Alert: AmP receives premium media credentials for upcoming papal visit!

My hands are trembling as I write this.

Today I received my media credentials from the USCCB for Pope Benedict XVI's apostolic journey to the United States.

It seems too good to be true, but it appears that I (or more accurately, AmericanPapist) have been approved to cover the following events:

• April 16: Papal Vespers and Address to U.S. Bishops at the National Shrine
• April 17: Address to Catholic Educators at The Catholic University of America
• April 18: Ecumenical Prayer Service at Saint Joseph Parish in NYC
• April 19: Rally with Seminarians and Young People at Saint Joseph Seminary
• April 20: Papal Mass at Yankee Stadium

That's right. An event every day (and I opted-out of the Andrews Air Force Base greeting). Each reporter is only allowed to cover one event per day, so this is the absolute limit of what I could have received.

I'm especially excited about the Address to Catholic Educators, as I have long covered issues relating to Catholic education in America, and am myself a product of (and ongoing participant in) that enterprise. I'm also looking forward to the pope's rally with Seminarians and Young People, because AmP has always had a special focus on youth and seminarian topics. Hey, do what you know, I say.

And of course, the address to U.S. Bishops and the Yankee Stadium Mass are important as well. The Ecumenical Prayer Service is probably a venue I'm least automatically familiar with, but there's time to learn.

Now is the time to contact me ("thomas [at] americanpapist.com") to secure unique or distribution rights to the videos and pictures I will be able to take during these events. I'm also looking to publish my thoughts and experiences of the visit in high-profile publications, Catholic outfits get first preference.

Having covered every apostolic journey of Pope Benedict's pontificate, and having attending World Youth Day 2005 in Germany as well as having covered such large events as the 2008 March for Life, I hope to be well situated to provide good reporting this time around as well. But this time, "officially."

Please keep my preparations in your prayers. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the secret service background check goes smoothly. Luckily, for this sort of trip, my papist sympathies serve me in good stead.

It's also no secret that your own attention to these pages, in your regular visits and helpful tips, has assisted tremendously in getting AmP a high enough profile to merit media credentials for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. 100,000 visits a month has to be more than just my friends and family.

So - thank you. I hope to make you all proud. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam!

~ Thomas Peters, AmericanPapist