Saturday, November 14, 1998

Teens excited to sing for the pope

By PATRICIA RICE

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

ST. LOUIS -- Teenagers in St. Louis are excited that they will get a chance to see -- even sing for -- the pope in January.

Karilyn Surratt, 16, moved to St. Louis from Oklahoma where "nothing ever happened." She didn't expect much from St. Louis. Now she will sing at a prayer service led by the pope in St. Louis on Jan. 26. She thought St. Louis was famous only for the Gateway Arch and the St. Louis Cathedral.

"But now we will be famous for the pope," she said.

Kristin Vardiman, 17, agreed.

"It's soooo exciting!" she said.

The young women, both altos, were at a rehearsal of the 100-member Rosati-Kain choir last week. They have been rehearsing since September. Their alto section blended with the first and second soprano sections in "We are Marching in the Life of God," the refrain of a Zulu hymn "Siyahamba."

They are two of about 500 area teens preparing to sing at the prayer service -- one of the first events the pope will attend upon his arrival.

Many teens say they hope that the enthusiasm of the youths will carry over to teens who are indifferent to Jesus and Gospel ideas. "Kids our age don't listen to adults, I don't listen to adults but we listen to other teens," said Vardiman. "I hope they pay attention to us."

Teens often test and question their faith. Some decide their peers think going to church is not cool. Many Rosati-Kain singers say the pope's youth event is more than cool, it's awesome and fantastic.

"A lot of teens are confused, but singing helps express my faith to others," said Natasha Baebler, 17 a Rosati-Kain soprano and senior. She recently emerged from a period of puzzling about her faith. Music helped. "I just sing the words and let the words carry my emotions," she said.

She is impressed that the pope would spend his first evening here at a youth event.

"That tells me the pope cares about how teen-agers feel about their faith," Baebler said. "It means the church is for teens, not that the teens have to exist for the church."

Her whole family is excited. "My parents are bouncing off the walls, they are so excited I get to sing," she said.

Rosati-Kain music director Christine Patton chose the Zulu hymn because the choir loves it and because the words echo the theme of the youth event. Her chorus will sing some hymns alone and some with Visitation Academy's choir. The two women's choirs will also sing with the all-male St. Louis University High School choir and the mixed member Young Catholic Musicians, a community group.

The groups were chosen because they are excellent. They also sang at an archdiocesan youth event in early September 1997, Patton said. Many school choirs were invited to that event, but only these could get their programs together early in the school year.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)