Baltimore's nose was out of joint.So was Boston's.
The news last week that Pope Benedict would visit New York - and not those cities - went down badly in Baltimore, where American Catholicism first took root, and in Boston, where it continues to flourish.
The Pope is coming to New York April 15-17, and his itinerary includes visits to St. Patrick's Cathedral, Ground Zero and Yankee Stadium, where he will say Mass for thousands of the faithful.
"Baltimore Bypassed," the Baltimore Sun cried. "Pope Benedict Not to Visit Boston," the Boston Globe whined.
When the Globe caught up with Boston's Sean Cardinal O'Malley and asked him about the Yankee Stadium Mass, he quipped, "It's his mission to the underdogs."
If, as O'Malley says, the Pope is here for the underdogs, here are some other New Yorkers who could use some papal consolation:
* Gov. Spitzer, once hailed as the sheriff of Wall Street, is off to a rotten start in the statehouse. First there was the embarrassment of his staff snooping on his Republican rival, state Sen. Majority Leader Joe Bruno, and now the governor has been forced to do an about-face on granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.
Benedict, who had to shake off the image of Pope John Paul's Vatican enforcer, has managed to emerge as a man of the people. Perhaps he'll have some PR tips for Spitzer.
* Bernard Kerik was another golden boy who, as police commissioner, helped rescue Rudy Giuliani's New York from crime. Only problem is that a new federal indictment charges that Kerik was a criminal himself. Might be a good time for confession.
* Katie Couric was the golden girl when she took over the anchor chair for CBS News. But she quickly lost ground, and is now stuck in third place behind her rival male anchors at NBC and CBS. An exclusive interview with Pope Benedict might be just the medicine Couric needs.
* Wall Street is just a stone's throw from Ground Zero, where the Pope is going anyway. There are a bunch of banking executives who have been caught up in the credit crisis who could use a sympathetic ear, including former Merrill Lynch CEO Stan O'Neal. It might also be a profitable stop for the Pope, because O'Neal left the company with benefits worth $161.5 million. Wonder if he's feeling guilty?
* Lee Bollinger, the president of Columbia University, where I am a journalism professor, has had a rough few months. First, he was criticized for allowing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak on the campus, and then he was criticized for giving his guest a hard time, calling him "a petty and cruel dictator."
A few lessons in papal diplomacy would be in order.
And what should the Holy Father's message be to these unfortunate underdogs?
I asked my friend Michael Shapiro, a huge baseball fan, and he gave me the classic New York response: "Wait 'til next year!"
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