c. 2008 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ After some discussion, it was decided: The pope would play centerfield.

Pope Benedict XVI had originally been positioned in the infield for upcoming Mass at the Washington Nationals’ new ballpark, but organizers figured they would have room for about 5,000 more pilgrims should the pontiff move.

The Archdiocese of Washington says 45,000 people will attend the April 17 Mass, the only public event scheduled during Benedict’s three days in Washington. The archdiocese has been flooded with some 100,000 requests for tickets.

Benedict will also speak at a youth rally in New York April 19, and celebrate Mass for 80,000 at New York’s Yankee Stadium on April 20.

The Washington Mass will provide the pope with a grand stage _ in this case, a 50-foot custom-made sanctuary _ on which to address the nation. And every detail, from the tiniest medallion on the Communion chalice to the last note of the processional hymn, has been painstakingly planned. Newly designed vestments made from 100 percent raw silk have been ordered from Europe. Five choirs of more than 500 singers are practicing their chants and crescendos.

An enormous tarp bearing the Archdiocese of Washington’s coat or arms will protect the infield from being trampled by pilgrims’ feet. “That’s sacred ground,” archdiocesan spokeswoman Susan Gibbs said with a laugh.

Officially, Benedict is coming to America to mark the 200th anniversary of the establishment of the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and the dioceses of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Bardstown (later Louisville), Ky.

But Catholic leaders also hope the pope can inspire a U.S. church in which one of three adherents leaves the faith, according to a recent survey, and in which the effects of a costly and embarrassing clergy sex abuse scandal still linger.

“We should make the presence of St. Peter, through his successor Pope Benedict, the occasion for a new springtime, a new Pentecost,” said Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the Vatican’s U.S. ambassador. Catholics view the pope as the heir of St. Peter, the “rock” on which Jesus said his church would be built.

In keeping with the theme of a “new Pentecost,” archdiocesan officials have decided the April 17 Mass should be dedicated to the Holy Spirit. That means the Pope’s red silk vestments, symbolizing a Pentecostal fire, Gospel readings and music (“O, Holy Spirit By Whose Breath), will reflect the Spirit’s influence on the church.

It may seem daunting to plan such a huge undertaking with barely five months’ notice. But taking cues from Masses celebrated by Benedict’s predecessor, the late Pope John Paul II, in St. Louis and New York, has helped organizers keep things in perspective.

“We tried to keep track of the fact that though it’s a big event, it’s also very much what we do every Sunday, just on a very big scale,” said Thomas Stehle, director of music for the papal liturgy. “It’s just a very big group of people getting together to pray.”

In that group will be 1,200 priests, 400 deacons, 250 bishops and archbishops, and VIPs like opera stars Placido Domingo and Denyce Graves _ in addition to the 45,000 people in the audience.

Chief among the hurdles for organizers is finding a way to provide Holy Communion for all those people in the 20 minutes the Vatican has slated for the sacrament. Each of the ballpark’s sections, with 700 people, is as big as a large church. But unlike a church, the “the stadium is not really built for the movement of people,” said Monsignor Mark Knestout, director of the office of worship for the Archdiocese of Washington. “The stadium is built for people sitting and watching.”

Knestout said he’s been working 12-hour days nearly seven days a week planning the event. “My life doesn’t exist,” he joked. He’s donned a hardhat to survey the nearly completed stadium, and pored over a 20-page Vatican document that details how the service should be performed.

Knestout’s brother, Monsignor Barry Knestout, oversees planning of the outfield sanctuary, including a specially commissioned altar and papal throne designed by students at Catholic University.

Under Vatican rules, the vessels used to distribute Communion may not hold more than 150 sanctified wafers. That means 300 Communion ministers must fan out from the altar to the stadium’s upper deck. Knestout said he’s relying on an army of volunteers and ushers to move people along.

Despite the grandness of the Mass, Stehle said music was chosen with familiarity in mind, so the crowd can sing along. In keeping with the vast diversity of Catholic music, he said, there will be Gregorian chants from the Middle Ages and tunes written in just the last year.

Still, all the planning in the world can’t change one unpredictable factor: the weather. If it rains, said Knestout, “people will get wet.”

But he’s placing hope in high places.

“I’m trusting the Lord will provide us with a nice day for the Holy Father and the people of Washington,” Knestout said.

KRE/LF END BURKE850 words