PORT CHESTER, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — When Pope Francis comes to New York City next month, he will celebrate Mass using simple wooden furniture being built in New York.
This week, Cardinal Dolan checked on the progress of the simple preparations for the pope’s September visit: a wooden throne being built in a Port Chester garage by immigrant day laborers who may or may not have legal status — no one is asking, CBS2’s Lou Young reported.
“These are men who look for work, but they can’t get a job every day, so they work when they can,” said Br. Sal San Marco, with Salesian Brothers of Don Bosco.
“It’s not just a chair. It’s not just screwing, nailing and painting a simple chair. It’s more than a chair. It’s the spiritual connection we have,” day laborer Hector Rojas told WCBS 880s’ Marla Diamond.
But this time, they’re volunteering. Their presence is an example of the pope’s overriding concern for the underclass, Young reported.
“If we could go to them, we thought not only would it mean a lot to Pope Francis, it would mean a lot to the workers,” said Dolan said. “To think that they’re doing something for the glory of God and for the successor of Saint Peter, our holy Father.”
The woodwork is expected to be finished by the end of the week.
More work is underway in Somers at a school for troubled teens who have work assignments of their own, creating the amble and alter for Mass.
“The sweat is the kids’. The kids are in here doing all the work,” said Jack Flavin, director of Lincoln Hall.
They could have had anybody do the work, but Cardinal Dolan has very specific ideas, Young reported.
“From the beginning he said part of his mission as a successor to Saint Peter is to go out to those at the side of the road,” Dolan said.
And those at the side of the road know they are loved.
“He could of had anybody, he could of had professionals do this, but he gave us the honor,” said Lincoln Hall resident Mauricio Agudelo.
“I’m feeling great; it’s a happiness, you cannot describe it,” said Rojas.
The workers are following plans given to them by the archdiocese, but the work is all their’s.
A sewing group from Yonkers is working on the Mass linens.
“The message is don’t forget the poor. If you forget the poor, you’re not with Christ, you’re not with Jesus,” said San Marco.
Pope Francis will be in New York from Sept. 24 through Sept. 26. He will address the U.N. General Assembly, attend a service at the Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum, visit Our Lady Queen of Angels school in East Harlem and hold Mass at Madison Square Garden.
