Comments on: Remembering A Different Boston, 30 Years After Pope’s Historic Visit http://www.wbur.org/2009/10/01/papal-visit WBUR is Boston's NPR News Station, featuring NPR news and programs such as Car Talk, On Point, Here & Now, Only A Game and Radio Boston. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:31:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Teamojesus88 http://www.wbur.org/2009/10/01/papal-visit/comment-page-1#comment-30548 Teamojesus88 Fri, 18 Feb 2011 22:12:00 +0000 http://www.wbur.org/?p=6825#comment-30548 Karmas a bitch. Karmas a bitch.

]]> By: Dave in Maynard http://www.wbur.org/2009/10/01/papal-visit/comment-page-1#comment-5676 Dave in Maynard Mon, 14 Dec 2009 19:42:27 +0000 http://www.wbur.org/?p=6825#comment-5676 Borrowed the Papal flag from St. Bridget's parish in Maynard. Got there early with my now-deceased brother. Waited at one of the Boston Common's gates through the damp and rainy night. Rushed in with the crowds across the lawn when the gates (and skies) were opened. Heard his voice and the singing of the choir. A soul-filling spirit enveloped the crowd, brought down by sheets of rain, and soaked up through the air, our clothes and skin. It was a once-in-a-lifetime milestone. Viva Papa! Borrowed the Papal flag from St. Bridget’s parish in Maynard.

Got there early with my now-deceased brother.

Waited at one of the Boston Common’s gates through the damp and rainy night.

Rushed in with the crowds across the lawn when the gates (and skies) were opened.

Heard his voice and the singing of the choir.

A soul-filling spirit enveloped the crowd, brought down by sheets of rain, and soaked up through the air, our clothes and skin.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime milestone.

Viva Papa!

]]> By: MarkB http://www.wbur.org/2009/10/01/papal-visit/comment-page-1#comment-2746 MarkB Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:21:49 +0000 http://www.wbur.org/?p=6825#comment-2746 Is Boston still racist? Sure it is. It's still home to the black men who made sport of throwing bricks through the windshields of white drivers back in those wacky days of the 1970s. From Time magazine, May 5, 1976: "Last week Richard Poleet, 34, a white Boston mechanic, was driving through the mostly black Roxbury section when 20 to 25 black youths began stoning his car. The blacks dragged him out of his car and began smashing his face with rocks and pieces of pavement. When police arrived, about 100 blacks were milling around his prostrate body, some shouting, "Let him die!" After working on Poleet for six hours at Boston City Hospital, doctors placed him on the danger list. Two young blacks, aged 19 and 16, were arrested." Is Boston still racist? Sure it is. Of course, most of the white people who lived in Boston during the Pope's visit are long gone. Is the population that lives in Boston NOW racist? Sure it is. Is Boston still racist? Sure it is. It’s still home to the black men who made sport of throwing bricks through the windshields of white drivers back in those wacky days of the 1970s.

From Time magazine, May 5, 1976:

“Last week Richard Poleet, 34, a white Boston mechanic, was driving through the mostly black Roxbury section when 20 to 25 black youths began stoning his car. The blacks dragged him out of his car and began smashing his face with rocks and pieces of pavement. When police arrived, about 100 blacks were milling around his prostrate body, some shouting, “Let him die!” After working on Poleet for six hours at Boston City Hospital, doctors placed him on the danger list. Two young blacks, aged 19 and 16, were arrested.”

Is Boston still racist? Sure it is. Of course, most of the white people who lived in Boston during the Pope’s visit are long gone. Is the population that lives in Boston NOW racist? Sure it is.

]]> By: Thomas Alton http://www.wbur.org/2009/10/01/papal-visit/comment-page-1#comment-2521 Thomas Alton Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:13:45 +0000 http://www.wbur.org/?p=6825#comment-2521 I was a very wet member of the Archdiocesan Choir who sang at John Paul II 's Mass at Boston Common that night. I was a senior at Boston College. Despite the rotten weather that afternoon, John Paul II's visit to Boston thrilled me (and many other members of my university community). That event remains a 'red letter' day in my life. Thanks for the article! I was a very wet member of the Archdiocesan Choir who sang at John Paul II ‘s Mass at Boston Common that night. I was a senior at Boston College. Despite the rotten weather that afternoon, John Paul II’s visit to Boston thrilled me (and many other members of my university community). That event remains a ‘red letter’ day in my life. Thanks for the article!

]]> By: Bill Walczak http://www.wbur.org/2009/10/01/papal-visit/comment-page-1#comment-2102 Bill Walczak Sun, 04 Oct 2009 11:49:44 +0000 http://www.wbur.org/?p=6825#comment-2102 I was living on Columbia Road in Dorchester (an area that had been experiencing busing violence) at the time and had a big front lawn from which to view the papal motorcade as it passed (as I remember, it went through South Boston, onto Columbia Road in Dorchester, then through Roxbury on its way to the Common. We had a "Pope Party" and draped a 20 foot long banner with "Welcome Holy Father" written in Polish. It was a bit anticlimactic, as after waiting for hours, the papal motorcade went by very quickly. Typically for the media, the pre-visit stories talked about millions of people coming into Boston to see the papal Mass, so don't try to get into town, which, along with the threat of rain, kept the crowd down. So it was easy to just drive downtown during the Mass and go onto the Common to see the Mass. Some thoughts about that day: Mayor White had the street cleaners out for days before, and the streets had never been cleaner (or for that matter, since). There were national guard troops every 50 yards, and US, Boston and Papal flags flown off every light pole. Entrepreneurs sold Pope buttons along the sidewalk. Thanks for the article. I was living on Columbia Road in Dorchester (an area that had been experiencing busing violence) at the time and had a big front lawn from which to view the papal motorcade as it passed (as I remember, it went through South Boston, onto Columbia Road in Dorchester, then through Roxbury on its way to the Common. We had a “Pope Party” and draped a 20 foot long banner with “Welcome Holy Father” written in Polish. It was a bit anticlimactic, as after waiting for hours, the papal motorcade went by very quickly. Typically for the media, the pre-visit stories talked about millions of people coming into Boston to see the papal Mass, so don’t try to get into town, which, along with the threat of rain, kept the crowd down. So it was easy to just drive downtown during the Mass and go onto the Common to see the Mass. Some thoughts about that day: Mayor White had the street cleaners out for days before, and the streets had never been cleaner (or for that matter, since). There were national guard troops every 50 yards, and US, Boston and Papal flags flown off every light pole. Entrepreneurs sold Pope buttons along the sidewalk. Thanks for the article.

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