Pope Francis landed in Philadelphia at the weekend and commanded his entourage to stop his auto on the tarmac at the city’s airport so he could give his blessings to Michael Keating, who has cerebral palsy.
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Hours before Francis was due to deliver a homily near the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum, people filed towards a gated perimeter, where their belongings were searched before each person passed through metal detectors.
“Anyone who wants to bring into this world a family which teaches children to be excited by every gesture aimed at overcoming evil… will encounter our gratitude and our appreciation – whatever the family, people, region or religion to which they belong!”
The faithful prayed, some with tears in their eyes.
‘It was absolutely worth it – even with the long lines, ‘ says Kay Saucier of Levant.
Philadelphia is one of the cities where the scandal was most serious.
In a private meeting Sunday morning near Philadelphia, Pope Francis met with five adults who suffered sexual abuse as children, including at the hands of church clergy, the first time he has met with such victims outside of Rome. They have “sacred rights” to labor, land and lodging, he said.
“May you make possible new opportunities, new journeys, new paths”, Francis said in his speech to inmates.
“The significant aspect of his words today is that he promised that all responsible will be held accountable“.
Then he went into a meeting with American bishops in town for a Catholic festival on the family and told them the same thing face to face. The pope’s tender touch, Campuzano said, “gives us hope for his future”.
Many abuse survivors are angry at how the Vatican has dealt with allegations.
The main victims’ support group, SNAP, dismissed it as an exercise in public relations.
After meeting in Philadelphia with survivors of sexual abuse, Pope Francis vowed Sunday that he will “commit to a careful oversight to ensure that youth are protected”.
“He told them that he shared in their suffering, and he had pain and shame in particular in the case of injury caused by clergy or church workers”, Lombardi said.
He recalls the pope saying that family is the most important thing God created.
Ireland is ground zero for the church’s sexual abuse crisis outside of the U.S. The overwhelmingly Catholic country also recently legalized gay marriage. Along the way, he drew large and adoring crowds, met with President Barack Obama, visited ground zero and a school in East Harlem, and addressed Congress and the United Nations, calling for urgent action on climate change and poverty.
“We saw the Pope and got our picture”.
Curran-Fromhold, the prison Francis visited, holds almost 2,900 inmates and is 40% over capacity, according to The Wall Street Journal. He thanked them for the large wooden chair they made for him.
The inmates, some heavily tattooed, wore their blue jail-issued uniforms. He greeted each one and several reached out for – and received – hugs.
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Francis, who has called for the global abolition of the death penalty and also has spoken against lengthy prison terms, has made prison visits a regular part of his travels.
