Pope Baseball T-Shirts And Preps

WASHINGTON DC (WUSA) - On a day when hundreds of high school students and their parents toured the campus, Catholic University students were preparing to greet Pope Benedict XVI.

The Holy Father is scheduled to visit the school next week. He will deliver an address on Thursday to more than 400 invited guests inside the Edward J. Pryzbyla University Center.

A group of volunteers sold baseball t-shirts inside Pryzbyla Center on Friday. The "player's" name and number printed on the back of the t's: Benedict 16.

"We tried to make the shirts more youthful," said Matt Petella. "We're all going to be wearing the shirts and cheering him on at a rally. Hopefully it's going to be like loud, like rock concert style."

The "Rock the Pope" rally planned for next Thursday is organized as part of a grand welcoming for the pope. For the past 14 days, students have been able to count down the days until he arrives using a giant sign hanging above the staircase in Pryzbyla. Maryann Markowski is one of the workers who switches the countdown number everyday.

"It's anticipation, i wish I could change it twice a day- you want to hurry up and get the days over with....because the anticipation really is killing us," she said.

The Catholic University of America has spent an estimated $800,000 on all the preparations for the pope's visit. Landscaping crews have planted trees and workers paved a new sidewalk leading up to the lawn outside the law school. Around 4,000 students and faculty will gather there to watch Pope Benedict deliver his speech live on a giant screen outside.

University's President Very Rev. David O'Connell has been able to develop a relationship with Pope Benedict XVI. Over the past 10 years that he's served as head of the school, he's met with this Pope several times.

"He's one of two Cardinals who approved my appointment as president," he said. "So shortly after that, I went to Rome to get my credentials. In 2003, I invited him as a cardinal to come here for a day when I'd honor him."

At the time, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was too sick to travel so he declined the invitation. However, he wrote O'Connell a letter with a special request.

"He said 'Could you do me a favor sponsor a symposium on natural law. Try to bring together people of different religions and cultures and identify something they all hold in commmon to use to approach moral decision making in the contemporary world,'" explained Father O'Connell. "So I said yes and 6 months later he was the Pope. So it's a good thing I said yes!"

That symposium was held last month. More than 500 people attended. Afterwards, Pope Benedict XVI wrote to Father O'Connell through a cardinal to express how happy he was with its success. The Pope wanted to have copies of all the speeches and letters that were delivered during the three day event.

"He doesn't live up to the 'tough enforcer' reputation that some people think he has,"said Father O'Connnell. "He's quiet, a very gentlemanly person and because of his age, grandfatherly in many respects. He's 81 years old so he comes to all of us as a grandfather. I think that's part of the charm and part of the enthusiasm here on campus."