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Got questions about the pope? He’s got answers

Mary Stachyra Lopez | Catholic Herald

Fr. Christopher Pollard, pastor of St. John the Beloved Church in McLean, will be available to take questions from the media when Pope Francis speaks to the United Nations.

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When Pope Francis addresses the United Nations during his
visit to the United States, millions of people will watch
excerpts on their smartphones, computers and televisions. And
when reporters need to analyze the significance of what he
says, Father Christopher Pollard, pastor of St. John the
Beloved Church in McLean, will be available to take
questions.

Journalists who call the Communications Office in the
Arlington Diocese looking for a source will be referred to
Father Pollard because he has a unique background. Father
Pollard, who earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from
the University of Chicago and a master’s in catechetics from
the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College,
worked at the United Nations headquarters in New York City
for three years as an attaché to the permanent
observer of the Holy See.

“I like to call myself the ‘grammar man’ of the office,'”
Father Pollard quipped. From 2009 to 2012, he worked at the
office with the nuncio, editing correspondence and homilies,
helping with the website, proofreading press releases in
English and other duties.

After his stint in the office of the permanent observer,
Father Pollard was reassigned to St. John the Beloved. As
pastor, he’s seen the impact of the “Francis effect,” even on
non-Catholics. Recently, he went to a coffee shop with a
large group of parishioners after morning Mass, and struck up
a conversation with a non-Catholic.

She talked about how “she loves Pope Francis,” Father Pollard
said. When he told her that the group had a large cardboard
cutout of the pope they were going to take pictures with,
“She blurted out, ‘I’m coming,’ because she wanted to take a
picture next to Pope Francis. And she’s not even Catholic.”

Father Pollard believes a lot of the interest from the
general public comes from the pope’s unique style. “He’s been
firing on all cylinders in a way which is unscripted, but
probably very deliberate in a way, that he’s trying to reach
out to anyone and everyone,” Father Pollard said.

Father Pollard said that though the pope is popular, he may
be misrepresented in some media outlets or there may be some
protestors during the visit. He suggests that when the pope
is in the United States, Catholics take the attitude of St.
Peter in prison. Even when the prison guards were speaking
poorly of Jesus, the saint saw it as an opportunity to bring
Christ to them.

“Be joyful about the Catholic Church being on the mind of the
world,” Father Pollard said.

Every Catholic, he said, can help make sure the pope is
received well and “pray for him.”

Stachyra Lopez can be reached at
[email protected].

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