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Being called to the principal’s office during the school year can cause angst even among the most mischievous students. But for those who typically demonstrate their best behavior, being summoned during the summer may be more daunting.
Fortunately for 24 well-behaved youngsters from four Catholic elementary schools in Harlem, such a phone call from the principal proved to be more pleasing than a splash in the pool.
The pupils learned they will represent their schools when Pope Francis visits Our Lady Queen of Angels School in East Harlem late in the afternoon on Sept. 25.
Dr. Timothy McNiff, superintendent of schools for the archdiocese, held a press conference at Our Lady Queen of Angels Aug. 20 to outline details of the papal visit to the East Harlem school located at 229 E. 112 St. The principals of the four participating schools and two students from each joined Dr. McNiff at the dais in a classroom. Afterward, a question-and-answer session was held, followed by one-on-one interviews.
“This school represents so many of our schools in that it’s a doorway out of poverty to so many recent immigrants,” Dr. McNiff said.
Benjamin Grassia, a fourth-grader at St. Paul’s School in East Harlem, said, “It’s going to be fun to meet the pope, because this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see him.” He plans to ask the Holy Father “if he misses Argentina,” as Benjamin’s parents are from there. The boy also shares the pope’s love of soccer and hopes the conversation segues into sports talk.
Farida Mintoumba, a fourth-grader at St. Charles Borromeo School, said she takes seriously the responsibility of representing her peers in welcoming the pope. To prepare, she’s been studying up on all things Pope Francis.
Farida will also speak French, “my language,” she said, to the pope. She said it is important to “just be yourself and just be happy” when meeting the Holy Father. “He’s my family, and he’s the whole world’s family in Christ.”
Essa Nahshal, a third-grader from St. Charles, already knows what he plans to ask the pope: “How did you survive with one lung?” Essa was referring to the partial removal of the pope’s right lung when he was diagnosed with pneumonia after falling gravely ill in 1957 at age 21.
Essa, who is Muslim, will also tell the pope an important fact about his school: “There are a lot of people who are like me in it—it’s not only Catholics.”
The principals also addressed the press and shared what special projects their schools are working on in conjunction with the papal visit. They are: Aleeya Francis, St. Charles Borromeo, 214 W. 142nd St.; Hope Mueller, St. Ann, 314 E. 110th St.; Dr. Joseph Muscente, St. Paul, 114 E. 118th St., and Joanne Walsh, Our Lady Queen of Angels.
Maziya Clemente, a fourth-grader at St. Ann’s School, East Harlem, has already rehearsed how a conversation with the pope might play out. “First, I would say, ‘It’s an honor.’ Second, I would say, ‘Why did you sell your motorcycle?’”
Her classmate, Noah Rodriguez, concedes he’s a bit nervous about the big meeting but will “just try to keep cool” in front of Pope Francis. Meanwhile, he’s been busy “practicing talking to very high in faith people.”
Emely Rodriguez, a third-grader at St. Paul’s, said the day she was told she gets to meet the pope she dreamed that same night about how it would go. Emely plans to ask the pope to pray for her entire class as a reminder to her peers “that the pope is caring about them and thinking about all of them.”
Nicholas Marronaro, a fourth-grader at Our Lady Queen of Angels, knows he is about to make history. “I take it really seriously because I’m representing the whole school,” he said. “It’s a big job.”
He wants the pope to know “that all the Catholic schools care for the environment,” just as he does. “It’s a big job, and he can’t do it by himself.”
Allison Reyes, a third-grader at Our Lady Queen of Angels, didn’t stop smiling during the press conference or when speaking with reporters afterward.
Allison admitted that both she and her father thought she was in trouble when the principal first notified the family. Come Sept. 25, “everybody’s going to cheer and say, ‘Wow,’…because we actually get to see the real Pope Francis,” she said.
She, too, is studying hard to properly prepare for the papal visit. In her research, she was surprised to learn “that he used to collect stamps—now he’s on the stamps.”
Allison is also prepared to answer questions from the pope. “I think he might ask me if I pray every night and every morning,” she said. “I will say, ‘Of course I do. I’m supposed to pray to God because He’s the one that I’ve kept in my heart all these days I’ve been born.”
