Concert of Hope anticipates pope's arrival

Although pilgrims were asked to be inside Yankee Stadium at least two and a half hours before the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI, singers, performers and musicians kept audiences entertained with the Concert for Hope, a two-hour event designed to celebrate the third, and final, papal Mass in the current ballpark.

The gates of Yankee Stadium opened at 9 a.m., as 57,000 Catholics from all 50 United States converged on the Bronx. After being screened by security, those people who entered early were able to see footage of Pope Benedict XVI's appearance at Ground Zero, site of the former World Trade Center in lower Manhattan, on the stadium's jumbotrons.

Organist Stephen Tharp, the papal orchestra and the Nutmeg Dancers kept audiences' attention until the Concert of Hope officially began at noon.

Popular religious and Christian musicians like Dana joined prominent New York institutions such as the Harlem Gospel Choir in the concert. Irish tenor (and frequent Buffalo visitor) Ronan Tynan sang two songs, including his grand interpretation of "God Bless America."

The final act at the concert was popular musician Harry Connick Jr., who performed four songs with jazzy versions of various hymns.

"People asked me if I'm a practicing Catholic, and I said, 'You can't practice any better than this … I'm playing for the pope," Connick said.