Local priest speaks on sitting in at Pope Francis’ mass

told abc-7 this afternoon. the father will be alongside other church leaders at pope francis’ mass. abc-7’s jerry najera spoke with the father banuelas he’s live with the story … rick estela father banuelas is ecstatic about being able to sit in at the pontiffs mass. he has seen two other popes before but he tells me this encounter is different because it’s on the border. he’s also excited about a special gift that will be given to the pope on behalf of many parishoners sending a message. “i’m just so excited and so happy that our holy father is coming to our border area because it is the best the catholic church has to offer the world” father arturo banulas has been the pastor at st marks church for two years now. he tells me the pope’s visit to the borderland could change everyones outlook of the area. “many times people in the country look at the border as a place of fear and violence and our holy father’s presence is going to show another side that we have lived in peacefull coexistance for years” although banulas hasn’t gotten his ticket just yet he knows he will be in the presence of the pope. “the priest have been allocated a section with the jaurez priest again because we feel this communion with each other” banulas tells me there has been diffucult details to be adressed but the workload has been a bonding experience for the juarez-las cruces and el paso diocese. “th excitement that the holy father is coming has been the spirit of working overtime with everybody because we only had two months to prepare where as most places have a year” perhaps one of the most exciting aspects for father banulas is the spiritual bouque. take a look behind him. there’s hundreds of messages or acts of mercy that parishoners have wrote for pope francis. “you can see the large number of people that have responded to acts of mercy and every week the wall gets more crowded with acts of mercy” little martin santos wrote he wants to help kids with cancer and marissa wrote she will show compassion for those who feel alone. “these act of mercy intimately connect us with our holy father he is for us a sign of god’s mercy” and a portion of all of those doves will be made into a huge spiritual bouque and delivered to pope francis before he leaves. what an endearing gift. the catholic diocese of el paso is pulling out all the stops in promoting its celebration event at