PHOTO PROVIDED / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
CELEBRATING MASS … Steve St. John (above) stands above the rest of the deacons prior to the Papal Mass held in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, October 12, in Vatican City, Italy.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
It started out as a two-part overseas trip for Bryan resident Steve St. John, as he recently traveled to Italy to celebrate his 40th wedding anniversary with his wife, Melinda, and to attend a wedding of his nephew, Logan Nofziger.
Everything was all planned for his family trip to Italy until St. John, who currently serves as a Deacon at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Bryan and Sacred Heart Parish in Montpelier, was notified via mail by the Vatican that he was chosen as one of 18 deacons worldwide to celebrate mass with Pope Leo XIV on Sunday, October 12.
“When we were planning our trip, my daughter (Mattea Baker) was looking at the book, ‘Jubilee 2025’ for the Catholic Church, where they open all the doors and have special events for all the churches and basilicas,” said St. John.
As Baker began planning the itinerary, she told her father, “Hey, Dad, you can do mass with the Pope.” After hearing this idea from his daughter, St. John then got online and created an account showing his interest.
“Once I had an account set up, I had to send over a letter from the Diocese of Toledo saying that I was in good standing in the Catholic Church,” said St. John. I had to have an FBI background check.”
His criminal background check was done on June 2, 2021, and he successfully completed the VIRTUS/Protecting God’s Children program required by the Diocese of Toledo on April 20, 2024.
The letter dated June 17, 2025, from Reverend Michael Dandurand, Vicar for Clergy, stated that “St. John enjoys full faculties for diaconal ministry in the Diocese of Toledo without any restriction.
“He will be in your diocese with the Marian Pilgrimage to the Holy Door at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and Saint Peter’s Square from October 10 to 12, 2025.”
St. John was told that it would be ten days before he knew that he was going to conduct Mass in Saint Peter’s Square.
“I found out on September 20 that I was approved for this opportunity,” said St. John. “I was pretty excited, but it’s quite an honor to be able to do that.”
What was really neat about his experience is that Pope Leo XIV is originally from Chicago and was able to conduct mass with him.
“We were all talking about him (Pope Leo XIV) the whole time,” he said. “It was pretty amazing to see the Pope going through the crowd and pick up babies and blessing them.”
His invitation to celebrate the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jubilee of Marian Spirituality was written both in English and Italian, saying that he had to report no later than 9:30 a.m. on October 12 to the Braccio di Constantino, bringing an amice (liturgical vestment), alb (vestment), cincture (belt worn around the waist), and a green stole.
The Papal Mass in Rome began at 10:30 a.m. on October 12, but St. John had arrived a couple of hours earlier, although he didn’t know where he had to go to report.
He underwent a security check before entering the Vatican to prepare for his special day, in which over 200,000 had attended the mass in St. Peter’s Square.
“My experience as a deacon helped me prepare for this opportunity,” commented St. John. “In 2024, I served mass in Indianapolis with 65,000 people attending. So, I knew what was going to happen in Rome.”
St. John, who just recently retired as owner of St. John Tire in Bryan, reflected on his trip to celebrate mass with Pope Leo XIV.
“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime deal to get to go do something like that,” said St. John. “You can just feel God in all one presence of everything. It was just a real neat atmosphere, and all the people are there, they believe in – it was neat to see that many people had the same faith and stuff.”
St. John will be presenting a PowerPoint about his journey to St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, December 3, at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Bryan.