As Msgr. W. Ronald Jameson stood at the threshold of the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Washington, before noon on Sept. 23 waiting to greet Pope Francis for a midday prayer service with the nation’s bishops, he looked out onto Rhode Island Avenue, N.W., and could see nearby office workers watching at their windows hoping to catch a glimpse of the vicar of Christ. In the buildings that face the historic downtown church, hundreds of people were holding cameras, smartphones and homemade signs of welcome for the pontiff, a sight that deeply moved the cathedral’s rector.
“I realized that it wasn’t just us – the 300 bishops, the staffs of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the parish and the Archdiocese of Washington (gathered there), but all these people too were just as excited as we were,” recalled Msgr. Jameson. “We were all in this together waiting for Pope Francis. It felt good!”
As the time grew closer, inside the cathedral, the congregation could have heard a pin drop. Suddenly, loud police sirens broke the silence, signaling the imminent arrival of the Holy Father’s motorcade. After months of planning and working closely with the Vatican, the U.S. Secret Service, the staffs of the archdiocese and the cathedral, Msgr. Jameson said he felt a sense of prayerful serenity and calmness as he waited at the cathedral’s entrance.
After the small black Fiat 500 pulled up in front of the cathedral’s steps, Pope Francis and Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl exited the car. Due to security measures, it was decided that Msgr. Jameson would wait for the pontiff at the doorway of St. Matthew’s.
When the pope started to make the trek up the cathedral’s stairs at about the halfway point, Msgr. Jameson recalled that as he stretched out his arms, he saw a change come over the Holy Father’s face, at which point the pontiff broke out into a huge grin.
“He just had the biggest smile,” the priest said. “I reached out, embraced him and he embraced me.” A moment, Msgr. Jameson said, he would cherish forever.
“It was really very special,” he said. “For me, it was a fatherly embrace and to see that smile was a moment so reflective of his entire visit here. He was so energized by people, children especially, and once the people around him responded, he was energized.”
For Msgr. Jameson, Pope Francis’s visit to St. Matthew’s was the second time he hosted an historic papal visit. In 1979, as a young priest, he stood at the same threshold, but at the side, as Msgr. W. Louis Quinn, then the cathedral’s rector, greeted Pope John Paul II, now a saint of the Church. Msgr. Jameson served as master of ceremonies for a Mass celebrated there by Pope John Paul II. Now 36 years later, serving as cathedral rector, the priest was personally greeting the successor of St. Peter on earth.
Just inside the cathedral’s massive doors, Pope Francis was handed the aspergillum, the Holy Water sprinkler, which he tapped to his own forehead as well as Cardinal Wuerl’s and Msgr. Jameson’s. The pontiff then kissed the crucifix and began to proceed down the main aisle, with Cardinal Wuerl and Msgr. Jameson on either side.
Msgr. Jameson said his first thought was of all the brides who have processed down the same aisle. “I said to myself, ‘This is a long aisle!’ ” he said. “...It was just a tremendous experience to think I was walking down the aisle with the vicar of Christ.”
Pope Francis spent a few moments of private prayer before the tabernacle in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel. He sat at the center of the main altar and listened to the Scripture readings, as well as hymns and antiphons sung by the cathedral’s Schola Cantorum choir.
The Holy Father spoke in Italian for nearly an hour, addressing 300 U.S. bishops on issues such as immigration, their response to the clergy abuse scandal, abortion and the Church’s history in America. He encouraged them to serve as pastors, with “undivided hearts, selfless devotion” and the joy of Christ.
After the prayer service ended, Pope Francis left the main altar and walked toward the sacristy, passing the choir on his way. He paused and with a broad smile, “he gave the choir a thumbs up,” Msgr. Jameson recalled. “It was another big moment among many.”
Msgr. Jameson said he knew of the pontiff’s great devotion to St. Matthew the Apostle and was happy to be able to point out to the Holy Father the cathedral’s St. Francis of Assisi chapel.
The Cathedral of St. Matthew is marking its 175th anniversary this year, an historic milestone made all the more memorable by the visit of Pope Francis, said the priest, adding it was a momentous event that parishioners will always treasure and remember.
Upon the Holy Father’s departure from the prayer service, Msgr. Jameson said he was honored to walk with Pope Francis from the rectory to his waiting car. “I just gave him a big hug and thanked him for being here,” he said. “He told me words of thanks in English... It was just a great (occasion) from beginning to end."
The Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Washington, will conclude its 175th anniversary year-long celebration with a bilingual Mass at 12 noon on Nov. 1, the Solemnity of All Saints. Cardinal Donald Wuerl will be the principal celebrant and homilist. For information, call (202) 347-3215.
