Cheering crowds, Catholic school children and a high school band greeted Pope Francis as he landed on an American Airlines plane bearing papal and American flags in a private hangar at John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) on Thursday, Sept. 24.
Though not an official part of the papal schedule, Brooklyn diocesan representatives arranged for clergy, religious and laity to be present as the Holy Father arrived in Jamaica on his way to lead evening prayers at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Manhattan.
On the third day of his U.S. trip, he briefly met five Catholic schoolchildren, who presented him with a spiritual bouquet, and heard the band from Xaverian H.S., Bay Ridge, play “New York, New York.”
Escorted by Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, the pontiff blessed several members of the crowd, including 12-year-old Julia Bruzzese, a seventh grader from St. Bernadette School, Dyker Heights, who has been confined to a wheelchair since June. She has been clinically diagnosed with Lyme disease.
It was an emotional moment for the young girl, and her family.
“He came over to me,” Julia said afterward, her voice still shaking. “I kissed his ring and he put his hands on my forehead and he looked at me. I feel like a miracle will happen. I do. I feel it. I feel that he brought the Holy Spirit to me.”
Standing at her side, her father Enrico said, “It was such a wonderful moment.”
“Sister Joan made it all possible,” said her mom, Josephine. “She’s been with us every step of the way.”
The night before the pope’s arrival, the Bruzzese family received a call from their daughter’s principal, Sister Joan DiRienzo, M.P.F., that Julia was invited to see the pope at the airport.
Sister Joan, who credits the Holy Spirit with giving her the courage, left a message for Msgr. Jaime Gigantiello, diocesan vicar for development, late Wednesday night to see if there was any way Julia could meet the pope.
“It isn’t in my character to ask for things,” Sister Joan said. “But it wasn’t for me, it was for Julia.”
Having known Julia since she was four, Sister Joan says she’s a “bright, intelligent young woman,” who was elected first vice president of the Student Council last May. She has not been able to attend school since early June.
“I thought that if Julia could see the Holy Father, it might bring some joy to her life,” Sister Joan added.
Msgr. Gigantiello and John Heyer, development officer for Futures in Education, both of whom helped organize the papal greeting at JFK, found a place for the family.
“We had been having such a bad week,” Enrico said. “Then my phone rang and it was Sister Joan with the good news. The fact that Sister Joan thought of us was a blessing.
“The fact that the Holy Father touched Julia and blessed Julia is already a miracle,” he said.
Last May, the young girl fell ill with wide-ranging symptoms including loss of feeling and ability to move her legs. She has been to five hospitals and undergone various tests and treatments, but she is still unable to walk and needs constant assistance.
“Meeting the pope has strengthened my faith tenfold,” Enrico said. “Just in the way it happened, how everything worked out for us.
“We want Julia to get better. We believe we’ll get there, one step at a time.”
As a result of the media coverage following Julia’s blessing from Pope Francis, the family received a telephone call regarding a Lyme disease specialist in Albany who has offered to treat Julia for free.
