By PAT NEWMAN

Staff Writer

Clergy and laity from Peachtree City's Holy Trinity Church have apparently made the Papal "A" list.

Less than two weeks ago, Father John Walsh, pastor of Holy Trinity, was summoned to the Vatican in Rome for a private audience with Pope John Paul II, along with former Holy Trinity parochial vicar Father Frank McNamee and Deacon Don Kelsey. Today, about 50 members of the church's Life Teen program will join in a celebration of the Mass with the Pope in St. Louis. Parochial Vicar Father Kevin Peek will celebrate the Mass with approximately 100 priests in one of the city's major stadiums.

The group left Peachtree City Monday at noon, heading west to join thousands of other youth and adults congregating in St. Louis for the Pope's 30- hour United States stopover, following his five-day visit to Mexico.

Less than two weeks ago, Walsh was enjoying a one-week pilgrimage to the Holy City in Rome with 50 parishioners from Holy Trinity when he was contacted by phone and informed that his request for an audience would be granted. "It was amazing," Walsh said of his visit to his Holiness. "We had to be there at 7 a.m. We walked to the Vatican ourselves and we were met by a Swiss Guard," Walsh recalled. "I presented the letter from the Archbishop (Atlanta Archbishop John F. Donoghue) stating I was a priest in good standing." The three were invited into the chapel.

Walsh, accompanied by McNamee and Kelsey, celebrated Mass in English with the Pope along with priests from Sierra Leone, Peru and other English-speaking priests. Afterwards, the small group was ushered into the library. "We made a circle around him and he spoke to each of us in our own language," Walsh said. He received a blessing and a rosary from the Pope.

"It's an experience," Walsh said. "I thought about what I was going to say to the Pope, but when I met him, I was overwhelmed. I shook his hand and said I was from Atlanta."

Parishioners on tour with Walsh reported that extensive work is in progress at the Vatican for the Jubilee of the Year 2000. Scaffolding is a fixture at almost every tourist site, with cleaning and delicate renovation work being done on some of the world's greatest art treasures. "It was a very fine trip," Walsh said.

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