Falls Church student brings pope birthday present
Thousands of students in Catholic schools and religious education programs across the country have pledged to perform millions of hours of community service in honor of Pope Benedict’s 81st birthday. But only two of those students were to meet the pope personally to present him with the birthday gift, including an eighth-grader from Corpus Christi School in Falls Church. “God has really blessed me right now,” said Stephanie Heredia, who said she “never in my life” thought she’d ever get to meet the pope. George Chiplock, principal of Corpus Christi, said he was “thrilled” to have one of his students chosen to bring birthday wishes to the pope, who was to turn 81 Wednesday. He said Heredia was an easy choice because of her long record of service within her parish, St. Anthony of Padua in Falls Church, and the community. Heredia, who will attend Bishop Ireton High School in Alexandria in the fall, has been a member of the Legion of Mary for the last three years, and regularly evangelizes with the group, going two-by-two through neighborhoods. She also helps make rosaries to send to missionaries. Heredia was to accompany Karen Ristau, president of the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA), and a student from St. John’s College High School in Washington, to the apostolic nunciature Wednesday afternoon to present Pope Benedict with the pledges of more than 1 million service hours collected from students in Catholic schools, religious education programs, colleges and seminaries across the country. Hours pledged for the pope’s birthday gift were to be completed between Feb. 25 and May 31. At Corpus Christi, students pledged between 700 and 800 service hours, according to Chiplock. Some of those hours included making rosaries for children at local hospitals, and the American Heart Association’s Jump Rope for the Heart fund-raiser. Before the meeting, Heredia said she was happy, but a bit nervous. “I’m going to do my best not to faint or cry or laugh in front of him,” she said. Stephanie Tracy can be reached at stracy@catholicherald.com.
