Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, presided over Mass in an unlikely place on Sunday after his flight was grounded in Canada for days due to high winds.
Dolan, 75, was on United Flight 23 from Newark Liberty Airport on Thursday when it was diverted about 3 hours into the 6.5-hour flight to Dublin, Ireland after a passenger suffered a medical emergency, the airline told CBS News.
The plane was diverted to St. John’s, Newfoundland, at about 2:30 a.m. on Friday, according to Flightradar24, so paramedics could assist the ill passenger.
After the passenger was taken to a local hospital for treatment, about 259 passengers and 12 crew members were unable to immediately get back on their flight to Ireland because high winds in the area grounded their flight, according to United. They also couldn’t access their luggage that was stuck on the plane.
The Archbishop of New York said the local parish took him in during the delay, and he thanked them for the hospitality on Sunday.
“We left Newark, New Jersey, Thursday on our way to Dublin…and we ended up here with you and we’re still. We are unable to get out due to inclement weather,” Dolan said during a Mass at the Basilica Cathedral of St. John the Baptist.
United Airlines said it provided hotel accommodation and meal vouchers to stranded passengers. Weather conditions eventually improved and the flight to Ireland departed Sunday morning, the airline said.
Passengers whose flights get diverted to rural northern Canada sometimes get stuck for an extended period, usually in the winter. In this case, St. John’s is a small airport that doesn’t typically handle a large Boeing flight, and it’s where United Airlines doesn’t have many resources.
In 2023, more than 200 passengers were stuck at a military base in remote Canada for over 21 hours after a Delta flight traveling from Amsterdam to Detroit, Michigan, experienced a mechanical issue and needed to make an emergency landing.
The decision to divert to these kinds of airports is made out of absolute necessity but it also makes for a very frustrating experience for the passengers and crew.
