Two New Jersey residents even pitched a tent in a nearby campground after winning a lottery for tickets to see Pope Francis in Washington.
WASHINGTON -- When U.S. Rep. Leonard Lance raffled off tickets to see Pope Francis at the U.S. Capitol, Michael Flynn jumped at the chance to enter.
Flynn's son Ronan, 7, was preparing to receive his First Communion, and he thought a visit to see the pope would be especially meaningful. So when Flynn, a financial adviser from Cranford, landed two tickets, he took his son with him to Washington.
They stood outside with thousands who had made the trek to the nation's capital to catch a glimpse of the pope, who stood at the West Front of the Capitol and spoke briefly to the crowd after he delivered a historic speech to the U.S. Congress.
"The connection between our faith and our country -- what an opportunity," Flynn said.
Lance was inundated with requests and his staff managed to secure around 150 tickets, many of them from lawmakers whose districts are hundreds of miles further from Washington than the area he represents in New Jersey.
"Pope Francis has captured the imagination of the world," said Lance (R-7th Dist.).
Mount Arlington Council member Stephen Sadow also came to hear the pope.
"The speech was amazing," he said. "It has a beautiful thread that ran through it. No matter who you are, you had to respect what he had to say."
Jennifer LaParch and Annemarie Stanton, both of Harmony, pitched a tent in a campground in the Washington suburbs Wednesday night in order to get a head start on the day.
"It was inspiring," said Stanton, a quality assurance administrator. "It was asking people to do better."
LaParch, who had won the ticket lottery and invited Stanton to join her, called it "a great experience.''
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.