A woman cries as Pope Francis blesses her disabled son upon arrival in Philadelphia.
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After landing, Pope Francis began heading toward the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Paul in his Fiat. Francis grabbed Michael’s mother’s hand, as she teared up in a touching moment that was broadcast on live television. Chuck is the band director for Bishop Shanahan High School, and his band was there to play for the pope as he arrived in Philadelphia.
Pope Francis walked over to the family and blessed the boy, then kissed him on the head.
Pope Francis made an unexpected stop as he was leaving the airport in Philadelphia Saturday morning to bless a boy in a wheelchair.
As Yahoo News reported, the young boy is 10-year-old Michael Keating, who was with his family behind a fence at the Philadelphia airport. “I couldn’t sleep – it’s just surreal”, said Gillian Porter, 14. “It’s something that will never happen again”. Keating has cerebral palsy and is confined to a wheelchair. “I can’t even explain”.
“We like to follow the Lord and we value family”, she said when asked why she decided to make the pilgrimage to Philly.
Waving Pope Francis placards and Vatican City flags, the crowd also chanted along to a celebratory song sang by members of Camino Neocatecumenal, a Catholic Church in San Francisco that brought 70 pilgrims to Philadelphia for the weekend.
Michael’s dad, Chuck, hesitated to capture the right words to describe that instant. “When you experience it from the inside like this you know that the church is not just an institution”. “To get that blessing and to give him a kiss on the forehead, I had to turn away, I couldn’t stand it. It’s one of those things, I think, when we get home, it’ll all sink in”.
With the biggest moments of Francis’ trip yet to come – including a speech at a lectern used by President Abraham Lincoln and a visit to a local prison – some in Philadelphia were mulling what he’d already said and done over his first four days in the U.S.
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“You always dream of maybe seeing the pope, but now the fact that he actually came over and blessed my son … it’s just unbelievable”, Keating said.
