Archbishop Egan’s Installation –

Newtown Altar Boys Take On Their Biggest Assignment Yet

By Jeff White

What they remember most was pushing shut the doors of St Patrick’s Cathedral.

While many in Newtown and throughout the country watched the Installation Mass for Edward Michael Egan, New York’s ninth archbishop, on television Monday afternoon, Newtown residents Rich and Chris Plavnicky could smell the incense. They were the only two altar servers for the celebration, and in a procession of clergy and laity that snaked around an entire city block, Rich, 14, and Chris, 11, brought up the rear, closing the cathedral’s heavy doors behind the last priest in line.

“It sounded like they were almost being sealed tight,” Chris mused Wednesday afternoon of his door-closing duties, after which the two brothers proceeded down the aisle carrying the archbishop’s miter and crozier.

“I thought it was amazing to walk down the aisle and see all those people clapping for [Archbishop Egan],” Rich recalled. “We would consider this an honor, because this was promoted throughout the whole world.”

The entire Plavnicky family – Chris and Rich, along with the eight-year-old sister Mary, their mother, Joan, and their father, Rich, Sr – were all in attendance for Archbishop Egan’s first mass. Mr Plavnicky has worked for the Bridgeport diocese, which the Archbishop Egan oversaw for the past 12 years, as the director of building and grounds for 24 years now. Through his involvement with the diocese, Mr Plavnicky has come to consider the archbishop as a close friend. He baptized Mary, and buried the parents of Mr Plavnicky.

They arrived for the celebratory weekend early, on Saturday afternoon, since Mr Plavnicky had a few duties he had to perform, readying the boys’ vestments for the mass.

Rich and Chris estimate that together they have served close to 200 masses in the years since they became altar boys. Included on that list are both the weekly masses at St Rose of Lima Church and many ceremonial masses. They served the funeral mass for Archbishop Egan’s Bridgeport predecessor, Bishop Curtis; they served the burial mass for Cardinal Kung, then the oldest cardinal in the world; they stood by as St Rose’s Rev Robert Weiss was installed as the parish’s pastor.

But Monday’s celebration was different.

Rich and Chris admitted this week to being a little nervous during the hours leading up to the mass. Although they have performed many of the Catholic rituals countless times, the tasks seemed more daunting when they considered the event and the large congregation looking on.

“If you messed up, it was right on television,” Rich said.

“If something went off balance during the mass, then there were no remakes or redoes,” Chris added.

Once the ceremony started, however, the two gradually became more comfortable and confident, as they let their collective experience see them through.

The ceremony lasted for two and one-half hours and included a list of 4,000 invited guests, including Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, New York Governor George Pataki, and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton. Close to 750 cardinals, bishops, and priests formed a procession that took close to an hour to wind its way into the cathedral.

Pope John Paul II sent the Vatican ambassador, Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo, to read a letter on his behalf that officially handed the Diocese of New York over to Archbishop Egan.

The Plavnickys were not the only Newtown residents who attended Monday’s Installation Mass. St Rose’s Rev Robert Weiss, himself a close friend of the archbishop, walked in the procession of clergy. “It was a great tribute to Bishop Egan,” he said this week. “It just shows the presence of the church. There is something to be said when that many people gather together. [It shows] that we are still a strong voice in this country.”

For Newtown resident Bernie Reidy, Monday’s ceremony touched a personal chord: he has known Archbishop Egan for the last 12 years. Mr Reidy is the chief financial officer for the Bridgeport Diocese, and during his tenure he has had the opportunity to develop a close relationship with the archbishop. “It was a beautiful ceremony,” Mr Reidy recalled Wednesday afternoon. “It was put together in a beautiful way, and the music was fantastic.

“Of course it was very touching to me because I’m very close to [Archbishop] Egan,” he added.

Archbishop Egan, 68, took over the New York Diocese from the late Cardinal John O’Conner, who held the archbishop’s seat for 16 years, dying May 3 from a battle with brain cancer.

Many view the New York archdiocese as the most important post in Catholic America. With 2.4 million members and over 400 parishes, the archdiocese stretches over 10 diverse, multifaceted counties.

A daunting assignment for anyone.

But the Newtowners who know the archbishop spoke confidently this week of his abilities to meet the challenges of his new assignment. “In many respects, [his] assignment in New York is certainly a gain for New York and a loss for Bridgeport,” Mr Reidy said. “He’s a great man, and I know he will provide excellent leadership.”

“He certainly is taking on a tremendous responsibility,” Rev Weiss echoed, citing race issues, finances, catholic education, and the ever-present need for Catholic vocations as a few of the issues the new archbishop would have to address.

“I’m really sad to lose him. He is a great man,” Mr Plavnicky confided. “I believe that he has a twenty year job to do in five,” he added, referring to the mandatory retiring age for an archbishop, barring a Papal extension, of 75.

Although many Catholics in and around Newtown this week were sad to see their bishop leave for his new assignment, Rich and Chris Plavnicky simply enjoyed the hours spent on St Patrick Cathedral’s altar Monday, taking part in what both agree was the most spiritual event they had ever attended. 

For Rich, the archbishop’s homily was the highlight of the mass. “He is a wonderful speaker, and he did his best for this mass.”

For Chris, the magisterial presence of so many clergy members, all lining the altar for the Eucharistic blessings, was the most powerful symbol from the celebration.

“I just feel so blessed,” Joan Plavnicky said this week. “I just feel so blessed that the archbishop is a personal friend and now my boys can witness what goes on behind the scenes and hopefully it will stay with them for the rest of their lives.”

(Information from the Associated Press was used in this story.)