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From Home Furnishing Business
Catholic University Students to Design for Pope’s Visit
April 29,
2015 by in Designer Weekly 
Design and architecture students at the Catholic University of America have been invited to participate in a design contest to create an altar, a chair and an ambo for use by Pope Francis during his visit to the U.S. in September.
The Archdiocese of Washington, the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the university are sponsoring the competition.
“How exciting it is to be here with you on the steps of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception looking out over the campus of The Catholic University of America, where in five months, in this very place, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, will celebrate the canonization of Junípero Serra,” said Cardinal Donald Wuerl, archbishop of Washington and chancellor of CUA. “What makes this even more exciting is that we have all you young people with us. I can’t think of a better way to engage the spirit of the young than through this design competition.”
This will be the second time students from CUA have designed furnishings for a papal mass. In 2008, students designed chair, altar and ambo for Pope Benedict XVI mass at Nationals Park.
“We’re proud to note that when Pope Francis visits Washington we’ll welcome our third pope to campus,” said John Garvey, CUA president. “Participating in the design contest is indeed a special opportunity for our students. I'm sure it will be an experience of a lifetime for them. I can imagine how exciting it might be to design something that will be here 200 years from now.”