Laura
04-20-2008, 01:49 PM
http://www.silive.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1208688318309320.xml&coll=1
Quiet blessings for special children
Island families attend as pope has intimate encounter with group of disabled children
Sunday, April 20, 2008
By LESLIE PALMA-SIMONCEK
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- "I think everyone was in tears," said Dinorah Niola of Great Kills, whose son, Ryan, 8, was one of the 50 disabled children who received a special blessing from Pope Benedict XVI in an intimate meeting yesterday in the chapel of St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers.
The pews in the seminary chapel face the center aisle, and the children all sat in the front row, 25 on the right and 25 on the left, said Anita Blasi of Westerleigh, who was there with her son Matthew, 12, who has developmental disabilities.
"He stopped and greeted every child, and he kissed my son," Ms. Niola said. "I just started to cry. I could not hold back." Ryan, 8, who attends a program at Mount Loretto in Pleasant Plains, has cerebral palsy and autism.
"He made sure he touched every child. Matthew got to shake his hand," Ms. Blasi said. "It was beautiful. He was a very genuine person, you could feel it. You could feel his presence."
In a brief speech, Pope Benedict told the children that "no matter what your challenges are, everyone is here for a purpose," Ms. Blasi said. "He said every child is valuable."
Ryan doesn't understand exactly who the pope is, but "he knew it was someone special," Ms. Niola said. "I tried to explain to him that this is next to God, you can't get any closer."
Another Islander, John Vuotto, an 18-year-old with Down syndrome, also was invited to the chapel blessing.
Fred and Janet Surrey did not receive an invitation for their daughters, Michele and Lauren, who suffer from Batten disease, a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder. But they were invited to stand in the hallway of the seminary as the pope walked by.
"We got to see him up very close," said Surrey, a Huguenot resident. "He was like 20 feet from us, but he didn't stop. I thought for sure he would come over but he didn't. But he gave everyone in the building an apostolic blessing, so we got our apostolic blessing."
Leslie Palma-Simoncek is the religion editor for the Advance. She may be reached at palma@siadvance.com. Visit her Beyond Beliefs Web log at blog.silive.com/beyondbeliefs.
© 2008 Staten Island Advance
© 2008 SILive.com All Rights Reserved.
Quiet blessings for special children
Island families attend as pope has intimate encounter with group of disabled children
Sunday, April 20, 2008
By LESLIE PALMA-SIMONCEK
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- "I think everyone was in tears," said Dinorah Niola of Great Kills, whose son, Ryan, 8, was one of the 50 disabled children who received a special blessing from Pope Benedict XVI in an intimate meeting yesterday in the chapel of St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers.
The pews in the seminary chapel face the center aisle, and the children all sat in the front row, 25 on the right and 25 on the left, said Anita Blasi of Westerleigh, who was there with her son Matthew, 12, who has developmental disabilities.
"He stopped and greeted every child, and he kissed my son," Ms. Niola said. "I just started to cry. I could not hold back." Ryan, 8, who attends a program at Mount Loretto in Pleasant Plains, has cerebral palsy and autism.
"He made sure he touched every child. Matthew got to shake his hand," Ms. Blasi said. "It was beautiful. He was a very genuine person, you could feel it. You could feel his presence."
In a brief speech, Pope Benedict told the children that "no matter what your challenges are, everyone is here for a purpose," Ms. Blasi said. "He said every child is valuable."
Ryan doesn't understand exactly who the pope is, but "he knew it was someone special," Ms. Niola said. "I tried to explain to him that this is next to God, you can't get any closer."
Another Islander, John Vuotto, an 18-year-old with Down syndrome, also was invited to the chapel blessing.
Fred and Janet Surrey did not receive an invitation for their daughters, Michele and Lauren, who suffer from Batten disease, a rare and fatal neurodegenerative disorder. But they were invited to stand in the hallway of the seminary as the pope walked by.
"We got to see him up very close," said Surrey, a Huguenot resident. "He was like 20 feet from us, but he didn't stop. I thought for sure he would come over but he didn't. But he gave everyone in the building an apostolic blessing, so we got our apostolic blessing."
Leslie Palma-Simoncek is the religion editor for the Advance. She may be reached at palma@siadvance.com. Visit her Beyond Beliefs Web log at blog.silive.com/beyondbeliefs.
© 2008 Staten Island Advance
© 2008 SILive.com All Rights Reserved.