Sunday, September 27, 2015
Pope Celebrates Final US Mass - Video
Pope Francis ends his U.S. trip with an enormous outdoor Mass on Philadelphia's Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Video - Pope Francis Visits Philly Prison
Pope Francis meets with prisoners at a Philadelphia correctional facility Sept. 27, the final day of his U.S. visit.
Pope In Philly: God Weeps For Those Abused
Pope Francis told the world's bishops Sept. 27 the church must protect youth from sexual abuse, spread the Gospel and proclaim the important role of the family during a meeting at Philadelphia's St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.
The Pope In Philly - A First-Hand Account
Sharla Feldscher, a dear friend of ours, gives us this on-the-ground account of Pope Francis' historic visit to Philadelphia:
I came into Philly around 10 a.m. (I was supposed to arrive at 8 a.m. and work as a Media Volunteer but since there was a change on Friday night from Secret Service, no Media Volunteers were being credentialed. Darn.)
I was surprised that the Lindenwold train station wasn’t crowded. Got a good spot in the parking lot. Lots of police, checkpoint, too, but not a crowded train – some people, all pleasant and an easy ride. Fascinated to pass an empty Ben Franklin Bridge except for some walkers, police and military. Got to the city at 10th and Locust and saw lots of empty streets.
I came into Philly around 10 a.m. (I was supposed to arrive at 8 a.m. and work as a Media Volunteer but since there was a change on Friday night from Secret Service, no Media Volunteers were being credentialed. Darn.)
I was surprised that the Lindenwold train station wasn’t crowded. Got a good spot in the parking lot. Lots of police, checkpoint, too, but not a crowded train – some people, all pleasant and an easy ride. Fascinated to pass an empty Ben Franklin Bridge except for some walkers, police and military. Got to the city at 10th and Locust and saw lots of empty streets.
As I walked closer to PA Convention Center to get my “standing room only” ticket, it got more crowded and animated and I loved it – got my ticket, hung out in the Media Filing Center (I had my credential for that), took another photo with Flat Francis (as I heard someone call the cutout), signed a Pope poster outside Reading Terminal Market for $1. Later I bought a button that had a cheesesteak for “I”, a HEART, and Pope Francis.
In order to get into Independence Mall, the crowds could enter at the checkpoint at 6th and Race. I wandered down Arch and Race and spoke to all kinds of people – a Moroccan and I spent lots of time together. He said he had Jewish friends back in Morocco. I got in the checkpoint because of my ticket but he didn’t. He would go to Franklin Square to watch a giant TV with the crowds there, a Jumbotron. Then I went to meet my friend Barbara Alton, who used to work at The POPS. Her husband is the Priest at St. Clement’s Church at 20th and Arch and she was bringing a pilgrimage of 40 with some friends who helped her. I joined them. It was great.
In order to get into Independence Mall, the crowds could enter at the checkpoint at 6th and Race. I wandered down Arch and Race and spoke to all kinds of people – a Moroccan and I spent lots of time together. He said he had Jewish friends back in Morocco. I got in the checkpoint because of my ticket but he didn’t. He would go to Franklin Square to watch a giant TV with the crowds there, a Jumbotron. Then I went to meet my friend Barbara Alton, who used to work at The POPS. Her husband is the Priest at St. Clement’s Church at 20th and Arch and she was bringing a pilgrimage of 40 with some friends who helped her. I joined them. It was great.
I sat on the lawn on the block of the IVC between Market and Arch, behind the press riser and in view of a big Jumobotron. I could see the top of Independence Hall. My “standing room only ticket” was pretty far from the festivities. I e-mailed and talked to the President of The Philly POPS and Michael, the Conductor, but I could only see Michael on the screen.
I was so proud of how wonderful The POPS played Aaron Copeland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”– absolutely perfect. Then, after 3 ½ hours of waiting on the lawn, we heard the Pope speak. At first we saw him in the Popemobile – that was amazing. He was a distance, but I saw him live and on the big screen! When he gave his speech, I was initially so disappointed that he spoke only in Spanish because the crowd was on their feet the whole time and covered the translation on the bottom of the screen. But then we all scattered to find a Jumbotron where we could read the translation and the Pope’s words were magical.
Now, I understood why he spoke in his native language – he encouraged all people to be proud of their heritage, to always remember the lessons of their elders. It was so appropriate. I stood next to a man who was, well, I’m not sure what ethnicity, but we smiled together and equally valued the Pope’s words. I was proud to tell people I was Jewish as they shared their history.
I left with thousands – had to walk all the way back to 6th and Race to exit. It was very crowded and very pleasant. We walked past Chinatown. (I was getting hungry but on my way home.) I had to walk to 11th to get through the streets. 11th was a thoroughfare. I got to Locust, to the High Speed Line, on a crowded (not too crowded) train and I watched a family get off at Ferry Avenue who seemed to have a wonderful day. So did I. I wished I could have shared it with my family – but I only I had a ticket and they weren’t interested in the crowds.
I will always remember it – but I will remember so much of the images on television – the Pope arriving in Philly, the amazing Festival of Families and how gorgeous Philadelphia looked and his speech and his smiles and laughter as he joked about mothers-in-law. I loved the mural and was so proud and happy for my Mural Arts friends and he signed that gorgeous panel. Now, I want to buy a commemorative book.
I left with thousands – had to walk all the way back to 6th and Race to exit. It was very crowded and very pleasant. We walked past Chinatown. (I was getting hungry but on my way home.) I had to walk to 11th to get through the streets. 11th was a thoroughfare. I got to Locust, to the High Speed Line, on a crowded (not too crowded) train and I watched a family get off at Ferry Avenue who seemed to have a wonderful day. So did I. I wished I could have shared it with my family – but I only I had a ticket and they weren’t interested in the crowds.
I will always remember it – but I will remember so much of the images on television – the Pope arriving in Philly, the amazing Festival of Families and how gorgeous Philadelphia looked and his speech and his smiles and laughter as he joked about mothers-in-law. I loved the mural and was so proud and happy for my Mural Arts friends and he signed that gorgeous panel. Now, I want to buy a commemorative book.
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Sneak Peek: What Philly Pope Show Will Look Like
We're told that this is what the area in front of Philadelphia's famed Museum of Art will look like tonight when entertainers from all over the world celebrate Pope Francis at the World festival of Families.
Quite dazzling, huh?
PA GOP Welcomes Pope Francis
Republican Party of Pennsylvania Chairman Rob Gleason released the following statement welcoming His Holiness Pope Francis to Pennsylvania.
“I want to welcome His Holiness Pope Francis and everyone who is visiting our area for the 2015 World Meeting of Families to our wonderful Commonwealth,” Gleason said. “We are blessed to have a summit on such critical issues here in Pennsylvania. It is my hope that Pope Francis and our visitors will come to love our Commonwealth.
“On behalf of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, I would like to wish Pope Francis and all of the visitors coming to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families a safe visit that’s steeped in faith, hope and love.”
“I want to welcome His Holiness Pope Francis and everyone who is visiting our area for the 2015 World Meeting of Families to our wonderful Commonwealth,” Gleason said. “We are blessed to have a summit on such critical issues here in Pennsylvania. It is my hope that Pope Francis and our visitors will come to love our Commonwealth.
“On behalf of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, I would like to wish Pope Francis and all of the visitors coming to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families a safe visit that’s steeped in faith, hope and love.”
Video - Pope Departs Philly Cathedral
Pope Francis celebrated Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. He spoke about building communities of worship, education, charity and service to the larger society. At the end of Mass, Francis was thanked for his support, and he blessed those who attended as he left.
Pope In NYC - Reach Out To City's Forgotten Ones
| The Pope concluded his day in New York yesterday with a Holy Mass for peace and justice in Madison Square Garden, a place synonymous with the city, as Francis recalled: “The site of important athletic, artistic and musical events” representing “both the variety and the common interests of so many different people”. It isa place where “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light”, as yesterday's reading from the prophet Isaiah tells. The Holy Father dedicated his homily to this light. “The people who walked – caught up in their activities and routines, amid their successes and failures, their worries and expectations – have seen a great light”, affirmed the Pontiff, remarking that the People of God is invited in every historical age to contemplate this light, since one of the special qualities of the faithful is the capacity to see, amid the shadows, the light that Christ comes to bring. “With the prophet today we can say: the people that walks, breathes, lives amid the smog, has seen a great light, has experienced the air of life”. “Living in a big city is not always easy”, commented the Pope. “A multicultural context presents many complex challenges. Yet big cities are a reminder of the hidden riches present in our world: in the diversity of its cultures, traditions and historical experiences. … Big cities bring together all the different ways which we human beings have discovered to express the meaning of life, wherever we may be. But big cities also conceal the faces of all those people who don’t appear to belong, or are second-class citizens. In big cities, beneath the roar of traffic, beneath 'the rapid pace of change', so many faces pass by unnoticed because they have no 'right' to be there, no right to be part of the city. They are the foreigners, the children who go without schooling, those deprived of medical insurance, the homeless, the forgotten elderly. These people stand at the edges of our great avenues, in our streets, in deafening anonymity. They become part of an urban landscape which is more and more taken for granted, in our eyes, and especially in our hearts”. However, “knowing that Jesus still walks our streets, that he is part of the lives of his people, that he is involved with us in one vast history of salvation, fills us with … hope which liberates us from the forces pushing us to isolation and lack of concern for the lives of others, for the life of our city. … A hope which makes us see, even in the midst of smog, the presence of God as he continues to walk the streets of our city”. “The prophet Isaiah can guide us in this process of 'learning to see'”, continued Francis. “He presents Jesus to us as 'Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace'”. The Pope went on to explain each of these appellations. “Wonderful Counsellor. The Gospels tell us how many people came up to Jesus to ask: 'Master, what must we do?' The first thing that Jesus does in response is to propose, to encourage, to motivate. He keeps telling his disciples to go, to go out. He urges them to go out and meet others where they really are, not where we think they should be. … The Mighty God: In Jesus, God himself became Emmanuel, God-with-us, the God who walks alongside us. ... The Everlasting Father: Go out and proclaim, go out and show that God is in your midst as a merciful Father who himself goes out, morning and evening, to see if his son has returned home and, as soon as he sees him coming, runs out to embrace him. … Prince of Peace: Go out to others and share the good news that God, our Father, walks at our side. He frees us from anonymity, from a life of emptiness and selfishness, and brings us to the school of encounter. He removes us from the fray of competition and self-absorption, and he opens before us the path of peace. That peace which is born of accepting others, that peace which fills our hearts whenever we look upon those in need as our brothers and sisters”. “God is living in our cities. The Church is living in our cities, and she wants to be like leaven in the dough”, concluded Pope Francis. “She wants to relate to everyone, to stand at everyone’s side, as she proclaims the marvels of the Wonderful Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Eternal Father, the Prince of Peace. 'The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light'. And we ourselves are witnesses of that light”. Today, 26 September, the Holy Father travels to Philadelphia where he will celebrate Mass with the clergy and religious of Pennsylvania in the Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul, attend a meeting with the Hispanic community and other immigrants in Independence National Historical Park, and will pronounce a discourse in Benjamin Franklin Parkway on the eve of the World Meeting of Families. |
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