Church, stadium, synagogue are stops on pope's NYC visit

Visitors took photographs yesterday in front of Saint Patrick's Cathedral in New York, a day before the pope's arrival in the city. He is scheduled to celebrate Mass in the cathedral tomorrow morning. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)

NEW YORK - An organist played through the entire scale, filling the vast nave of the Cathedral of Saint Patrick with the highest notes and the deepest basses, as he tuned up the 78-year-old, 9,000-pipe organ that will serenade Pope Benedict XVI. Outside, workers on their hands and knees scrubbed the stone steps while a newly hoisted Vatican flag fluttered in the breeze.

In New York, there was a palpable sense of excitement and anticipation yesterday as the city geared up for the pope's visit. Workers went into cleaning and decorating mode, wheeling ficus trees into the cathedral and washing away the last remnants of grit as they prepared for the pope to arrive tomorrow morning to celebrate Mass for priests, deacons, and members of religious orders.

"You can see a lot more activity and excitement - maybe the word is more of an awakening," said Chuck Leonard, a 65-year-old investment banker and regular parishioner at the cathedral who stopped by yesterday to say a prayer to St. Jude.

"When he comes, it's almost like a lightning bolt. It's a very positive effect."

Margie and David Acker were among 33 pilgrims who had come from the Diocese of Savannah, Ga., to see the pope celebrate Mass on Sunday at Yankee Stadium. "We're going to see our Papa!" Margie Acker exulted during a visit to the cathedral. "I love him. What a gift to us. He's a shepherd for all of us - for all denominations."

Their friend and fellow pilgrim from Georgia, Betsy Lindsay, reached into her pocketbook and produced a large ticket to the Mass, printed in gold ink and stamped with an image of the pope.

"We feel like Willy Wonka," Lindsay said. "We've got the golden ticket."

Dick McKinney, visiting from Seattle, said he hoped that Benedict, who was formerly the enforcer of doctrinal fidelity at the Vatican, would inspire Catholics to more closely integrate Catholicism into their lives.

"I hope he can cause people to be stricter about the teaching," McKinney said. "I'm not confident about that, but I'm hopeful."

Leonard freely offered that he has differences with the Catholic Church and believes priests should be allowed to marry.

But he echoed Mckinney's sentiment, saying Benedict's arrival in New York sparked in him "an impulse to look inside," and reexamine his commitment to his faith.

Benedict has a series of events planned, including a speech at the United Nations, a visit to a seminary in Yonkers, the Mass at the cathedral, and a visit to the Park East Synagogue on the Upper East Side, where he will meet Jews today just ahead of the Sabbath and the Passover holiday.

At the synagogue yesterday, security was tight as guards posted at the entryway forbade anyone from going inside.

But preparations were clearly underway, as a dozen workers used mops and ladders to scrub down the crimson awning, wash the ornate sandstone façade, and polish the bronze handrails.

During a peek inside, workers were busy decorating the sanctuary with buckets of white flowers. The wooden benches were polished to a brilliant shine.

"I've never been so thrilled to do a job as this one," said Raymond G. Saleeby, who heads the company cleaning the synagogue. "This is history."

So what's the secret to cleaning a building in preparation for the pope?

"We do it with a little bit of holy water," he said with a laugh.

Michael Levenson can be reached at mlevenson@globe.com.