PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) — For six days in September 2015, Pope Francis made a historic go to to the US, visiting a few of the nation’s largest cities and chatting with huge crowds of the devoted alongside the best way.
RELATED: Pope Francis, everyman chief of the Roman Catholic Church, dies at 88
Within the span of some days, the pope went to Washington to satisfy with the president and handle a joint session of Congress; delivered a speech earlier than the United Nations and visited the 9/11 Memorial in New York Metropolis; then spoke on the World Assembly of Households and celebrated Mass on the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.
Here is an entire recap of the historic papal go to:
Sept. 22, 2015
WASHINGTON
Pope Francis arrived in Washington, D.C. on the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 22 the place he was greeted by President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and their households.
He then had a short assembly with President Obama.
Pope Francis, standing with President Barack Obama, first woman Michelle Obama, and Malia Obama, proper, after arriving at Andrews Air Power Base, Md., Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015.
AP Photograph/Susan Walsh
Sept. 23, 2015
Go to to the White Home
Pope Francis was welcomed to the White Home by President Obama on the morning of Wednesday, Sept. 23.
The pope delivered a speech on the South Garden, the place he addressed the “urgency” for motion on local weather change.
“It appears clear to me additionally that local weather change is an issue which may now not be left to a future technology. With regards to the care of our ‘frequent residence,’ we live at a crucial second of historical past,” the pope stated.
Local weather change was a central theme as Pope Francis delivered his remarks on Wednesday morning.
Pope mentions victims of clergy intercourse abuse
From there he delivered a speech to U.S. bishops on the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, the place he alluded to the church little one intercourse abuse scandal.
He didn’t particularly reference the pedophilia that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church, however he made point out of the victims.
“I notice how a lot the ache of latest years has weighed upon you and I’ve supported your beneficiant dedication to convey therapeutic to victims – within the data that in therapeutic we too are healed – and to work to make sure that such crimes won’t ever be repeated,” he stated.
Pope Francis joined U.S. bishops for prayers, remarks on the Cathedral of St. Matthew in Washington.
Canonization of Junipero Serra
The pope, who’s the primary Hispanic head of the Catholic Church, then went to the Nationwide Basilica for a particular Mass to canonize the primary Hispanic saint, Junipero Serra.
The ceremony was controversial as a result of Serra, a Franciscan monk who labored to evangelize the California coast through the 18th century, has been criticized for utilizing coercive drive and corporal punishment on Native People.
A gaggle of South Bay Catholics referred to as the Serrans watched the pope carry out a historic canonization ceremony for Father Junipero Serra at a theatre in Campbell on Wednesday.
Sept. 24, 2015
Deal with to a joint session of Congress
On the morning of Sept. 24, Pope Francis turned the primary pontiff to deal with a joint session of Congress.
Francis started by reminding lawmakers of their “duty as members of Congress is to allow this nation, by your legislative exercise, to develop as a nation.”
The pope, talking in English, addressed a variety of topics, together with the U.S. civil rights motion.
“Right here too I consider the march which Martin Luther King led from Selma to Montgomery 50 years in the past as a part of the marketing campaign to meet his ‘dream’ of full civil and political rights for African-People,” he stated.
Thursday morning, Pope Francis delivered a historic speech earlier than a joint assembly of Congress.
Preaching to the homeless
From the Capitol, Francis subsequent spoke to a extra humble crowd: the homeless.
He delivered remarks at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Washington, the place homeless individuals had been invited to listen to him converse.
He began by saying how the Bible “could be very clear about this: There was no room” for Jesus, Mary and Joseph, who had been homeless on the time of Jesus’ delivery.
On this picture taken Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015, Pope Francis greets parishioners as he arrives at St. Patrick’s Church in Washington.
L’Osservatore Romano/Pool Photograph through AP
NEW YORK
That night, Pope Francis arrived at JFK Airport in New York Metropolis earlier than making his strategy to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York Metropolis to guide the night prayers, or vespers.
As soon as on the entrance of the cathedral, the pope stopped to bless a younger girl in a wheelchair who cried tears of pleasure upon his contact.
Nuns within the pews erupted in applause when he thanked them for his or her service. Francis described spiritual sisters as “ladies of power” and “fighters” who had a “spirit of braveness” as they served on the forefront of the church.
He stated he wished to supply “an enormous thank-you and to inform you that I like you very a lot.”
Jim Dolan experiences from Midtown.
The pope raised the problem of the clergy sex-abuse disaster, by consoling clergy for the struggling the scandal had brought about them.
The feedback have angered advocates for victims, who say American bishops solely took decisive motion to cease perpetrators when lawsuits and authorities investigations revealed paperwork that confirmed the scope of the issue.
A Vatican spokesman defended the pope’s remarks, saying it was applicable to acknowledge the bishops’ in depth reforms over greater than a decade in response to the scandal.
Sept. 25, 2015
Deal with on the United Nations
On the morning of Friday, Sept. 25, the pontiff turned the fourth pope to deal with the United Nations.
The primary challenge that Pope Francis addressed in his speech was the significance of defending the setting, a standard theme all through this journey.
Pope Francis began Friday on the United Nations.
“The ecological disaster, and the large-scale destruction of biodiversity, can threaten the very existence of the human species,” he stated, in response to a translated model of the speech launched by the Holy See.
The pope spoke out in opposition to warfare and battle, particularly citing Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Libya, South Sudan and components of Africa.
In the direction of the tip of the speech, he quoted El Gaucho Martin Fierro, “a traditional of literature in my fatherland,” to be able to specific how individuals ought to “preserve a real bond” between each other.
Multi-religous gathering on the 9/11 Memorial
Pope Francis attended a multi-religious gathering on the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, with Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and different leaders concerned within the ceremony.
Pope Francis stated a prayer and laid a white rose on the slabs with the names of the victims by one of many two reflecting swimming pools. He then met with a number of family of first responders who died within the assault.
“I really feel many various feelings standing right here at Floor Zero, the place 1000’s of lives had been taken in a mindless act of destruction. Right here grief is palpable,” he stated.
Pope Francis delivered remarks on the 9/11 Memorial in New York throughout a ceremony with different spiritual leaders.
Go to to Harlem elementary faculty
The pope subsequent went to Harlem to go to Our Girl Queen of Angels Elementary College.
He met with a choose group of third- and fourth-graders on the faculty.
Then 24 college students from 4 Catholic faculties all through Harlem sang for the Holy Father and gave displays on tasks referring to points necessary to him, such because the setting and repair to others.
Caring for the setting and worries about local weather change are the large points Pope Francis talks about. In New York, some youngsters who will get to satisfy the pope are taking up these points.
Greeting the devoted in Central Park
Tens of 1000’s of individuals then greeted Pope Francis as he rode by Central Park.
Some 80,000 individuals screamed, cheered, waved flags, and snapped photos because the pope glided by.
The attendees had been issued tickets by a lottery system. Pope Francis, all the time smiling, waved and blessed the group.
A digital camera positioned behind the pontiff gave a have a look at what he noticed through the parade.
Video exhibits Pope Francis’ perspective as he rode by Central Park Friday.
Mass at Madison Sq. Backyard
On the conclusion of the parade, the pope celebrated Mass for 18,000 individuals at Madison Sq. Backyard.
Pope Francis praised huge cities for his or her range and tradition however warned that they’ll additionally make their individuals really feel they do not belong, shunning them and treating them like second-class residents.
Jim Dolan experiences from Madison Sq. Backyard.
Through the Mass, Francis emphasised some extent he has made all through his U.S. journey: the necessity to welcome foreigners and marginalized individuals.
In his homily, he additionally cited “youngsters who go with out education, these disadvantaged with out medical insurance coverage, the homeless, the forgotten aged.”
He says God “frees us from anonymity, from a lifetime of vacancy and selfishness.” He additionally says, “God resides in our cities,” and so is the church.
PHILADELPHIA
Sept. 26, 2015
Pope Francis touched down at Philadelphia Worldwide Airport on the morning of Saturday, Sept. 26
The ‘Rocky’ theme performed as he descended the steps. As soon as on the bottom, he was greeted by Archbishop Charles Chaput, Gov. Tom Wolf and Mayor Michael Nutter.
Using in his Fiat 500L, Pope Francis seems out of the window as he leaves the Philadelphia Worldwide Airport in Philadelphia, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015.
Within the first iconic second of the Philly go to, the pope stopped the automotive he was touring in so he may get out and embrace a younger man in a wheelchair.
Pope Francis made an sudden cease moments after arriving in Philadelphia.
Mass on the Cathedral Basilica of Ss. Peter and Paul
From there, the pope went to have fun Mass on the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Heart Metropolis Philadelphia.
In his homily, the pope stated he realized concerning the historical past of the church, “the story behind its partitions and home windows.”
He stated, nevertheless, that the historical past of the Church in Philadelphia was about breaking down partitions. He invoked the mission of Philadelphia’s personal St. Katharine Drexel.
Pope Francis delivered a homily on the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia on Sept. 26, 2015.
“Most of you realize the story of Saint Katharine Drexel, one of many nice saints raised up by this native Church. When she spoke to Pope Leo XIII of the wants of the missions, the Pope – he was a really clever Pope! – requested her pointedly: ‘What about you? What are you going to do?’ These phrases modified Katharine’s life.”
Speech in entrance of Independence Corridor
At Philadelphia’s iconic Independence Corridor, Pope Francis gave a passionate speech on spiritual freedom, immigration and tolerance.
“The Quakers who based Philadelphia had been impressed by a profound evangelical sense of the dignity of every particular person and the best of a neighborhood united by cohesion,” he stated. “This conviction led them to discovered a colony which might be a haven of non secular freedom and tolerance. That sense of fraternal concern for the dignity of all, particularly the weak and the weak, turned a vital a part of the American spirit.”
Watch Pope Francis’ full speech at Independence Corridor.
“You must by no means be ashamed of your traditions,” he stated. “Don’t forget the teachings you realized out of your elders, that are one thing you may convey to complement the lifetime of this American land.”
Pope addresses the Competition of Households
The pope’s subsequent cease was the centerpiece of his go to: the Competition of Households, the capstone occasion of the World Assembly of Households in Philadelphia.
The pope paraded down the Ben Franklin Parkway, greeting the group gathered for the competition.
Pope Francis made his means by the Ben Franklin Parkway to the Competition of Households in Philadelphia.
Pope Francis was welcomed by actor Mark Wahlberg, who hosted the night’s performances.
The almost two-hour portion of the present the pope sat by featured musicians and a sequence of singing and dancing acts. Amongst those that carried out had been Aretha Franklin and Andrea Bocelli.
Six households from varied continents had been among the many audio system. They shared their hopes, desires and fears on stage because the pontiff listened attentively. The households had been from Australia, Ukraine, Jordan, Nigeria, the US and Argentina.
As soon as on stage, the pontiff spoke candidly concerning the significance of household earlier than an unlimited crowd.
“The household is gorgeous, however there’s effort concerned and there are issues,” the pope stated.
Even after a protracted day, Pope Francis took the stage on Saturday evening and gave his most passionate efficiency.
The pontiff then went off script from his ready remarks to focus on his imagine within the significance of households.
“All of the love and wonder God has in himself, he offers it to the household,” the pope stated.
“God despatched Him [Jesus] amid a household. He may do that as a result of it was a household with a really open coronary heart,” he continued.
The pope even joked about household life not being simple and that he is aware of concerning the issues they face, regardless of being a single man.
“Households have the difficulties, households struggle, typically plates can fly. Kids convey complications. I will not discuss mother-in-laws,” he stated. “With households, there may be all the time mild. … The household is sort of a manufacturing unit of hope, a manufacturing unit of Resurrection.”
Sept. 27, 2015
Pope condemns clergy intercourse abuse
On the morning of Sept. 27, Pope Francis delivered a speech to bishops gathered at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.
He started with a robust condemnation of the clergy intercourse abuse scandal, then revealed his earlier assembly with victims.
A Vatican spokesman stated Pope Francis met with 5 victims of sexual abuse: individuals who had been victims of monks, family and academics.
Pope Francis started his speech in suburban Philadelphia on Sunday morning with a condemnation of kid intercourse abuse.
The Rev. Federico Lombardi stated the three ladies and two males met with the pope for a half hour on the Saint Charles Borromeo seminary Sunday, the pope’s final day within the U.S.
Lombardi stated the pope prayed with the survivors, listened to their tales, expressed his closeness of their struggling and his “ache and disgrace” within the case of these abused by monks.
Talking to inmates at a Philadelphia jail
Pope Francis spoke to 100 inmates on the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in Philadelphia, telling them “all of us have one thing we have to be cleansed of, or purified from.”
Francis visited and met with the inmates, who he inspired “to help each other and search the most effective for others.” The inmates had been all 18 to 21 years outdated.
Pope Francis spoke to inmates inside Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility on Sunday morning.
“This time in your life can solely have one function: to offer you a hand in getting again on the correct street, to offer you a hand that can assist you rejoin society,” Francis stated. “All of us are a part of that effort, all of us are invited to encourage, assist and allow your rehabilitation.”
After he spoke, Francis walked by the aisles to shake fingers with the prisoners. A number of of them kissed the pontiff on the hand whereas others hugged him.
Shock go to to St. Joseph’s College
Pope Francis made an unscheduled cease at St. Joseph’s College on his strategy to Sunday Mass on the Ben Franklin Parkway.
Photograph Courtesy: Saint Joseph’s College junior Josh Schiavone
There, in entrance of the campus chapel, the pope stated hiya to college students and college dignitaries. He then blessed the “Synagoga and Ecclesia in Our Time” sculpture with holy water, bringing extra cheers from the group.
Pope Francis is the primary Jesuit pope, and with St. Joseph’s being a Jesuit college, rumors had swirled for days beforehand that he would possibly come to go to the campus.
Pope blesses the Knotted Grotto
Pope Francis then led a second Philadelphia parade on his strategy to the parkway.
The parade made an sudden cease on the Knotted Grotto artwork set up exterior the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.
Pope Francis made an sudden cease Sunday through the papal parade to go to the Knotted Grotto.
Whereas there, the pope blessed the 100,000 strips of white paper, bearing individuals’s troubles and worries, which had been tied to the show.
The interactive sculpture is impressed by the portray “Mary, Undoer of Knots,” a favourite of the pope’s.
Mass on the Ben Franklin Parkway
Lastly, capping a historic weekend for the Metropolis of Brotherly Love, Pope Francis then celebrated Mass in entrance of the Philadelphia Museum of Artwork for a crowd that numbers within the a whole bunch of 1000’s.
He touched on the significance of household, an applicable matter because the World Assembly of Households got here to an finish.
Pope Francis delivers homily Sunday throughout Mass on the Parkway.
“Like the nice and cozy supper we sit up for at evening, the early lunch awaiting somebody who will get up early to go to work. Homely gestures. Like a blessing earlier than we go to mattress, or a hug after we return from a tough day’s work.
“Love is proven by little issues, by consideration to small each day indicators which make us really feel at residence. Religion grows when it’s lived and formed by love. That’s the reason our households, our properties, are true home church buildings. They’re the correct place for religion to turn out to be life, and life to turn out to be religion,” Francis stated.
He acknowledged the big crowd that had gathered to see him, calling it a “miracle.’
“How many people are right here at this celebration! That is itself one thing prophetic, a form of miracle in immediately’s world,” he stated.
Pope Francis leaves Philadelphia
On the conclusion of Mass, Pope Francis made his strategy to Philadelphia Worldwide Airport to board an American Airways jet, designated “Shepherd One,” for a flight again to Rome.
However he had one last message for everybody who got here to greet him throughout his American go to.
“My days right here have been transient, however they’ve been days of nice grace for me and, I pray, for you, too.
“Might our days collectively bear fruit that may final, generosity and take care of others that may endure!
“I’ll pray for you and your households, and I ask you, please, to wish for me. Might God bless you all. God bless America!”
Pope Francis waves to the group at Philadelphia Worldwide Airport s he departs for Rome on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015.
AP Photograph/Laurence Kesterson, pool
Copyright © 2025 WPVI-TV. All Rights Reserved.
