[caption id="attachment_80237" align="alignleft" width="300"] Tom Moran to read in Irish for Pope Francis at Madison Square Garden
[caption id="attachment_80208" align="alignleft" width="238"] Pope Francis
By Ray O’Hanlon
rohanlon@irishecho.com
Pope Francis will be treated to a prayer in Irish during tomorrow’s Mass in Madison Square Garden.
That would be Gaeilge with a Staten Island lilt.
Tom Moran, CEO of Mutual of America and well known for his charitable work with organizations such as Concern Worldwide, will be delivering one of the prayers of the faithful in the native Irish tongue.
Moran was asked to recite the prayer in Irish by Cardinal Timothy Dolan.
Prayers will be said during the Mass in a number of languages, but this may well be the first time that Irish has been relayed through the Garden public address system to a full house crowd.
Moran has been working hard on his Gaelic pronunciations, it is understood.
The Mass is set for Friday evening and, as reported in the Irish Echo, over fifty members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians will be in the famed arena to help deal with the logistics of a papal presence and capacity crowd.
Now any Hibernian with the “cúpla focal” or more might be called upon to translate Tom Moran’s prayerful words.
Meanwhile, Irish tenor Anthony Kearns will be on papal duty this Sunday in Philadelphia.
He will sing prior to the papal Mass.
Indeed, Kearns will be the final performer in a lineup at the Eakins Oval Stage on Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
More than 1.5 million people are expected to be in attendance for the Mass that will have Pope Francis as chief celebrant.
"I feel incredibly privileged to be a part of such a historic event and to perform in honor of His Holiness' visit to the United States. It will be an unforgettable experience," said Kearns, who hails from County Wexford.
