Young people wait all day for Pope

Pilgrims use tarps, string, flags and towels to stake out their territory at Exhibition Place

By CHRISTINE BOYD AND GRAEME SMITH, The Globe and Mail
Friday, July 26, 2002

"I love you, Papa!" screamed a hoarse male voice, while nearby, another young woman collapsed onto a friend's shoulder weeping and shouting, "There's the Pope!"

Miguel Garcia, 14, from California, blasted off three long hoots on a red plastic trumpet -- not something he'll do when the Popemobile rolls past the nearby chain-link fence, he said.

"He's been shot twice, so we won't do it then. . . . But I'm happy, I'm so happy. I might even cry."

Long before the Pope made his first public appearance for World Youth Day, a late-afternoon welcoming ceremony at Toronto's Exhibition Place, the Roman Catholic pilgrims staked out spots against the fence near the stage.

They arrived in the hazy early morning, defining their territory in the parking lot with a plethora of makeshift markers: tarps, newspapers, towels, bags, and giant flags.

Early arrivals tried to defend the space they'd reserved for their friends as the area grew more crowded, fencing off their areas with string, chains of scarves, or lines of people holding hands.

Joseph Mastrangelo, 19, from Texas, packed his bag at 6 a.m. with bottled water and a Bible. He leaned against a fence near the stage for hours, watching arrivals.

"It's all worth it," Mr. Mastrangelo said. "So I stand in this parking lot all day. Compared to him [the Pope], our sacrifice is so petty. If we can't do that, we're bad Catholics."

A young group from Indiana bought tarps from nearby vendors to mark the prime real estate they hoped to preserve.

"We should pray, 'Dear Lord, let us keep our space,' " said a member of the group, Angie Dekoninck, 16.

As the sun beat down, some people kicked soccer balls, flew kites, tossed footballs and danced to the bands on the main stage. Others clustered in the shade to talk quietly, trade names and numbers or sleep.

The buzzing descent of the helicopter shortly after 3:30 p.m. snapped everyone to attention. Soon great hordes raced back and forth across the pavement, the slightest suggestion of a papal sighting enough to trigger a stampede.

Finally, the Pope began his slow journey to the main stage, riding in the Popemobile down a long corridor marked by chain-link fences, the crowd pressed dozens deep on either side.

Some waved crosses or flags, while others chanted fervently "John Paul II, we love you! John Paul II, we love you!"

Pat Hain from Delaware, in her late 40s, leaned against the wire long after the procession had moved on, quivering with emotion.

"He's our shepherd, he's our great shepherd. . . . This is the greatest experience I've ever had."

Robyn Ferguson, 18, from Ottawa, was one of the many pilgrims who perched on a friend's shoulders, snapping photographs from less than three metres away.

"It was really enlightening to be able to see him. Wow! Wow!"

As the Pope finally began to speak, the masses grew silent, some clustered around radios and others intently watching the video screens that were peppered throughout the site, cheering whenever he paused.

Many in the crowd wept openly.

Emmanuel Arches, 33, a Filipino who works in New Jersey, wore a hip plaid hat and a wooden cross flung nonchalantly over his shoulders. But as the Pope's words rolled over the crowd, he pressed palms together and wiped tears from his eyes.

"When you see him, you cannot help but pray, pray for myself, pray for my loved ones, pray for him also. . . . It's the closest I can be to God."

Goosebumps broke out spontaneously up Jennifer O'Connell's arms as she recalled her first glimpse of the Pope, back in 1984 while he was boating in Ottawa.

"I swear, he looked right at me and smiled, full of love. . . . Seeing him, I get goosebumps. Today, I'm going to cry tears of joy and happiness."

Gloria Puruntatame, 25, patted her stomach -- three months pregnant, but she hasn't felt a kick or cramp since she began her journey from northern Australia to see the Pope.

"Since I travelled, I haven't felt anything . . . no pain, none at all. I pray to him . . . and he protects my baby."

Even as some pilgrims swooned with excitement, others were dropping from heat exhaustion, dehydration, allergic reactions and other maladies.

Captain Rob Bygrave, on patrol with a cart full of water bottles for the Toronto Fire Services, said not many people needed medical assistance until after the Pope arrived.

"It's going nuts -- we've got hundreds of people lined up at the hospital," he said. "A lot of the kids wanted front-row seats and they wouldn't leave them for food, they wouldn't leave them for water."

But the pilgrims were blessed with few injuries, he said -- mostly minor scrapes or bruises.

Mathilde Picot, 18, from France, was one of them. Limping toward the exit, her sprained left arm wrapped from wrist to elbow in an elastic bandage, she shrugged: she was pushed on a crowded TTC bus, but a it was small sacrifice to be near the Pope, she said.

"He's so courageous, to be here with all the young of the world. . . . I am so happy."