Photo by Luis Torres ’16 – Brophy senior Eduardo Luna ’16 recently saw the Pope on his inaugural visit to the United States.
By Luis Torres ’16
THE ROUNDUP
For the first time in seven years, a papal visit took place in the United States and at least one Brophy student was there to witness it on the east coast.
Eduardo Luna ’16 was that student.
“I took a summer course at the University of Notre Dame and my roommate happened to be from Philadelphia. He goes to St. Joseph’s Prep, a Jesuit high school there,” Luna said.
Luna’s friend had an extra ticket and an open home to receive him in order to see the Pope on Sept. 26.
“All the roads were closed. We had to take the subway there. Then we walked two to three miles, got past security, walked through the crowds and more security checkpoints,” Luna said. “We waited nine hours to see him pass by. There was madness everywhere. It was kind of like a concert with jumbotrons all over the place.”
Aside from the ecstatic crowd and the overwhelming presence of security, Pope Francis’ message of family was Luna’s biggest take away.
“He wasn’t just representing the minorities, but representing all of humanity and how everyone has family. His main focus was keeping families together whether relating to immigration, divorce or war,” Luna said.
In regard to what Brophy does and what Pope Francis has called us to do, Luna said, “We cover a lot of the things Pope Francis mentioned, like immigration with the Kino Border Initiative and helping the youth through Loyola Project.”
Luna said he sees connections between what Pope Francis calls people to do and what Brophy students do.
“One thing we should focus on that Pope Francis mentioned was helping out the elderly. We do plenty to help the youth but not the elderly,” he said.
Mr. Paul Fisko, Assistant principal for ministry, said that Pope Francis “is so good at calling us out on behaviors that make us not like Christ, not inclusive.”
“Brophy expects us to be a person for others.” Mr. Fisko said. “My hope is that Pope Francis has made that ‘cool’ and ‘the thing’ to do. I hope Brophy students and teachers are reminded that it is cool to be there for others,” he said.
