Maggie Medina is like a kid before Christmas — on Wednesday, she gets to see the pope.
“I’m so excited, I can’t work anymore,” said Medina, who is one of 21 parishioners traveling to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico from Our Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church, 1800 S. Kolb Road, to celebrate Mass with Pope Francis.
The pope’s Mexico tour, which begins in Mexico City Friday, will conclude in Ciudad Juarez across the border from El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday, Feb. 17.
And while the Roman Catholic Diocese of El Paso will live stream the papal Mass from the Sun Bowl, many still want a glimpse of the Holy Father in person.
Thursday, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tucson received 200 tickets from the Las Cruces diocese to distribute to parishioners and anticipates receiving another 50. So far, the diocese knows of more than 120 requests for tickets, but only those who have already booked accommodations are eligible, said Steff Koeneman, the director of communications.
Medina’s group booked places to stay in both Ciudad Juarez and El Paso about a month ago, uncertain about border crossing but hopeful that they could secure tickets to the Holy Father’s Mass.
“We feel that it’s been a big blessing for us because everything is kind of falling into place,” said Medina, who will make the five-hour drive to El Paso next week.
Bishop Gerald Kicanas will attend, along with Victor Calderon, the managing editor of the diocese’s publication “The New Vision.”
“I think people want to go and be part of that shared experience of faith,” said Calderon, who will mark this as his first papal encounter. “So some people will get there no matter how long it takes or whatever they have to do.”
Tony Martin and his wife Hylda Martin will see Pope Francis even sooner, at the Saturday Mass at the Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City.
Traveling in a group of nine, mostly from St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 5150 N. Valley View Road, this group, too, booked flights and accommodations shortly after the pope announced the Mexico trip, said Tony Martin, already in Mexico City on Thursday.
Friday, the group will volunteer with crowd control — the original plan to a catch a glimpse of Pope Francis before they learned a friend had snagged them tickets for the Saturday Mass.
“We said lots of prayers,” Martin said. “Everyone was pulling all types of strings to see him.”
