This is the chair that Pope Francis will use when he celebrates a "simple weekday Mass" with 20,000 people at Madison Square Garden during his US visit later this month.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan revealed the chair at the New York concert and sporting arena: he described the wooden chair as “very simple, with no designs,” according with the wishes of the Pope. It was built by immigrant day labourers from the Don Bosco Workers, Inc. in Port Chester, New York.
“The chair is very important in Catholic imagination,” Cardinal Dolan said. “It is a great symbol of unity and the teaching authority the Pope has."
More details of the Mass, which will be celebrated on September 25, were revealed along with the chair. Pope Francis will use the same chalice Pope Paul VI used when he celebrated Mass in the Yankee Stadium in 1965. It is currently on display at St. Joseph’s Seminary. Cardinal Dolan said the Pope will also carry a pastoral staff that is a replica of one used in New York by Paul VI, John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
The simple ciboria will be the same design as those used for Pope Benedict XVI’s Mass at Yankee Stadium. Their lids have a commemorative inscription and the sides bear the papal coat of arms and the seal of the archdiocese. As in 2008, they will be given to New York parishes after the visit.
More than 200 permanent deacons from the archdiocese and the dioceses of Brooklyn and Rockville Centre will be deployed throughout Madison Square Garden as eucharistic ministers. They will be assisted by 150 volunteers from groups including the Knights of Columbus, Knights of Malta, Knights of the Holy Sepulchre and Ancient Order of Hibernians.
Father Ernest said immigrant women from the Obreros Unidos Mission in Yonkers are embroidering the altar linens and purificators.
Father Matthew Ernest, director of the archdiocesan Office of Liturgy, told Catholic News Service, that some of the liturgical options selected “will make it more like a simple weekday Mass”, including eliminating the Gloria and the Creed and using only one reading before the Gospel.
Father Ernest said the first reading will be in Spanish, the Gospel will be sung in English, and Pope Francis will offer the second eucharistic prayer in Latin. He is expected to preach the homily in English and Spanish. Intercessions will be made in English, Spanish, Polish, Gaelic, German Tigrinya and Italian.
The Pope will concelebrate the Mass with cardinals, bishops from the New York province and an as-yet-undetermined number of local priests. Other participants include “faithful parishioners” who represent communities or ministries and seminarians studying at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, New York, it was revealed.
“The seminarians will be the servers and, as you can imagine, they’re thrilled,” Father Ernest said. “We’re putting all the seminarians to work. They’re not simply attending the event. Some are singing, some are serving, some will direct traffic in the halls.”
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