Near the Pope

It’s not too often one gets a chance to travel to Ireland, let alone see the Pope.

For one Grafton family, that happened to be the case.

“It was not only a family vacation, it was a spiritual journey,” said Becky Kuss, who is a parishioner of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Grafton. “There were so many different highlights it’s hard keeping track of all of them.”

The family of four left for Dublin on Aug. 19 for the World Meeting of Families that was attended by more than half a million people.

Bishop Jeffery Haines of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee led the trip with 37 pilgrims.

When the group arrived, members had several days to explore the country, which involved taking a cruise along the Corrib River  and tours of Kylemore Abbey and Knock Shrine. They also visited the Cliffs of Moher, Bunratty Castle and the Clonmacnoise monastery.

“We got to see all of Ireland from east to west,” Kuss said.

On day six of the journey, the travelers saw the Pastoral Congress at the RDS Arena in Dublin. The day included workshops and speakers who lectured on the importance of families.

“One of the workshops was done by Fr. Leo Patalinghug, who is known as the cooking priest,” Kuss said. “He did a cooking demonstration the whole time while he was talking about families.”

Kuss’s children Rudy Jr., 17, and Lauren, 13, were able to meet other young people by playing soccer and at phone charging stations.

The following day was the Festival of Families at Croke Park. The evening included Riverdancing and music by country singer Nathan Carter, Italian singer Anrea Bocelli and Irish singer Daniel O’Donnell.

   
“It was basically the equivalent of the opening ceremony for the Olympics,” Kuss said.

The highlight of the night was when Pope Francis addressed the crowd about the importance of communication in families.

“He said the three most important things to tell your loved ones are ‘Please, thank you and I love you,’” Kuss said.

The Kuss family got a chance to be up close and personal with the Pope when he was traveling on the popemobile.

“When he drove by on the popemobile, I could’ve jumped in. That’s how close we were,” Kuss said “The calm went over you and there was so much excitement going on.”

On Sunday, the Holy Father gave the closing Mass for the World Meeting of Families in Phoenix Park.   

“There were really no words to describe it. It was breathtaking and inspiring,” Kuss said.

During the trip, there was tight security but the family never encountered any protesters.

The next World Meeting of Families will be in four years in Rome.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime event,” Kuss said. “But if the Pope holds another Meeting of Families in Australia, we’ll consider going again.”