Francis then headed straight to mass at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, where people slept in the street overnight in the hopes of seeing him.
Advertisement
Francis has repeatedly said women should have a greater role in church leadership, though he has rejected the idea of ordaining women.
Keeping parishioners involved is an important issue in America’s Catholic Church: the number of new priests only covers one-third of the need, according to the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University. The popular pontiff will end Saturday in attendance at the World Meeting of Families Festival. The weekend’s events will culminate in an outdoor Mass Sunday evening for 1 million people.
When Pope Francis takes a break, he’ll be resting up at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary – home to 130-plus seminarians.
Pope Francis kissed the forehead of a Caernarvon Township boy with cerebral palsy after landing in Philadelphia on Saturday morning, coaxing a small smile from the severely disabled 10-year-old.
Lincoln used the lectern on November. 19, 1863, to dedicate part of the Civil War battlefield at Gettysburg as a cemetery.
Pope Francis ordered his driver to stop so he could get out of his vehicle and bless a young boy with cerebral palsy as he arrived in Philadelphia on the final leg of his United States visit.
Pope Francis addressed a festival of families attended by tens of thousands of Catholics, offering a frank assessment of the difficulties of life and a prescription for love on the penultimate day of his U.S. tour.
Francis will be the star attraction at the World Meeting of Families, a conference for more than 18,000 people from around the world.
“I hope that will happen”, she said.
Francis said he greeted Latino immigrants Saturday with “particular affection” and gave them particularly strong words of encouragement.
The pope will celebrate Francis will celebrate Mass on the Parkway on Sunday.
A girl to her friend who was starting to close his eyes: “If the pope comes, I’ll wake you up!” Alvarez will be sharing her experiences during her trip to Philadelphia for the pope’s visit throughout the weekend.
“Our challenge today is to build on those solid foundations and to foster a sense of collaboration and shared responsibility in planning for the future of our parishes and institutions”, he said.
But he said he wanted to talk mostly about religious freedom – a rallying cry for USA bishops who have waged high-profile fights against gay marriage, abortion and insurer-provided birth control. The former Archbishop of Philadelphia, Cardinal Justin Rigali, who retired in 2011 amid a scandal over sex abuse by the clergy, was present.
Advertisement
Unfortunately, there were no graphical aids to help those in the audience who lost Francis at the geometry imagery, but his point, emphasized throughout the rest of the speech, was clear.
