Couple will see second pope

One American couple who will see a German pope celebrate Mass in the U.S. on April 20 have already seen a non-German pope celebrate Mass in Germany.

In 1980, Michael deMayo was a young infantry lieutenant stationed in Fulda, West Germany, when Pope John Paul II visited there early in his papacy.

Mr. deMayo and his wife, Kim, who was six months pregnant with their eldest son, went with friends to a papal Mass held outside Fulda's cathedral.

"We were in a huge park across the road," Mr. deMayo remembered. "It was just mobbed, full of worshippers. We weren't really close -- probably 200 meters away -- but, after Mass, the Pope got in his popemobile and rode around the crowd."

Coming home

Two decades later, Mr. deMayo retired from the Army as a lieutenant colonel, and the family moved back to their hometown of Mohawk in the Albany Diocese. They are members of Blessed Sacrament parish.

Mohawk is where husband and wife each trace their roots back to the mid-18th century.

Now a financial advisor for Smith Barney, Mr. deMayo commutes between Mohawk and northern Virginia, working half-time in each place, while Mrs. deMayo stays home with their youngest daughter. The couple have three other grown children.

Souvenir

Mr. deMayo told The Evangelist that he still carries his ticket to the 1980 papal Mass in his wallet and shows it off to friends, but he added that he and his wife were eager to win new tickets to the Mass Pope Benedict XVI will celebrate in Yankee Stadium next month.

"We'll take all the blessings we can get!" he joked.

Learning that they had indeed won tickets to the papal Mass left the couple "pretty amazed."

Expectations

Mr. deMayo mused that this event would be somewhat different from his first experience.

"There's going to be a lot more attention paid to security," he noted. In Germany, "I don't remember any checkpoints or anything; this is going to clearly be a very controlled event from start to finish."

However, he noted, "I expect it to be as inspiring and uplifting as the first one. There's a pretty unbroken line from [St.] Peter to this pope."

(Michael deMayo IV, who was in utero when the deMayos saw Pope John Paul II in Germany, is now a logistics planner for Honeywell Corp., working in Iraq. He previously served there with the 101st Airborne Division. Mr. deMayo, the oldest of ten sons, has a brother who was taught theology during priesthood formation in Rome by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became Pope Benedict XVI. Rev. Martin deMayo is now a parochial vicar at St. Mark's Church in Stratford, Conn.)

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