Pope Francis’ previous stops were in New York City and Washington, D.C. Francis meets with prisoners at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility.
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The pontiff attended a music-and-prayer festival there Saturday night to close out the World Meeting of Families, a Vatican-sponsored conference of more than 18,000 people from around the world.
The hugely popular Pope focused on society’s most vulnerable during his last public remarks in America’s financial capital, a city of extreme wealth and poverty. “Children can be headaches”, Francis said.
“But those difficulties are overcome with love”, the pope continued.
Having arrived in Philadelphia – his visit ensuring that much of the city centre was off limits to all but pedestrians – the pontiff rode by motorcade to the central Cathedral Basilica of Sts Peter and Paul, where he celebrated Mass for about 1,600 people.
Pope Francis arrives in his popemobile to speak in front of Independence Hall, Saturday, September 26, 2015, in Philadelphia.
The pope, speaking in his native Spanish, greeted immigrants and Hispanics with “particular affection” and told them to “not be discouraged by whatever challenges and hardships you face”. “Do not forget the lessons you learned from your elders, which are something you can bring to enrich the life of this American land”, he said. “I repeat, do not be ashamed of what is part of you”.
The American Catholic Church has been a vocal supporter of the nation’s immigrants, advocating amnesty for the estimated 11 million undocumented foreigners.
“The family is handsome, but there’s effort involved and there are problems”, the pope said.
It may not have been the hard-hitting discussion of religious freedom some conservative American bishops may have wanted to hear.
Blasting “various forms of modern tyranny” that “seek to suppress religious freedom… or to use religion as a pretext for hatred and brutality”, Francis urged those of all faiths to work together for “peace, tolerance and respect for the dignity and rights of others”.
“His heart, in itself, you can see that reflected through his message”, said Filipina Opena, 46, a Catholic from LaMirada, California, as tour groups and families walked among Philadelphia’s historic sites ahead of the pope’s visit.
By 9 a.m. the area would be stacked 30 people deep, but at dawn sisters Nancy and Martha Klaas were among just a few, hovering protectively over their mother JuDea Klaas, a diminutive 86-year-old in a wheelchair who always has longed to glimpse a pope in person. But there were no explicit references to any of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ recent battles over religious rights.
As The Associated Press reports, the pope “will give his attention to both the elite and the disadvantaged, this time visiting inmates in Philadelphia’s largest jail”.
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Schools and many businesses closed, and many residents left town in the days leading up to Francis’ arrival.
