Ridgewood May 8, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 9 Village teens confirmed by Pope Francis by John Koster Ridgewood High School students Brigid Miniter and Anthony Merejo will never forget their confirmation -- they received it from Pope Francis himself in Saint Peter’s Square in Rome. “He didn’t actually speak when I said my name and told him I was from America. He smiled, but his smile spoke for him,” Miniter said. Merejo, whose family comes from the Dominican Republic, spoke to the Pope in Spanish and also received a smile as he walked past at the ceremony in Rome. “It was awesome -- everything I expected and more,” Merejo said at Mount Carmel Church, where he and Miniter were filmed by TV crews and spoke to reporters from around northern New Jersey on May 2. Jim Goodman, communications officer for the Archdiocese of Newark, was on hand for the interview and frankly admitted that he was jealous of the two Mount Carmel parishioners. Goodman said he had been within 50 feet of Pope Benedict on a U.S. visit, but could not imagine what it was like to actually greet Pope Francis face to face. “I couldn’t imagine it either,” Merejo, a Ridgewood High School football player, said. “The whole thing seemed like a dream at the time.” The two Ridgewood youngsters represented all those Roman Catholics being confirmed in North America during the Year of Faith, which extends from Oct. 11, 2012 to 400,000,” Miniter said. “I’m a typical Irish Catholic and I alone had 12 members of my own family there.” Merejo said his own immediate family members were also there and were greatly impressed by the ceremony. “The food was excellent,” the footballer added with a smile. Besides greeting Pope Francis, the youngsters viewed Michelangelo’s “Pieta,” the tomb of Saint Peter, who was martyred during persecutions by Nero in the First Century, and the tomb of John Paul II. “We also saw the Sistine Chapel, the coliseum, and even the catacombs,” Miniter said. Miniter, a freshman at Ridgewood High School, hopes to work with animals as a career, possibly as a veterinarian. She owns a Wheaton terrier and several turtles and has also owned birds and other pets. She yearns for a ferret. Merejo, a junior, hopes to complete a college education with an emphasis on business. The two confirmands and their families agreed that, whatever comes next, their personal confirmation by Pope Francis in Saint Peter’s Square is apt to be the memory of a lifetime. Anthony Merejo and Brigid Miniter through Nov. 24, 2013. Pairs of confirmands from Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and elsewhere were also represented at the special ceremony on April 28. “I don’t know how many people were in the crowd, I’ve heard estimates of 100,000