The church itself is viewed positively by 60 percent of Americans, while 63 percent view Pope Francis favorably. ” And “it’s going to be one of the largest lifts in the nation’s history for national security events”, James Yacone, the assistant director of the team leading the FBI’s efforts during the pope’s visit, said in a press release”. Inside the Convention Center, vendors were staging their stalls by setting up shelves, tables, and large-scale displays with images of Pope Francis, Jesus, Mary and other Catholic iconography. Of the five Masses every Sunday at St. Peter, four are delivered in Spanish.
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Two-out-of-three Americans still believe the central tenets of Christianity, that Jesus Christ was the son of God who was resurrected on Easter Day. Residents of the Northeast are most excited for the papal visit, with 59 percent saying they’re looking forward to it. The level of excitement is lower elsewhere: 54 percent of Midwesterners as well as just over 4 in 10 in the West (44 percent) and the South (41 percent).
“We’re going individually”, Hernandez said, adding that the official pilgrimage for the Oakland and San Francisco dioceses was “way out of our price range”, at $1,795 a head. “Everything is scrutinized over and over”, she said. “Or have they have had no impact on the church?” Cars crowded the roads around the Pennsylvania Convention Center, where the World Meeting of Families Congress opens September 22. “I’m still in such shock over everything”, said Aaron Ledesma, who writes a blog called The Gay Catholic and who wrote to the White House office of correspondence and received an invitation.
The pope is not as liberal as many Americans seem to think, the conservative Catholic bishop of Philadelphia has said.
Elected in 2013, Pope Francis has established himself as guardian for the poor and vulnerable, building a homeless shelter at the edge of Vatican City, meeting with Syrian refugees and riding public transit.
Gosar, who is Catholic, says the pope should fight climate change on his personal time, not as pope.
“He shows himself as a normal guy”, Luisana said.
A vast majority – 77 percent of American Catholics – also see the pope as “in touch with the modern world“, while 18 percent see him as out of touch with modern life.
“The President values hearing from the Pope on a number of issues that they both care about”, the official said.
Espinueva will not travel across the country to join in on the papal events, mostly because he got 10 feet away from the pope during an April trip to Turin, Italy, and doubts he can replicate that experience.
But beyond hot-button political topics, a senior White House official said the two men enjoy a rapport that means many different subjects could be raised, should the Pope be so inclined. Espinueva is Filipino and said his Daly City neighborhood teems with Filipino immigrants who are also practicing Catholics.
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“I would love for him to come here and maybe go to the Castro”, Espinueva said.
