he got a call from me informing him of what had transpired the night before and of the special assignment he would be fulfilling that afternoon.

And very soon it would be time for all of us to spring into action.

Still more! - so please come back!

Meantime, Keep Praying . . . and Stay Safe!