By Lisa Mascaro

Sun, Apr 20, 2008 (2 a.m.)

Washington — During his years growing up in Boulder City as a Catholic, then as a parish priest in Las Vegas, the Rev. Gregory W. Gordon never expected it would go like this.

He was sitting across the breakfast table from the pope.

It was the day before Benedict XVI would say Mass in the nation’s capital. Gordon and nine of his fellow priests who staff the Vatican embassy here in Washington were invited to join the Holy Father for frittata and sausage and Italian rolls.

Gordon has been in Washington about a year, serving as a secretary to the Nuncio, as the Vatican’s ambassador here is called.

His boss, as it turns out, has a bit of a sense of humor. As the Nuncio went around the breakfast table that morning, introducing his staff to the man who is the spiritual leader of Catholics worldwide, Gordon knew what was coming.

“ ‘Here, Holy Father, is the newest collaborator on our staff,’ ” Gordon recalls his boss saying, directing the Pope’s attention his way.

“ ‘He is from the city of sinners — Las Vegas.’ ”

There it was. The joke everyone loves to tell. The priest from Vegas.

The pontiff smiled.

Pope Benedict asked him if there were strong parishes and Catholic communities in town. Gordon told him, yes, in fact, “very strong, very large, very lively.”

As churches nationwide are shutting their doors, the Catholic community in Las Vegas is a standout for its growth. The Catholic population has swelled from 400,000 in 2001 to 700,000 today, according to the Diocese of Las Vegas, as the valley’s own population has increased.

The dozen or so Las Vegans who made the pilgrimage to the capital last week to attend the pope’s Mass considered their standing as part of the expanding Catholic community in the most unlikely of places.

“Where sin abounds, grace is strongest,” said Ed Graveline, a plastics salesman and father of two, who pulled out that most appropriate of Bible verses just as quickly as he produced his camera phone to show his company’s latest casino job.

As they settled down for an informal lunch after the Mass, they agreed that it can be more difficult to stay true to God’s plan in a city where temptations are many. But in their view, that makes the successes all the more rewarding.

Claire Galin, a physician who was traveling on to see the pope at Yankee Stadium (where she hoped the Holy Father would bless her former hometown baseball team) said that in Las Vegas, “people don’t take their faith for granted. They know what they’re up against.”

They call it frontline Catholicism.

In between bites of sandwiches and sips of iced tea, they shared their awe at seeing “our superstar,” as Jeff Graffio of Henderson called the pope, and hearing his message of hope.

Similar to presidential candidate Barack Obama’s message of hope?

Not quite, Graveline corrected. “I don’t think the Pope is pro-abortion, pro-embryonic stem cell research, pro-gay marriage.”

People who live in Las Vegas know it can be just like any American town, with communities where a family can create a home, as are Graffio and his wife, Sandra, who are expecting their first child.

Still, keeping the faith in Las Vegas, Graffio explained, “Your work’s cut out for you.”

Gordon rejoined the conversation from the other end of the long table.

He told the story about his audience with the pope. Gordon has been a priest for 21 years, and what he enjoys most about his job is not only saying Mass but hearing confession: “To be able to take from anyone’s shoulder the burden is a gift.”

One can only imagine the burdens he has lifted.

“Las Vegas made me the Catholic I want to be,” Gordon said. “If one lives in an environment that acknowledges a challenge to the faith, that faith makes you stronger.”