A once in a lifetime opportunity

Two staff members at Long Beach Catholic Regional School were granted the chance of a lifetime last week when Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky presented the school with four tickets to attend Pope Francis’ Central Park Procession last Friday.

“I think seeing him — who he is — he’s just such a humble man and his entire focus on being kind really makes you stop and think about how we need to really look after each other,” vice principal Marianne Carberry said, who attended the procession with a family member. “You need that responsibility. You really need to look after your brothers and sisters.”

Carberry and middle school social studies teacher Marie Palmieri were among 80,000 people that crowded Central Park for a glimpse of the world-famous leader of the Catholic Church, a man who they said strongly embodies the Christian message of taking care of your neighbors and the less fortunate.

As educators at a Catholic school, both women acknowledged that seeing the Pope in person allowed them a unique opportunity to bring his message of love into the classroom and instill it in their students.

Palmieri said that she had attempted to secure tickets on her own but had been unable to. Then on Wednesday, while sitting with her husband who had been admitted to South Nassau Communities Hospital, she got the call that Kaminsky’s office would be donating tickets to the school.

“I said yes right away,” she said. “My husband came home and I got to see the Pope, so it all worked out.”

Kaminsky came to deliver the tickets in person Thursday morning, which Carberry said was a meaningful gesture. “It was amazing, especially when he called on Wednesday because it was Yom Kippur and he took time out of his own holiday to talk to us,” she said.

Carberry said she left Long Beach on the 7:15 a.m. train Friday morning and waited close to three hours just to get through security into the Park. Pope Francis was scheduled to ride through later that afternoon on his way from Harlem to Madison Square Garden where he would celebrate mass that night before heading to Philadelphia. Despite the large crowds, Craberry said everyone waited patiently for Francis’ arrival.

“Peaceful is the word that keeps coming to mind,” she said.