Tens of thousands of Washingtonians hoped to score a ticket to the Pope's special Mass at Nationals Park, but only one is an eight-year-old expert on the Catholic Church. NewsChannel 8's Phillip Stewart introduces us to James Higgins.
NewsChannel 8 Script:
THERE ARE JUST TWO THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT 8 YEAR-OLD JAMES HIGGINS -- HE LOVES BASEBALL AND HIS CATHOLIC CHURCH.
"I'm either fighting over a baseball player or being Pope," said James. "If I'm Pope, the names I'm fighting over are Pius the 13th and Benedict the 17th."
JAMES MAY BE ONE OF THE POPE'S YOUNGEST-- AND BIGGEST-- FANS.
AND WHEN WE WENT TO MEET JAMES. HE'D JUST FOUND OUT THAT HE SNAGGED A TICKET TO THE PAPAL MASS AT NATIONAL STADIUM THROUGH A LOTTERY AT A LOCAL PARISH.
"I'm going to be shocked because like when you see like a baseball player and you meet him or get his autograph or like see the Pope, you're just shocked that you're seeing a person that you turn to and you follow."
"I was jumping up and down," said Lauren Higgins, James' mother, describing how she reacted upon learning the two would be going to the special Mass. "I got an email from our parish manager and I was jumping up and down and there were tears in my eyes."
INSTEAD OF PLAYING XBOX OR WATCHING T.V. LIKE MANY KIDS HIS AGE, JAMES IS BRUSHING UP ON HIS CATHOLIC CHURCH FACTS.
HE CAN NAME JUST ABOUT ANY SAINT, INCLUDING THOSE IN A DISPLAY ON THE FAMILY'S MANTLE.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS ARE A CINCH TO RATTLE OFF.
DON'T EVEN TRY TO CHALLENGE HIM ON NAMING THE NINE CHOIRS OF ANGELS.
AND HE CAN ALSO NAME MANY OF THE POPES IN ORDER; ALTHOUGH JAMES ADMITS EVEN HE WAS STUMPED ONCE.
"The priest, one of the priests, stumped me once. Like in the early 1400s, there were three people saying they were popes and they chose Marcus. Yeah I got stumped on that one," confessed James.
JAMES AND HIS FATHER GO TO MASS HERE AT ST. PETER'S CATHOLIC CHURCH ON CAPITOL HILL EVERY MORNING AT SEVEN.
AND, ACCORDING TO HIS MOM, JAMES' FACINATION WITH CATHOLICISM AND THE POPE STARTED WHEN HE ABOUT THREE.
"My dad started teaching me and I absorbed it through my head and on the way to Mass when I was four or five, I started talking to him about it and he taught me more things and I just learned them, started talking to him about it," recalled James.
"There was a time when we thought, 'Oh, people are gonna think we're forcing this young child to go to Mass everyday and learn all these things, but it's really him," said James' mother.
THE INTEREST STUCK AND NOW JAMES KNOWS MORE ABOUT HIS RELIGION THAN MOST ADULTS, LET ALONE KIDS HIS AGE.
EVEN LITTLE SISTER ELIZABETH-- WHO'S ONLY SIX-- KNOWS ALL ABOUT HER BROTHER'S INTEREST.
"He always wakes up early - my brother and my dad and - well they never stop going to mass," said Elizabeth.
SO AS YOU MIGHT IMAGINE, NEXT WEEK'S PAPAL VISIT IS A PRETTY BIG DEAL IN THIS HOUSEHOLD.
"It's one of those experiences like James said, I'm sure we're gonna be in awe and not want the moment to end," said Lauren Higgins.
COMPARING THE DAY OF NEXT WEEK'S MASS TO CHRISTMAS, JAMES IS CERTAIN HE WON'T GET MUCH SLEEP THE NIGHT BEFORE.
"He's special and he's the leader of the Catholic Church and the Americans never get to see him and this is his first trip to America, so it's really special."
AND IT'S SURE VERY SPECIAL DAY FOR THIS VERY SPECIAL YOUNG BOY.
IN SOUTHEAST, PHILIP STEWART, NEWSCHANNEL 8.
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