Enormous cross at center of ’79 papal Mass in Philadelphia has new home at retreat house

MALVERN, Pa. (OSV News) — More than a million people descended upon Logan Circle on a beautiful autumn day in Center City Philadelphia Oct. 3, 1979, for a Mass celebrated by St. John Paul II, the Polish cardinal who had been elected pope less than a year earlier.

At the center of it all, above a covered fountain on the city’s Eakins Oval, the pope celebrated Mass on an expansive altar in the shadow of an enormous 34-foot-tall white cross.

In the days after the papal visit, the cross, a symbol of one of the greatest Catholic gatherings in North America at that time, was taken to the outskirts of the city where it was erected on the grounds of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. It has been on display at the busy intersection of Lancaster and City avenues the last 45 years.

Earlier this year, St. Charles Seminary moved to another part of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and the seminary grounds were sold.

Fast forward to Nov. 11, another beautiful weather day in the Philadelphia area, and the newly refurbished cross was unveiled at its new place of honor at Malvern Retreat House where Father Douglas McKay offered prayers for a gathering of about 100 people. The formal rededication of the statue is scheduled for June at a Mass to be celebrated by Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez.

Father McKay, current rector at the retreat house, was a seminarian in 1979 and was chosen to be a cross bearer at the Mass with the pontiff.

“It means to me … what this is all about … the cross is the most precious image that we have, because it’s a symbol of the paschal mystery of Jesus,” said Father McKay, ordained for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1982. “The life, the death and the resurrection of Jesus. It’s so Eucharistic. And the Holy Father, John Paul II, he was so Eucharistic. He was so contemplative.”

Father McKay recalled the pope praying before the huge gathering.

“Then we started the procession to the holy sacrifice of the Mass. That’s what this cross is all about, the holy sacrifice of the Mass, the gateway to God, where all the glory lies. What it means to me is Eucharistic, the holy sacrifice of the Mass, and the banquet of heaven that is now. The kingdom of God is with us now.”

Of course, it’s the type of service a person never forgets.

“The privilege of being the cross bearer Oct. 3, 1979,” he said, “standing next to the Holy Father as he celebrated the Mass. … That’s what it all means to me. It’s all about the paschal mystery. Life, death and resurrection, coming home to God where we all belong.”

The idea of bringing the cross to Malvern came when a priest friend called Father McKay. Father Mike Kelly, a seminary official, called him and said with the seminary closing, they didn’t know what to do with that cross. “Do you think Malvern would want it?”

“Everybody got excited,” said the rector, who is a nationally recognized retreat director, author and evangelist.

The blessing and installation service for the cross included remarks from Michael Norton, president of the Malvern Retreat House. Father McKay said Norton and the active Malvern volunteers and donors were instrumental in helping arrange the heavy lifting required for the move.

The cross was moved to the grounds of the retreat house where a team of craftsmen painstakingly restored it for permanent installation on the 125-acre campus.

Officials said many individuals and companies have donated their time to the initiative, including JPC Group, Inc., Pennoni Engineering and Thackery Crane Rentals. JPC Group is a family-owned, full-service construction contractor operated by the Petrongolo family, whose members have been coming to Malvern for decades, organizers said.

Malvern Retreat House is billed as the oldest and largest Catholic retreat community in the nation. Founded more than 100 years ago as the Laymen’s Retreat League, Malvern hosts retreats for men, women, couples and young Catholics. It includes three chapels, four private oratories, four Stations of the Cross walks, a replica of the Grotto at Lourdes and countless shrines.

In August, Malvern was recognized as having the official diocesan shrine to Blessed Carlo Acutis, who will be canonized by Pope Francis April 27, making him the Catholic Church’s first millennial saint.

And now Malvern has a very large relic connected to St. John Paul II.

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