CARY - Two western Wake County residents are among those who received papal honors Tuesday at St. Michael the Archangel Roman Catholic Church in Cary.

Fuquay-Varina Mayor John Byrne, who helped found St. Bernadette Catholic Church, and Cary resident Teresa Aldahondo, who pushed for Spanish-language Masses across the diocese, will receive the Benemerenti Medal.

The honor is bestowed by Pope Benedict XIV in recognition to dedicated service to the church. "Benemerenti" in Latin means well-deserving, according to the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh.

Bishop Michael Burbidge presented the medal to Byrne, Aldahondo and fourteen other Wake County residents. Four others received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Cross, the highest honor that can be given to a layperson by the church.

'Biggest honor'

Byrne received the news in October and said he cried for about 15 minutes.

"I can't hardly believe it," said Byrne. "It's the biggest honor I've ever received in my life."

The Catholic Church has been part of Byrne's life since he watched "The Song of Bernadette" when he was 8 years old. The 1943 movie chronicles how French girl Bernadette Soubirous' vision of the Virgin Mary changed a town.

Soubirous originally was ridiculed by town leaders for her visions.

"I could see the Virgin Mary right there on the screen, and I couldn't believe those other people couldn't see her," Byrne said. "All they had to do was look up."

Soubirous went on to become a nun and later was declared a saint.

The story of St. Bernadette stayed with Byrne and when he helped found a Catholic church in Fuquay-Varina in 1987, that's the name he chose.

The healing properties of a local spring feature prominently in the story of Soubirous. During a vision the French girl was told to drink from the mud, according to www.Lourdes-France.org. Fuquay-Varina's roots also trace back to a mineral spring that people visited for its healing properties.

When Byrne arrived in Fuquay-Varina in 1973, there was no Catholic church in town. He lobbied the Raleigh diocese for a church beginning in the late 1970s.

"By 1987 Father Albert Todd, pastor of St. Mary's in Garner, began offering Mass in Fuquay-Varina at Trinity Episcopal Church," according to the St. Bernadette website.

In the meantime Byrne was collecting donations for a new church, and in 1990, a 50-member congregation moved into its own multipurpose building. The first 600-seat sanctuary was finished in 2001, and a larger 1,200-seat sanctuary was built in 2009. The church now has about 2,000 families, Byrne said.

Mass in Spanish

For almost two decades, Aldahondo has dedicated her time to improving Catholic services for the Hispanic community. She served as a consultant with the diocese of Raleigh for 19 years and coordinated the weekly Latino Mass and outreach program at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Cary for a number of years.

She said she was surprised when she got the call about the medal.

"I was flabbergasted," Aldahondo said. "I couldn't believe it. I didn't know anything about the Benemerenti Medal and then I thought 'I don't deserve this.' It's a big honor."

When Aldahondo, a Puerto Rican, moved to Cary in 1987 there was no Spanish-language Mass. Churches were starting to reach out to Hispanic migrant workers, and Aldahondo was one of about 20 bilingual parishioners at St. Michael's. She volunteered to help.

"After the migrants would leave, we realized we wanted to stay together," she said. "For many of us we had integrated into the Anglo-American service."

Aldahondo was one of the driving forces for starting a Spanish-language service at St. Michael's in 1988. About 40 people attended the once-a-month service. The program expanded to twice a month in 1990, but that was not enough to accommodate the large influx of Latinos coming to the area. The church began weekly Sunday Masses in 1996. The service has grown to more than 400 attendees.

The diocese soon realized that there weren't available materials for religious instruction, so Aldahondo signed on as a consultant to help translate documents and resources.

She also helped priests understand some of the customs and religious holidays not typically celebrated in America but are celebrated in Latin-American countries.

Aldahondo occasionally stops by the Spanish-language service she helped to found.

"It brings tears to my eyes when I walk in there," she said. "It's very heartwarming."