Pascal Uche and Pope Benedict XVI have met just once, on the steps of Westminster Cathedral - and they will probably never meet again. But those few moments with the Pontiff, played out under the glare of TV lights and in front of thousands of people, with hundreds of thousands more watching from home, has changed the life of the 21-year-old student. Because now - each day - Pascal knows Benedict is thinking of him, and praying for him, as he tries to discern what future God wants for him.
Pascal, who is in his third year of a four-year pharmacy degree at Nottingham University, recalls his disbelief when he was phoned by Fr Dominic Howarth, who chairs the Catholic Youth Ministry Federation, and asked to welcome the Pope to Britain on behalf of Catholic young people throughout the country.
‘I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, ‘ Pascal remembers. ‘It was about three weeks before the Pope’s visit, and I was planning to be at the cathedral to greet him along with 2,000 other young people. But I never for a second imagined I’d get a chance to speak personally to him.
‘Fr Dominic told me I should have a think about what message I wanted to get across. I was amazed at what a privilege it was - it was clear, from the outset, that I wasn’t being used as a mouthpiece. It was left up to me what I said - within time constraints, obviously - but no-one tried to take me along a path, I was left to think about it myself.’
The essential message he wanted Pope Benedict to hear, says Pascal, was what role young people were playing in the Church. ‘I’m sure he knows all about it on a logistical level, but I wanted to tell him how it feels to be us. And I wanted him to know how welcome he was among us, and how united we all were in love and prayer. ‘It’s one thing to shout and scream - but I was being given this huge opportunity, to actually tell him how we were feeling.’
I wasn’t expecting the chance to say something to him one-to-one. But when I bowed to him he got up, and I knew there would be some kind of encounter
At the dress rehearsal, says Pascal, he was told that, having delivered his message to the Holy Father, he should simply bow. ‘I wasn’t expecting the chance to say something to him one-to-one. But when I bowed to him he got up, and I knew there would be some kind of encounter. He put his hand on my shoulder and said well done. I asked him for a blessing and he put his head close to mine; and then people were taking our picture together and I got a chance to tell him some things about myself.
‘I’d rather not say what I told the Holy Father what I want to do with my life because it’s something that I’m still working out at the moment, but he heard it and he said he would pray for me, and that means a lot to me.’ Pascal says that what he was left with was a sense of the Pope as a warm, genuine and gentle man. ‘It was only a brief encounter, but it will stay with me forever,’ he says.
Fr Howarth, who has known Pascal through his home parish in Brentwood for more than four years, says when he was charged to find a young person who could speak on behalf of the young people of Britain, he thought immediately of Pascal. ‘Many of the young people on the piazza at Westminster Cathedral that day had gone through big struggles in their lives, Pascal among them,’ he says. ‘He’s had to work, and he’s had challenges, to get him to where he is. I knew he could speak with an authenticity and a credibility - I knew he could get across what his faith means to him, and what it means to the many other young people whom he was representing.’
I’m sure he knows all about it on a logistical level, but I wanted to tell him how it feels to be usPascal grew up in Stratford in East London, and was an altar server at his family’s parish, St Francis’s Church. In the sixth form at school he had what he considers to have been a ‘key moment’ when, while going to confession during a penitential service, he found himself talking to a priest who made him feel ‘truly forgiven’. He went on to volunteer on trips to Lourdes, and took part in World Youth Day in Sydney in 2008. ‘Going to Australia was a big deal for me. It made a real difference - before that time, I’d sometimes felt like I was in a real minority as a young person of my age who went to church and for whom the Church was important. But in Sydney, I saw how huge the Church is - how many young people are part of it, all over the world.’
At Nottingham University he became involved in the life of the Catholic chaplaincy, and says since returning to college for the winter term he’s often approached by fellow students who want to ask him how it felt to meet the Pope.
‘But it’s not gone to my head,’ he promises. ‘When I went on Facebook after that day, I had so many messages on my wall, and hundreds of friend requests from all over the world. But I feel I was representing everyone - it wasn’t about me, it was about all the young people there that day.’
Fr Howarth agrees. ‘We had no doubt that Pascal would be able to get his message across clearly, as indeed he did. What happened that day was a connection between two people - a young student and the Pope - that was witnessed by millions.
‘As a youth chaplain, what I strive to do the entire time is to give young people their moment to shine.’ Pascal had a big experience of that - but I see it the whole time, whenever we ask a lot of our young people they never fail to rise to the occasion, and to do their very best.
‘Since that day I’ve had emails from all over the world, from people who’ve said how delighted they were that a young Catholic could come across with so much hope and passion. It was a tremendous moment, for all of us.’
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What Pascal told the Pope ‘Gathered here are 2,500 young people representing almost every parish in the country. Like many here, I have been involved in the Church, serving in Lourdes and going on retreat. I know that others help in confirmation sessions, parish music groups, youth groups, and projects serving those who are disadvantaged. For many of us before today you were a face on television or a picture in a church. But today we behold you face to face, and on behalf of the Catholic youth of this great nation I would like to express my profound and heartfelt gratitude for your visit.’ What the Pope told Pascal ‘I ask each of you, first and foremost, to look into your own heart. Think of all the love that your heart was made to receive and all the love it is meant to give. After all, we were made for love. This is what the Bible means when it says that we are made in the image and likeness of God: we were made to know the God of love, the God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit...’ |
Photographs ©Andy Lewis
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