Dana, the Irish musician and politician, is to sing for Pope Benedict at Yankee Stadium, New York City, during a concert before Mass on Sunday-week (20 April).
As well as the Pope, there will be 60,000 people representing the 195 dioceses in America. Dana, in real life Mrs Rosemary Scallon, performed for Pope John Paul II in 1987 when she led 86,000 young people in singing her own song Totus Tuus in the New Orleans Super Dome. She sang for him on other occasions, including the 1993 World Youth Day in Denver, Colorado.
Dana and Damien Scallon, her husband, have always been alongside us in SPUC in the fight to protect the most vulnerable of the human race. As an independent member of the European parliament for Galway, she ably served the cause on the international stage.
Sunday-week will not be her first meeting with Pope Benedict. She met him in 2004 when he was Cardinal Ratzinger. He congratulated her as she became the first woman to receive the San Benedetto (St Benedict) Award in Subiaco, Italy, for her pro-life and pro-family work as an MEP. Cardinal Ratzinger received the award the year after.
