“What we see in Francis is a lot of talk”, said SNAP activist Barbara Dorris, who held a photo of herself as a smiling 6-year-old, when she said the priest at her local Catholic parish began years of abuse.
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In a homily, Francis challenged young Catholics to service and emphasized that the “immense contribution” of women in the church.
He again highlighted the goal for his trip shortly after arriving in the United States, when he said at the White House that he intended to “travel to Philadelphia for the Eighth World Meeting of Families, to celebrate and support the institutions of marriage and the family at this, a critical moment in the history of our civilization”.
Pope Francis will celebrate an outdoor Mass on the same stage Sunday, ending his first-ever USA trip.
There had been fears that visitors might be scared away by all the security, and, in fact, train ridership was lower than expected, some streets were eerily quiet, and a vendor of pope sunglasses cut his price from $15 to $10 for lack of business.
“It is imperative that the followers of the various religions join their voices in calling for peace, tolerance and respect for the dignity and rights of others”, the pope said, also calling for a globalization that preserves the uniqueness of individuals and different cultures.
Joe Towalski, communications director for the St. Cloud diocese, said the group he was with had staked out Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Saturday afternoon, waiting for the popemobile to go by. He walked over to the 10-year-old with cerebral palsy, placed his hands on the boy’s head, uttered a blessing and kissed his forehead.
The final mass is likely to draw the biggest crowd of his visit, with some estimates hitting the million-person mark.
During his first visit to the United States, the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Roman Catholics on Thursday had urged Americans in a historic speech to Congress to reject “a mindset of hostility” toward immigrants.
Bocelli, whose rendition of The Lord’s Prayer was accompanied by The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Philadelphia Heritage Chorale, has described Francis as “a blessing given to the world”. “He’s not scripted. He’s relatable”, said Filipina Opena, 46, a Catholic from LaMirada, California. He said a few words to the child’s mother, who appeared moved nearly to tears. “You are their voice, and many of you have faithfully made their cry heard”, he told those listening from around the world and particularly in Philadelphia and the U.S. His powerful message is one desperately needed in our nation and one we should not soon forget.
Philadelphia has been at the center of American Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal.
Toward the end of the Mass, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput officially welcomed Francis to the City of Brotherly Love. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has been the subject of repeated grand jury investigations, and a monsignor was convicted of endangering children by not removing paedophile priests.
The pope’s predecessor, Benedict XVI, met victims of sex abuse scandal in Boston in 2008.
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“I hold the stories and the suffering and the sorry of children who were sexually abused by priests deep in my heart”.
