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Bart Jones

Pope Francis publicly acknowledged on his return to Rome from a historic trip to the United States that some U.S. bishops "covered up" child sex abuse by Catholic clergy.
"Those who have covered up these things are guilty," the pope said during the 45-minute in-flight news conference Sunday night. "And some bishops covered this up, and it is a very ugly thing."
Speaking in Italian and Spanish, Francis also said conscientious objection was "a human right" and he praised American nuns, calling them "great women."
His comments capped off a six-day U.S. visit that saw hundreds of thousands of people wait for hours in the streets for a fleeting glimpse of the pontiff dubbed "the people's pope." During his appearances in Washington, New York City and Philadelphia, Francis stressed family values, respect for immigrants and taking care of the environment.
On Sunday, his final day in America, the pope apologized directly to abuse victims and vowed before hundreds of bishops from around the world to hold accountable both perpetrators and those within the church who shield them.
Some comforting words he gave bishops earlier in the trip during a meeting in Washington -- and which some sex abuse victims groups criticized -- were not meant to say, "Don't worry, that was nothing," Francis said.
Instead, "I felt the need to express compassion because something really terrible happened. And many of them suffered who did not know of this," he said.
Some Vatican experts said the comments on board the flight appeared to be the first time Francis publicly and directly said some U.S. bishops covered up the sex abuse scandal.
"This is the first time the pope has said out loud and in his own name that the bishops have covered up the crime of the sex abuse, and has linked that to a promise that there will be accountability not just for the crime but for the cover-up," said longtime Vatican analyst John Allen, who was aboard the plane.
During the flight, Francis also was asked about the controversial case of a county clerk in Kentucky who spent five days in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
"I can say that freedom of conscience is a right, it is a human right," Francis said. "Freedom of conscience must be respected in every judicial structure."
Francis had high praise for U.S. nuns, who had been under an investigation launched by his predecessor, Benedict XVI, but which Francis ended this year.
He said the nuns have "done marvels in the field of education, in the field of health" and that one high-level U.S. official told him, "The education I have, I owe above all to the sisters."
"The people of the United States love the sisters," he said. "I don't know how much they may love the priests," he added, jokingly, "but they love the sisters, they love them so much. They are great. They are great, great, great women."
"I felt obligated to thank them for what they've done," he said.
The pope said that when he leaves a country after a visit, "I see the faces of so many people. I get the urge to pray for them and say to the Lord, 'I came here to do something, to do good, perhaps I have done wrong, forgive me but protect all those people who saw me, who thought of what I said, who heard me, even those who have criticized me, all of them.' That is what I feel."

Nation/World

LIPOPE29

Pope Francis on flight home: Bishops 'covered up' sex abuse

LIPOPE29 / mg

Pope Francis arrived in Rome early Monday after a whirlwind tour of the United States, which included a farewell ceremony inside an airport hangar attended by Vice President Joseph Biden.
In an overnight tweet, the pope said: "With my heartfelt thanks. May the love of Christ always guide the American people! #GodBlessAmerica."
Before boarding his American Airlines jetliner in Philadelphia Sunday night, the pontiff expressed gratitude for his visit to the United States, which he called "days of great grace for me." 
The pope's plane, dubbed "Shepherd One," left at 7:46 p.m. -- earlier than the scheduled 8 p.m. departure -- capping a nine-day tour of Cuba and the United States, with stops in Havana, Washington, New York City and Philadelphia. 
The pope, who arrived at the airport earlier than scheduled, greeted Biden and his wife, Jill Biden, shaking their hands right before the start of the formal departure ceremony, which also was attended by Pennsylvania Gov. Thomas Wolf, Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter, Archbishiop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Charles J. Chaput and other officials. He met with organizers and volunteers with the World Meeting of Families before departing.
Chaput told the pope: "The heart of the people of the City of Brotherly Love are with you. We hate to see you leave. We're so grateful that you came to our home, Philadelphia."
The pope, in his brief remarks at the airport, also asked the vice president to "renew my gratitude" to President Obama and Congress.
"This land has been blessed with tremendous gifts and opportunities. I pray that you may all be good and generous stewards of the human and material resources entrusted to you."
He also mentioned his visit to Ground Zero, saying: "I was also very moved to stand with my brothers and sisters of other religions at Ground Zero, that place which speaks so powerfully of the mystery of evil."
Francis ended his speech by saying, "God bless America."
Betty Trymbiski of Doylestown, Pennsylvania, was given tickets to attend the pope's departure Thursday by a friend. 
"Other than getting married and having my four sons, this is one of the most amazing things that's ever happened to me," she said.
"He's a people's pope. You really can relate to him. He's just a regular guy. I think I'm closer to him than any other pope we've had."
The airport reception served Argentine food, Thai noodles and chicken skewers.
The last day of his trip included a visit with prison inmates and a ride in his popemobile along Benjamin Franklin Parkway, during which he waved to crowds and kissed at least a dozen babies and young children.
The pope ended his U.S. tour with a late afternoon Mass estimated to have been attended by hundreds of thousands of people for the conclusion of the World Meeting of Families.
He also waded into one of the Catholic church's most devastating controversies: the priest sexual abuse scandal. The pope met with a small group of victims and afterward said of the abuse, "God weeps."
The pope vowed "careful oversight" to ensure the protection of young people and said in comments to church officials after the meeting with victims those responsible for the abuse would be held accountable.
"The people who had the responsibility to take care of these tender ones violated that trust and caused them great pain," he said. "Those who have survived this abuse have become true heralds of mercy. Humbly we owe each of them our gratitude for their great value, as they have had to suffer terrible abuse, sexual abuse of minors," he said.
The 78-year-old pontiff kept a busy schedule throughout his trip, meeting with President Barack Obama at the White House, addressing a joint session of Congress and visiting the September 11 Memorial &amp; Museum in lower Manhattan.
Along the way, the pope also met with plenty of regular people, leading a procession through Central Park and visiting a Catholic school in East Harlem. His pastoral style showed through, with Francis offering embraces and hugs, and delighting crowds.
His words, many said, offered hope.
The Argentine-born pontiff repeatedly mentioned his roots as the son of an immigrant, while calling for compassion for immigrant families in the United States, at a time when the issue of illegal immigration has become a divisive political issue.
In a speech to the UN General Assembly, the pope called for the world's attention to pivot to climate change. 
"In effect, a selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity leads both to the misuse of available natural resources and to the exclusion of the weak and disadvantaged," the pope said.

LIBYE28

Pope Francis arrives in Rome, sends 'heartfelt thanks' in tweet

Italy Pope

PHILADELPHIA -- Pope Francis closed out his historic nine-day mission to Cuba and the United States with an extraordinary Mass in the streets of downtown Philadelphia Sunday before an estimated crowd of nearly 1 million worshippers -- a gathering that the pontiff called "a miracle."
With throngs of followers flooding Benjamin Franklin Parkway -- some climbing up trees and lamp posts for better vantage points -- the pope made a final appeal to his followers to carry their faith, love and compassion back to their homes long after he returned to the Vatican.
"We Christians, the Lord's disciples, ask the families of the world to help us," Francis said, looking across the sea of celebrants before him. "This is itself prophetic, a kind of miracle in today's world. How beautiful it would be if everywhere, even beyond our borders, we could appreciate and encourage this prophecy and this miracle." 
It was the main event of the pope's momentous American visit, and of the World Meeting of Families -- an international Catholic conference held every three years. 
Crowds began flocking to Philadelphia's Center City during early morning hours for the 4 p.m. Mass, braving unprecedented security measures for a view of the giant altar and the pontiff himself.
"I think it's a testament to the fact this pope has been very welcoming and more contemporary perhaps than previous popes," said Philadelphia resident Joseph Bowen, 33, who arrived six hours early with his wife, Melissa. 
The pope made his way to the makeshift church in a large motorcade that stopped repeatedly so that he could kiss babies brought to him by security personnel.
As he arrived, choral music soared. Among the voices in the 500-member papal choir were Michael and Patricia Lundy, formerly of Valley Stream and now from Wilmington, Delaware. "It's been a long road to get here today but we're excited," Michael Lundy said. Patricia Lundy added, "Everyone in the choir is blessed."
The crowd, as large as it was, was quiet and respectful from the moment the Mass commenced, listening intently to the pope's words. 
"Love is shown by little things," the pontiff, dressed in a green garment with gold trimming, said in a homily stressing family values. He explained that happiness and holiness often come in small gestures in the home: "Like a blessing before we go to bed, or a hug after we return from a hard day's work.
"They are the quiet things done by mothers and grandmothers, by fathers and grandfathers, by children. They are little signs of tenderness, affection and compassion," Francis said, according to the official English translation of his remarks, made in Spanish. 
"That is why our families, our homes, are true domestic churches. They are the right place for faith to become life, and life to become faith."
Those who could not get tickets to attend the Mass watched on giant video screens. They were silent as the Liturgy of the Eucharist began and the pope held up the blessed wafer. 
Priests, identifiable by the white and yellow umbrellas they carried, fanned out onto the parkway to deliver the Eucharist. From behind metal barricades, people waved to get their attention so they could receive Communion. They moved forward and stretched their hands and made room for the person behind them. 
Dennis DiDomenico, 63, said receiving Communion at the Mass was "something that I'll remember forever."
DiDomenico, of nearby Drexel Hill, who came with his wife, Karen, said: "We were here at a Mass that the pope celebrated. I don't know if I'll ever have that chance in my life ever again. Just to hear his voice . . . was inspiring."
Communion was followed with a silent prayer, as overcast skies began to darken.
At the end of the Mass, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput, on behalf of the legions of Catholics assembled, thanked the pope for "bringing your spirit to our city and to the world."
"None of us will forget these days for the rest of our lives," Chaput said.
Lifelong Catholic John Goldschmidt, 57, who came with his family, said the Mass was unlike any other he attended.
"To just feel the community; that there are this many people, and millions more who would want to be here, is as moving of a spiritual experience that I've ever had," said Goldschmidt, of Wayne, Pennsylvania. 
Filing out of the staging area at the conclusion of the Mass, Jaime Cordova, a 21-year-old Villanova University student from San Juan, said the experience of seeing the pope among nearly a million people was, at times, "a little overwhelming." 
"But now I have a sense of peace," he said.

LIMASS28

Pope Francis leads Mass for nearly a million in Philadelphia, asking for 'little gestures of kindness'

Pope Francis in Philadelphia

Joseph D'Aleo of Rockville Centre, a New York City Sanitation Department supervisor sick with a 9/11-related disease, shook hands with Pope Francis at Sunday night's farewell event at Philadelphia's airport.
To D'Aleo and his family, the moment was life-changing.
"His hands were so soft -- beautiful face," D'Aleo said. "I totally filled up."
The butterflies in his stomach went away. He felt different and told his wife, Dorothy, as much after his encounter with Francis, who departed the airport shortly before 8 p.m. on his return to Rome following a nine-day trip to Havana, Cuba, Washington, New York City and Philadelphia.
For years, D'Aleo, who helped with the cleanup after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, has been sick with sarcoidosis, known as 9/11 lung disease. His office was on Church Street and for a year he cleaned the buildings surrounding Ground Zero, wearing only a flimsy mask. He was misdiagnosed with asthma, retired in 2004 and was diagnosed with sarcoidosis in 2009. 
He was teary-eyed, recalling all the hospital stays and pain from his disease. But now that may have changed. One touch from the pope and he felt something. "It's like a feeling that came through my body."
His wife called the couple's two children. "It's just like a sign he's going to be OK," Dorothy D'Aleo said.
"Hope," her husband said. "It gives you hope."
The couple says it's like the Holy Spirit entered Joseph.
"We all feel like a weight has been lifted," Dorothy said. "We all feel like it's going to be OK. I can't explain the feeling of relief."
The brief encounter, during which D'Aleo kissed the pope's hand, was not in the plans, but maybe it should have been. Or was it divinely inspired?
D'Aleo was transferred to his World Trade Center post two weeks before the attacks. When he heard of the pope's visit, he volunteered at the World Meeting of Families and, by chance, was given tickets to the farewell event for the first pope ever to visit the September 11 Memorial &amp; Museum. And the Long Island resident met the pope in Philadelphia. 
His description of the brief meeting? "Beyond a dream come true," D'Aleo said.

LIROCK28

Rockville Centre man meets pope before Francis flies back to Vatican

lirock

Pope Francis Sunday addressed the wrenching issue of child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy, apologizing directly to victims and vowing before hundreds of bishops from around the world to hold accountable both perpetrators and those within the church who shield them.
"I remain overwhelmed with shame that men entrusted with the tender care of children violated these little ones and caused grievous harm," Francis said at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, soon after meeting privately with victims of sexual abuse and their families. "I am profoundly sorry. God weeps."
The 300 bishops in the seminary's vaulted sanctuary -- gathered in Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families -- had jovially greeted the pope during his entrance moments before, cheering and clapping. As soon as he introduced the topic of sexual abuse, the room gradually fell silent, as the message flowed from his slowly paced Argentine Spanish to the various languages into which it was being translated through wireless earpieces the bishops wore.
"The crimes and sins of the sexual abuse of children must no longer be held in secret," Francis said. "I pledge the zealous vigilance of the church to protect children and the promise of accountability to all."
The remarks, on the final day of the pope's trip to Cuba and the United States, represented the first time during the journey that Francis pointedly addressed the issue of sexual abuse of children within the Catholic Church. He touched on the topic Wednesday at a gathering of bishops in Washington, D.C., crediting them for their "generous commitment to bring healing to victims" -- words that brought criticism from some who had endured such abuse and organizations that advocate for them.
The three women and two men he met with Sunday were abused as children by members of the clergy, or by family members or teachers, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
The pope "listened to their stories, greeted them individually and prayed with them," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said. The meeting took place at the seminary between 8 and 9 a.m. and lasted about a half-hour.
"I am deeply sorry for the times when you or your family spoke out, to report the abuse, but you were not heard or believed," Francis said at the private meeting to the victims of clergy sexual abuse, according to a text released by the bishops' conference. "Please know that the Holy Father hears you and believes you."
Lombardi said the pope was joined in the meeting by Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley, archbishop of Boston and chairman of the commission set up by the pope for the protection of minors, Archbishop of Philadelphia Charles Chaput and Auxiliary Bishop Michael Fitzgerald, who heads the Philadelphia archdiocese's commission for the protection of minors.
Francis, who in June approved creation of a Vatican tribunal to try cases of bishops accused of not protecting children from sexual abuse by priests, pledged full investigation of cases in which church leadership either protected abusers or abused children themselves.
"I deeply regret that some bishops failed in their responsibility to protect children. It is very disturbing to know that in some cases bishops even were abusers. I pledge to you that we will follow the path of truth wherever it may lead. Clergy and bishops will be held accountable when they abuse or fail to protect children," he told the sex-abuse victims and their families.
He ended the meeting with a plea to the victims not to lose faith.
"I humbly beg you and all survivors of abuse to stay with us, to stay with the church, and that together, as pilgrims on the journey of faith, we might find our way to the Father," he said.
Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston and vice president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops, said afterward that Francis' message was "very clear."
"There's a good deal of work already going on in our church" on dealing with abuse, DiNardo said. "The pope was clear in what he sees is necessary to do."
It wasn't the first time that a visiting pope has connected with victims of clerical sexual abuse on U.S. soil. Benedict XVI spoke with a group of six victims on the first full day of his 2008 trip to the United States, after telling reporters on the papal plane bound for Washington, D.C., that he was "deeply ashamed" of the problem.
Vatican analyst John Thavis, author of "The Vatican Diaries," called Francis' words "very powerful" and pointed out that he went beyond an apology and "expressed the church's shame."
The pope "committed himself to holding people accountable, including everyone who has failed to protect minors, and he is backing that up . . . by instituting new procedures and a tribunal at the Vatican that is actually designed to investigate whether bishops fell short of their responsibility," Thavis said.
The sex-abuse scandal rocked the church worldwide in 2002, after The Boston Globe reported that priests accused of molesting children had been moved around by bishops in an attempt to keep the matter quiet, and it has dogged the church since. The scandal spread to Europe, with bishops there forced to resign as news broke that the molestation and cover-ups were not confined to the United States.
Francis' statements drew both positive and negative responses from organizations that represent clergy sex-abuse victims.
Donna B. Doucette, executive director of Voice of the Faithful, a lay Catholic group, said she was "surprised" the pope waited until the last day of his trip to meet with victims. His message, however, was a good sign, she said.
"Saying the bishops will be held accountable, they can't do this to children -- it should make a big impact on the bishops going forward," she said, adding that she hopes Francis' words "are going to be carried out."
But John Salveson, a former Long Islander who said he was abused as a child at St. Dominic Church in Oyster Bay, said an apology isn't enough.
"Words are cheap. To say that he's sorry and to say that he wants to hold people accountable -- we've kind of heard all this before," said Salveson, who is president of the Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse. "That doesn't mean anything to me. I just want him to fix it, I don't care how he feels."
David Clohessy, director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, dismissed Francis' meeting with the victims and his words.
"A smart public relations move. That's what this meeting is," Clohessy said in a news release. "Nothing more."
"It fits church officials' carefully crafted narrative. Years ago, prelates pretended the abuse and cover up weren't happening. That no longer works," he said. "So now they pretend it's not happening NOW, that it's all 'in the past' and only healing remains to be done."
Francis, unlike Benedict, met not only with victims of abuse by clergy, but also with people who suffered at the hands of relatives and teachers.
Doucette said she was surprised by that move, but added she thought it made sense.
"I think it indicates the pope is worried about child abuse in all sectors of society," Doucette said. "Child sex abuse is not confined to the Catholic Church by any means."
In 2003, a Suffolk County grand jury report detailed allegations of sexual abuse by priests in the Diocese of Rockville Centre. The grand jury could not issue indictments because the statute of limitations had elapsed on the individual cases.
A bill that would eliminate the statute of limitations on child sex abuse cases going forward and create a one-year window to allow victims to file lawsuits no matter when the abuse happened has languished in the state Assembly for years.
The Catholic Church has long opposed the bill, and has said it could be financially catastrophic for the church and that it would enrich trial lawyers instead of helping victims.
Francis, whose appearance at the seminary came at the start of his last day on U.S. soil, went on to counsel the bishops on the challenges they face as pastors in a modern society where personal relationships have become fractured, and asked them to redouble their efforts to "serenely yet passionately" proclaim the word of God.
He also visited inmates at a prison before celebrating Mass with nearly 1 million people, a capstone event of the World Meeting of Families.

LIPOPE28

Pope Francis vows to protect children, hold bishops accountable for sexual abuse

US Pope Francis/jb

Pope Francis broke new ground Sunday in the Catholic Church's long struggle to respond to a damaging clergy sex-abuse scandal with his unqualified promise to hold bishops accountable for their failures.
Francis has taken a number of steps to discipline bishops who failed to protect children, but the open-ended nature of his "promise of accountability for all" -- and his pledge to "follow the path of truth wherever it may lead" -- implied that he will go much further.
While the Catholic Church in the United States has made important moves to combat the problem, it has not held its upper echelon accountable.
Francis promised another course during his visit to Philadelphia when he told a small group of victims, "Clergy and bishops will be held accountable when they abuse or fail to protect children."
While his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI took a harder line against miscreant priests than did the previous pontiff, St. John Paul II, Benedict did not extend the crackdown to bishops who covered up the scandal of priests who repeatedly abused minors.
In the past, the Vatican's position was that canon law made it difficult for the pope to remove a bishop from leading a diocese.
But Francis approved creation of a Vatican tribunal in June to hear cases against bishops accused of covering up clergy sexual-abuse allegations. Shortly afterward, Archbishop John Nienstedt of Minneapolis-St. Paul resigned, two weeks after criminal charges were filed against his archdiocese for allegedly failing to protect children against abuse.
Francis also accepted the resignation earlier this year of Kansas City's Bishop Robert Finn, who was convicted three years earlier of failing to report suspected abuse.
Last year, he replaced a bishop in Paraguay.
There are other bishops whose lapses are a matter of public record -- documented in civil and criminal court cases -- but who continue to enjoy their status as prelates.
"Now the question is, 'How quickly are you going to hold these bishops accountable?' " said Donna Doucette, executive director of Voice of the Faithful, an organization of lay Catholics.
"You can't let them sit there for years and years . . . Also, take away the titles of bishops who retired. We are looking to see that actual steps will follow the rhetoric."
The "pope of surprises" did indeed surprise many observers with Sunday's comments, as they contrasted with the sympathy he showed for the American Catholic bishops when he spoke to them Wednesday at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle during his stop in Washington, D.C.
He told the bishops then that he was aware "of the courage with which you have faced difficult moments" resulting from the scandal.
That prompted Dennis Coday, editor of the National Catholic Reporter, to write that "the message he delivered . . . puts him back to square one" in handling the sex-abuse crisis.
But Sunday, the editor of the liberal Catholic weekly -- which since the 1980s has been in the forefront of reporting on sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church -- said Francis' latest statements encouraged him.
"He's hearing the message," he said.
Coday said some bishops have responded effectively to the scandal. Unlike others, they aren't likely to blame plaintiffs' lawyers or the news media for their troubles, he said.
On the other hand, "There's a creeping complacency in the bishops who aren't being vigilant."
He said it was encouraging that Francis praised the victims for having the courage to come forward, and that the pope apologized for the church's failure to listen to them in the past.
In the long run, the pope's greatest contribution may be that he is taking on problems that created the conditions for abusive priests to be transferred from parish to parish, with their wrongdoing kept secret.
Francis' willingness to admit being wrong, his emphasis on transparency, his openness to dissenting opinions, his call for bishops to enter into dialogue with the people -- all of these run counter to the culture of clericalism that allowed the problem of sexual abuse to fester in the first place.

LIFOOT28

From Francis, a 'promise of accountability' in sex-abuse scandal

Pope

PHILADELPHIA -- Pope Francis' homilies and speeches have struck a chord with millions of Americans, and some wonder if he writes his own speeches.
He does, according to a Vatican spokesman.
"The Holy Father likes to have a direct control over the message he gives," said the Rev. Manuel Dorantes, a U.S.-based assistant to the Vatican's spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi.
Francis took the month of July off from most of his activities to prepare for his trip to Cuba and the United States, and spent the bulk of that time working on his homilies and speeches, Dorantes said.
The pope consults experts inside the Vatican about the countries he will visit, but also talks to bishops and others in the countries themselves, Dorantes said. "He's also known to pick up the phone and call people" beyond the bishops and other church leaders, he said.
The pope is "a Jesuit who really thinks and likes to discern God's voice, his own voice and what are other people's voices, before he uses his own voice before the public," Dorantes said.
Of course, some of the most memorable moments of the pope's trip were when he went off script, such as his talk about families Saturday night in Philadelphia that included a joke about mothers-in-law.
The Vatican press corps, which has breezed through security check points throughout the pope's trip while others waited for hours, finally ran into a roadblock Saturday.
As press members went to leave the pope's address outside Independence Hall just before he finished so they could get to his next event on time and avoid the total lockdown in the area that occurs when Francis travels, Philadelphia police stopped our group in its tracks.
The Vatican press aide in charge told the police we were the Vatican press corps. The cops didn't believe him.
A tense standoff ensued, with some less-than-pastoral-like words exchanged. We were trapped inside the metal gates lining the streets.
Eventually, the police let the press corps pass through, and we quickly sped to the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, where the pope would address the World Meeting of Families that evening.
We made it on time.
There is a priest who stays at Pope Francis' side almost all the time in the United States and translates for him.
His name is Msgr. Mark Miles, and he's an official of the Vatican's Secretariat of State. He's originally from Gibraltar, the British territory south of Spain. His native language is a heavily accented British English. His second language is Spanish.
Francis has said he's not comfortable speaking in a language other than Spanish or Italian. So he usually turns to Miles, 48, to transmit his message to English speakers.
Of course, Francis often goes off his prepared homilies and speeches, so Miles has to be fast on his feet. That's especially challenging because Francis often uses Argentine idiomatic expressions that even some native Spanish speakers from other countries wouldn't know.
Like when Francis uses the word "pollera" for "skirt." The rest of the Spanish-speaking world would say "falda."
The pope apparently has great confidence in Miles. In January, when a typhoon alert was issued in the Philippines, where 6,300 people were killed by Typhoon Yolanda in 2014, the pope decided to ditch his prepared remarks. He asked the crowd if he could do so.
"I have a translator, a good translator," the pope said. "May I do that? May I?" The crowd roared its approval.

LISCEN28

Reporter's notebook: The pope's speechwriter, the pope's translator, a press corps roadblock

Pope Francis -- cropped

Ismaela Miranda had been full of gleeful determination as she waited amid a six-deep crowd that lined Manhattan's Fifth Avenue last week -- a smiling picture of giddy joy.
Moments later, shortly after Pope Francis whisked past in the backseat of a modest Fiat sedan, she was in tears.
"In a world so corrupt there is a man who wants to bring peace and hope to the world," said Miranda, of Brooklyn.
The presence of Francis, who for six days energized and enthralled crowds with a white-robed flurry of activity and humble optimism, tapped a deep emotional wellspring among often-jaded Americans.
"Look at all the people who are here just to see one person," Miranda said. "I cry because I get so emotional that there is faith and hope in all of us still."
For many of those who have flocked to see the pope this past week, Francis' message of hope, dispensed both in the bright glare of meetings with national and world leaders, as well as during encounters with impoverished individuals, sick children or young students he met during his whirlwind tour, touched them personally.
"Whether you are Catholic or not Catholic, whether you believe or you don't believe, this is a tremendous moment," said Caprice Gray, 29, a public health worker from Harlem, who said her religious upbringing brought her to Catholic and African Methodist Episcopal churches alike.
Miranda, the daughter of Cuban immigrants, said Francis' involvement in brokering a thaw in relations between Washington and Havana demonstrated an eagerness to use the power of his personality to bring about reconciliation between ossified adversaries. She even held out hope that her fleeting public audience with Francis -- she said he waved in her direction from his Fiat as he passed -- might bring her absolution.
"My family are still there, my parents were born there, so we were really excited when he visited Cuba," she said. "And I'm hoping I'm blessed for real, that when he raised his hand, my sins were forgiven and I'm on to the next day."
Skepticism before visit
To be sure, there were considerable doubts whether the papal visit would turn into the American love fest that it became.
Many observers believed the pope faced a potentially difficult audience as he arrived in a United States riven by such flashpoints as income disparity, same-sex marriage and the ability of women to terminate a pregnancy.
Op-ed columnists from both the left and the right have at times been critical.
Peter Steinfels, a former co-director of Fordham University's Center on Religion and Culture, this month wrote a syndicated column chiding the pope for not revisiting the church's opposition to birth control. "The church's unwillingness to grapple with a deep and highly visible gap between official teachings and actual practice undermines Catholic vigor and unity at every level," Steinfels wrote on Sept. 11.
And just days before the pope arrived in the nation's capital, conservative Washington Post columnist George Will wrote a stinging op-ed that accused Francis of "rhetorical exhibitionism." Will characterized the pope as "trailing clouds of sanctimony" while favoring "impeccably fashionable, demonstrably false" policies that would "devastate the poor on whose behalf he purports to speak."
Yet once Francis arrived in the United States Tuesday afternoon, an often joyful reverence seemed to pour from people at every point on the political compass. There is even speculation that the decision by Republican conservative John Boehner to step down as speaker of the House was made easier by an interaction with Francis during the pope's visit to Congress. Boehner was said to have been brought to tears by Francis' face-to-face request that Boehner pray for him.
'This pope is different'
Funmi Balogun, who was among a crowd waiting to attend a Mass officiated by the pope at the Catholic University of America in Washington, said she deeply admired Francis despite her more fundamentalist leanings as a self-described born-again Christian.
Balogun, a breast cancer survivor, said a friend gave her the ticket to the Mass as a gift, believing Francis' blessing could make a difference in her life.
"This pope is different from every pope, because he's so human and so down-to-Earth," said Balogun, of Glen Burnie, Maryland. "He doesn't see where you are in life; he sees a human being."
Abbe Klebanoff, a Philadelphia librarian, said Saturday that although she is not Catholic, she has been deeply moved by his message of inclusion, one she hopes will be heard by America's politicians.
"I love this pope; I'm Jewish, but I love his message," Klebanoff said during a morning bike ride obstructed by one of the hundreds of pope-related crowd-control barricades that seemingly turned Philadelphia's streets into an endless maze of detours. "I well up with tears when I think about it. . . . We've lost our love and he has said to us, love, let's love" despite our differences.
Bay Shore resident Veronica Reyes also struggled to contain her feelings, after having organized a bus caravan that Saturday bore more than 1,000 mostly Hispanic Long Islanders to the City of Brotherly Love.
"We are all full of emotion just being here," Reyes, 42, said in Spanish. "This is our first Hispanic pope and he brings a message to all the world and we hope his words bring peace."
Authenticity touches many
Fordham University religion Professor Terrence W. Tilley said three factors apparently helped the voice of the soft-spoken Francis seem to temporarily quiet the din of an American public discourse that in this political season has been amped up by economic friction and partisan rancor.
Tilley said that for an American people weary of poll-tested pronouncements and sharply partisan invective, the pope's humility, lack of political orthodoxy and seeming off-the-cuff candidness imbue him with an authenticity that has provided a surprising wellspring of respect and admiration.
"When he spoke to Congress, the subtext of his message was 'don't campaign, govern; work together,' " said Tilley, who is Fordham's Avery Cardinal Dulles S.J. Professor of Catholic Theology. "The same was true at the United Nations, where he told world leaders if you refuse to attend to the environment, you are refusing to attend to those who are most vulnerable and in need."
"His earlier comment about homosexual people seeking God, when he said, 'Who am I to judge them,' set an incredibly powerful tone," Tilley said. "His solidarity with those who are marginalized socially, politically, economically or ecologically creates an atmosphere in which his words can be heard welcomingly and positively, not restrictively, and if you would, exclusively."
Gray, the health worker from Harlem, said she was struck by how Francis seemed able to touch the hearts of people of widely differing views and from divergent religious traditions.
"I was sandwiched between a woman who was devoutly Catholic her whole life, an Italian American, and another woman who was a complete nonbeliever," said Gray, who was among tens of thousands of people who lined Fifth Avenue as the pope made his way toward St. Patrick's Cathedral on Thursday. "The fact that he is bringing us all together, his message is one of unification."
Tilley voiced a similar point of view.
Shortly after a Friday evening Mass officiated by Francis ended at Madison Square Garden, Tilley said he regarded the pope's visit to that point to be a triumph of his ability to project strong views without dividing his audience into polarized camps.
"So far he has not made a single misstep," Tilley said. "He has been seen to be himself in terms of humility and mercy, has shaped his speeches to his audience in ways that have been appropriate. I'd give him an A. And I'm a very hard grader."

LIPEOP28

Pope of the people: Francis taps emotional wellspring for Americans

PHILADELPHIA -- Pope Francis told prison inmates here Sunday he wanted to speak to them not just as the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, but also as an equal.
"I am here as a pastor, but above all as a brother, to share your situation and to make it my own," he told prisoners at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility Sunday morning during one of the final stops on his six-day U.S. visit. "I have come so that we can pray together . . ."
The pope arrived at the facility by helicopter from a Philadelphia-area seminary where he first met in private with survivors of sex abuse and then talked with bishops separately about the scandal and extolled the virtues of family life.
During the prison meeting, Francis spoke frankly to the male and female inmates in blue uniforms about their difficult times behind bars. 
He repeatedly discussed the biblical story of Jesus washing his disciples' feet after they walked on dusty roads loaded with hard pebbles and stones that would cut their sandal-clad feet. 
The story served as a metaphor to discuss the inmates' lives and how they ended up incarcerated. "Life is a journey, along different roads, different paths, which leave their mark on us," the pope said.
Jesus "wants to dress our wounds. . . . He doesn't ask where we have been, he doesn't question us about what we have done," the pope said in Spanish through a translator.
The pope told the prisoners "all of us need to be cleansed."
Earlier, Francis met with 300 bishops at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania.
The majestic property, whose large beige edifice is topped by an old green steeple, was also a stop for popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI.
Francis greeted some of the 146 seminarians on his way inside and then spoke to the group in Spanish under the arched dome of the richly decorated chapel.
He spoke of his meeting with abuse victims, the virtues of family life as the center of society and the reluctance of many young people to get married.
He instructed the bishops to help fortify that institution in their pastoral work, going beyond their duties of preaching and praying.
The church's shepherds should "accompany and help" young people "mature toward the commitment of marriage," Pope Francis said.
Instead of marriage, young people are being wooed by a culture of consumerism, loneliness and confusion, he said, escaping into the virtual world of social media at the expense of commitment and trust.
The address to his surrogates built on his speech to attendants at the Festival of Families the night before. 
The pope also said the "alliance of the church and the family," must be part of the bishops' ministry in order to grow the Catholic faith.
"To the contrary, it will just wilt," he said.
With Candice Ruud

LISEM28

In Philadelphia, pope visits with prison inmates

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HAVANA -- Gare Gomez was baptized in the Catholic Church and considers himself a Roman Catholic.
But the Havana construction worker also is a practitioner of Santeria, a religion based on West African beliefs and traditions, with some Roman Catholic elements added.
"Here a lot of people are both," Gomez, 36, said in Spanish as he stood outside a hotel trying to get a Wi-Fi connection. "In Havana there is more of a focus on Santeria."
Santeria is just one of the challenges the Roman Catholic Church in Cuba faces as it tries to rebuild after Pope Francis' historic visit. Some observers hope the visit will inject a powerful boost to the church and set it on a new path to becoming a major influence on the Communist-run island.
But others say that may not be so easy after decades of state repression of religion, including Catholicism, as well as the growth of Santeria and evangelical churches.
The pope "is trying to give a shot in the arm to the church," said John Allen, a longtime Vatican analyst who traveled on Francis' plane as part of the Vatican press corps during his trip to Cuba and the United States.
"He is trying to give them a boost with an eye to them being change agents in this transformation he's trying to promote," Allen said. But "I'm not sure John Paul II's visit in 1998 did [permanently make the church grow] and I'm not sure Benedict XVI's visit in 2012 did. So I think you have to have a certain healthy skepticism.
"Sixty years of state promotion of atheism have taken a toll," he added.
Others are more optimistic. Orlando Marquez, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Havana who served as a spokesman for the entire Catholic Church in Cuba during the papal visit, said he thinks Francis' presence will help the church grow.
"These visits renovate the spirit of the people," Marquez said. He also said Catholicism is deeply rooted in Cuba, going back centuries, and that its influence is underscored by the names of cities such as Sancti Spíritus, Latin for "Holy Spirit."
Still, he noted that while 60 percent of Cubans today are baptized Catholic, only 5 percent attend Mass regularly. 
Some Cubans said they think the papal visit will help change that. 
Yaima Gonzalez Castello, 32, who attended the pope's Mass in Holguín, said she thought the church would get a big boost from Francis. She noted that many young people were at the Mass.
The pope's visit "is something that touches the hearts of the young people," she said.
Even one Havana resident who described himself as an atheist said he thinks Francis' visit will bring more people into the pews of Catholic churches.
"After his visit to Cuba, the Cuban society and the Catholic Church will have more participation," May Antonio Perez Garcia, 45, said.
The visit may prompt the Cuban government to start letting the church run schools again, for instance, something that was eliminated during the Cuban Revolution, he said.
Many Cubans say they are Catholic and also practice Santeria, which grew out of the Cuban slave trade. Many followers of Santeria set up small shrines in their houses, light candles, recite prayers, offer food and engage in other rituals.
While Santeria has a strong presence in some parts of the country such as Havana, some Cubans think Catholicism will now overshadow it.
"Catholicism is going to grow more than Santeria," said Oswaldo Gonzalez, 67, Castello's father.

LICUBA28

In Cuba, hope that Pope Francis' visit rejuvenates Catholicism

Mvd6715935

Olivia Winslow

Riveted Catholics listened and laughed as an animated Pope Francis described the joys and struggles of family life before a crowd of thousands filling a main boulevard of Philadelphia on Saturday night. 
Francis praised the family as "a factory of hope" and "the most beautiful thing" God created, in remarks at the World Meeting of Families, a global gathering of Catholics who packed Benjamin Franklin Parkway, some of them waiting all day for the pontiff's 7 p.m. arrival. 
"It's wonderful. It's beautiful. It's what we need right now," said Jerianne Klein, 48, a bookkeeper from Orangeville, New York, who said she liked the pope's message. "There's so much bickering and polarization, it's nice to bring it together." 
Celso Félix and Carla Marroquín, Guatemalan immigrants from Chester, Pennsylvania, took turns cuddling their 11-month-old daughter Aranza all the way until the end of the event -- waiting 12 hours for the pope's blessing. 
"I'll always remember this day," Marroquín said in Spanish. "I have no words to express how it feels to receive God's blessing." 
Speaking in Spanish from an outdoor stage in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the pope described the family as an essential part of society. He urged Catholics to care for children, whom he praised as "the strength that moves us forward," and grandparents, whom he called "the living memory of the family." 
His remarks took a lighter turn when they touched on the challenges of marriage and child rearing. 
"Some of you might say of course, 'You speak like that because you're not married,' " the pontiff said to laughs. "Families have difficulties. Families quarrel, and sometimes plates can fly. And children bring headaches. I won't speak about mothers-in-law. But in families, there is always light." 
Francis, eight days into a nine-day tour of Cuba and the United States, presided over an event that blended American pop culture with Catholic tradition. 
After arriving and leading the crowd in prayer, the pontiff sat in a throne and smiled at performances by singers Aretha Franklin and Andrea Bocelli, the band The Fray, the Pennsylvania Ballet and others. 
Actor Mark Wahlberg hosted the festival, which featured testimonies from five Catholic families about the realities of starting and raising a family in the modern world. 
Australian couple Kelly Walsh and Camillus O'Kane, who are engaged to be married in November, spoke frankly about their concerns over high rates of divorce, efforts "to change the legal definition of marriage" and the difficulty of providing for a family. Francis smiled and clasped hands with the couple after they spoke. 
Mario and Rosa Scicchitano, a couple from the pope's native Argentina, spoke about how faith guided them through a military coup, a difficult move to Montreal, the loss of a son in 2013 -- and 60 years of marriage. "Many days and sleepless nights have been spent praying to God for guidance," Mario Scicchitano said in Spanish. 
The World Meeting of Families, billed as one of the world's largest Catholic gatherings, has taken place every three years since 1994. St. Pope John Paul II conceived of the festival in 1992. This is the first time it is being held in the United States. 
Scott Banghart of Mattewam, Michigan, and his daughter Katerina, 19, had a prime spot at the festival to view Francis' arrival in the popemobile. 
"To be that close, to be a part of history, it's hard to describe." 
Banghart, who's Catholic, said he thought he had prepared himself to see the pope. Instead he discovered feelings of "joy and hope, bubbling up." 
He said he hoped Francis could "make change in the world." 
Sister Clare Matthiass of the Community of Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal in East Harlem, was among those with a coveted ticket near the festival's stage. 
"It's truly exciting for all of us to gather and be together in anticipation of the pope. It's a celebration," Matthiass said. "It really is a festival of families." 
Bay Shore resident Veronica Reyes helped organize a bus caravan of mostly Hispanic Long Islanders going to Philadelphia that grew to more than 1,000 people. They had gathered toward the back of the parkway and were hoping to see the pope pass by on his way to the stage. 
"We are all full of emotion just being here," Reyes, 42, said in Spanish before the pope's arrival. "This is our first Hispanic pope and he brings a message to all the world and we hope his words bring peace."

LIFEST27

Pope Francis speaks of joys, struggles of family life at World Meeting of Families

Pope speaks of joys, struggles of family life at festival

APTOPIX US Pope Francis -- cropped

His trip is nearing its end, but Pope Francis is still going strong. 
On Saturday he left New York City for Philadelphia, the last destination of his nine-day visit to Cuba and the United States. In the city where America's ideals were set to paper, Francis encouraged immigrants, focused on faith and family -- and took both daytime and nighttime popemobile rides. 
Here are five things to know about the pope's Saturday. App users can see the related stories by tapping on the link below for <a href="http://newsday.com/popevisit" target="_blank">newsday.com/popevisit</a>. 
1) He is a global figure, but the pope is a tourist, too. We got an inkling of that at the end of his first visit to New York City, as he flew in a helicopter over Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. Pope Francis -- the son of immigrants -- "was very, very moved," said Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who was flying with him. 
"And he said, 'You know, Buenos Aires was a city of immigrants, too,' and as we circled Ellis Island, as we circled the Statue of Liberty, I could see he was very emotional," the cardinal said. 
Newsday's Matthew Chayes <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/pope-francis-bids-farewell-to-nyc-heads-to-philadelphia-1.10892574" target="_blank">has the full story</a>. 
2) Pope Francis had landed in Philadelphia and was on his way to his first event in his Fiat -- but then he noticed a boy in a wheelchair and had his driver stop. <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/pope-francis-delivers-message-of-religious-tolerance-in-philadelphia-1.10894436" target="_blank">Newsday describes the moment</a>: "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." 
3) His speech to remember Saturday was delivered at a place rich with history and symbolism: Independence Hall. 
Speaking from a lectern that Lincoln used during the Gettysburg Address, next to a statue of Washington, Pope Francis called religious freedom essential to human dignity, <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/pope-francis-delivers-message-of-religious-tolerance-in-philadelphia-1.10894436" target="_blank">Newsday reports</a>. Many in the crowd of some 40,000 were Latino immigrants, and Francis -- the first pope from Latin America -- spoke to them with passion. 
"Many of you have immigrated to this country at great personal costs, but in the hope of building a new life. Do not be discouraged by whatever challenges and hardships you face," he told them in Spanish. "I ask you not to forget that, like those who came here before you, you bring many gifts to this nation. You should never be ashamed of your traditions." 
<a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/pope-francis-gives-clarion-call-for-religious-freedom-at-independence-hall-1.10893240" target="_blank">Newsday's Bart Jones explores the pontiff's comments</a> on religious freedom. 
4) We back up a bit for this lighter note: There was a spate of baby-kissing during the popemobile journey to Independence Hall. The image you see captured one of those moments. 
5) His trip took on a celebratory air at Saturday's closing event -- a night of performances and testimonials at the <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/pope-francis-visit-tens-of-thousands-trek-to-festival-of-families-to-see-pontiff-1.10893091" target="_blank">Festival of Families</a>. Actor Mark Wahlberg emceed the event, which featured performances by Aretha Franklin and Andrea Bocelli. 
Francis grew particularly animated as he talked about families. At one point, he told an anecdote about a boy who asked him, "What did God do before creating the world?" 
Francis answered that before God did that, he loved. "Because God is love," he said. 
Coming on Sunday: An outdoor Mass on Benjamin Franklin Parkway that's expected to draw 1 million people -- and a trip back to Rome.

NW-Pope mobile post

Pope Francis visit: 5 highlights from Saturday

5 things you should know about the pope's day

PHILADELPHIA -- It was a setting steeped in history: a pope known for his devotion to the poor and downtrodden standing at Independence Hall, the birthplace of American democracy, and telling immigrants to be proud of their heritage.
The strains of Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" greeted Pope Francis Saturday afternoon as he came to the place where the Founding Fathers debated and adopted the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution.
The mall packed with thousands went crazy as the pontiff arrived in his popemobile. People cheered and screamed. Many swarmed across the grass to try to get a better vantage point for a glimpse of Francis in his white cassock.
Immigrants hung over barricades, stretching to get closer to the pope, and holding the flags of their homelands. They carried signs, too: "Libertad [Liberty]," "Todos somos hijos de familias [We are all children of immigrants]," and "Bendice las familias immigrantes [Bless the immigrant families]."
The pope, smiling, appeared to bask in the atmosphere. Then he stepped to the simple dark-walnut lectern used by President Abraham Lincoln 152 years ago in delivering the Gettysburg Address and gave impassioned guidance to the immigrants among his listeners: "Don't ever be ashamed of your traditions."
He repeated that counsel.
For some in the crowd of 40,000, the command was a welcome one.
"I think it was a positive message," Maria Maldonado, 44, a native of Puerto Rico who lives in Philadelphia, said after the speech. "I'm glad he came to America. We needed it."
Her daughter, Gyanessa, 19, called the pope's speech "awesome."
Francis, who has noted his own heritage as the son of immigrants, said to the throng: "Many of you have immigrated to this country at great personal costs, but in the hope of building a new life. Do not be discouraged by whatever challenges and hardships you face. I ask you not to forget that, like those who came here before you, you bring many gifts to this nation. You should never be ashamed of your traditions."
Advising them not to forget "the lessons you learned from your elders, which are something that may enrich the life of this American land," he continued, "I repeat, do not be ashamed of that which is a part of your lifeblood."
Prominent in Francis' address was the importance of religious freedom, a central theme in his visit to the United States and one he mentioned in earlier stops in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Religious freedom "is a fundamental right which shapes the way we interact socially and personally with our neighbors whose religious views differ from our own," he said. "Religious freedom certainly means the right to worship God, individually and in community, as our own consciences dictate. But on the other hand, religious liberty, by its nature, transcends places of worship and the private sphere of individuals and families."
He made more than one reference in his speech to attempts to curb religious freedom, and how people of faith must band together as advocates for peace and human rights.
"In a world where various forms of modern tyranny seek to suppress religious freedom, or . . . try to reduce it to a subculture without right to a voice or vote in the public square, or to use religion as a pretext for hatred and brutality, it is imperative that the followers of the various religions join their voices in calling for peace, for tolerance and respect for the dignity and rights of others," the pope said.
While praising the American ideals of liberty, equality and justice, Francis said that those values must be constantly reaffirmed and defended.
"We remember the great struggles which led to the abolition of slavery, the extension of voting rights, the growth of the labor movement, and the gradual effort to eliminate every kind of racism and prejudice directed at the successive waves of new Americans," he said. "This shows that, when a country is determined to remain true to its founding principles, based on respect for human dignity, it is strengthened and renewed."
With Darran Simon

LIMALL27

Impassioned pope tells immigrants to be proud of their heritage

Pope to immigrants: 'Don't ever be ashamed of your traditions'

USA POPE FRANCIS VISIT

PHILADELPHIA -- One of the journalists in the Vatican press corps has a special relationship with Pope Francis: He baptized her two children.
Elisabetta Pique met Jorge Bergoglio in 2001 when he was the archbishop of Buenos Aires and unknown to most of the world.
She had arrived in Rome as a correspondent for the Argentine newspaper La Nacion and her editors told her to try to interview Bergoglio when he visited there.
It was no easy task. "He was famous for not giving interviews," Pique said.
She approached him anyway, meeting him at the residence where he always stayed when in Rome (and where he famously went to pay his bill after the 2013 conclave that elected him).
"He was very timid, very shy," Pique recalled.
She tried to break the ice by saying she rarely covered the church.
Three days later her phone rang -- it was Bergoglio, calling to thank her for the interview.
"It was the only person in my life who called me to say thank you," Pique said.
Each time he came to Rome after that, they would meet and she would interview him.
During the 2005 conclave to elect the next pope after John Paul II died, Bergoglio -- by then a cardinal -- put his hand on a pregnant Pique to bless her first baby.
When Juan Pablo was born, it seemed natural to have Bergoglio baptize him.
Two years later, when Carolina was born, Bergoglio baptized her, too.
Pique is married to Gerard O'Connell, who is the Rome correspondent for America magazine, which covers Catholicism.
Pique said had a strong sense Bergoglio would be elected pope in 2013. The morning after he was, at 9 a.m., her phone rang. 
She almost didn't answer -- the caller ID said "unknown" and she was receiving so many requests for interviews she was overwhelmed. But she picked it up -- it was Pope Francis, just checking in.
Pique later that year published a biography called "Francis: Life and Revolution."
She says that although Bergoglio hasn't changed a lot as Pope Francis, her own life has been impacted. After his election, she had to visit Carolina's school.
"I had to tell the teacher if she tells you she knows the pope, she's not crazy," Pique said.

LISCEN27

One journalist's long relationship with the pope

Pope Francis on plane -- cropped

PHILADELPHIA -- In the heart of a city founded as a beacon of tolerance, Pope Francis on Saturday called religious freedom essential to human dignity and underscored the importance of the traditional family as a "living symbol" of God's plan.
The first Latin American pope also addressed America's immigrant community, saying its traditions enrich this country, as he continued to infuse his messages with the themes of peace and social justice that have defined his papacy.
The pope arrived at Independence Hall in the afternoon after riding his open-air popemobile past thousands of cheering people, pausing numerous times to kiss babies offered up by beaming parents.
Standing outside the historic brick building before rapturous followers, he nodded to the city's Quaker roots by addressing one of the founders' keystone issues -- religious freedom.
Francis broadened his call from his own Catholic community to embrace those of other faiths, asking them to "join their voices" against modern tyrants who would seek to "suppress religious freedom, or try to reduce it to a subculture without right to a voice in the public square, or to use religion as a pretext for hatred and brutality."
The Argentine son of Italian immigrants went on to greet immigrants in America with "particular affection," urging them not to become discouraged by challenges in their adopted country.
"I ask you not to forget that, like those who came here before you, you bring many gifts to your new nation. You should never be ashamed of your traditions," he said. "By contributing your gifts, you will not only find your place here, you will help to renew society from within."
Micheline Thera, 57, a Haitian immigrant who works at a hospital in Philadelphia, said she arrived at Independence Hall more than 11 hours early to see Francis.
"This pope brings for us hope. He's bringing a chance for us in America," she said. "We feel proud, we feel happy."
The pontiff arrived here yesterday morning after bidding an emotional farewell to New York, the city that had embraced him so freely. Before his helicopter took him to Kennedy Airport, he asked the pilot to circle the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island -- twin symbols of immigration and freedom.
After his chartered American Airlines jet landed in Philadelphia, Francis climbed into his modest black Fiat, bound for the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.
But Francis, spotting a boy in a wheelchair behind the tarmac barricades, had the driver stop. 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.
In his homily during a Mass at the cathedral, Francis saluted priests, nuns and other Catholics for reaching out to the "peripheries" of society to help the downtrodden, and called for women and young people to play a major role in bolstering the church.
He left followers with the repeated question "y tu?" -- "And you?" -- asking the faithful how they plan to respond "to the Lord's call to build up his body, the church."
Toward the end of the Mass, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput officially welcomed Francis to the City of Brotherly Love. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which covers five counties, boasts nearly 1.5 million Catholics.
"This is a city that would change its name to 'Francisville' today if we could do that without inconveniencing the rest of North America," Chaput said. "So we welcome you with all our hearts, and a huge amount of enthusiasm and joy."
Francis would later invoke Philadelphia's moniker, thanking those "of whatever religion, who have sought to serve the God of peace by building cities of brotherly love."
The pontiff ended the day with another motorcade and a prayer vigil as part of the World Meeting of Families -- a gathering of Catholics from around the world -- where he lauded the traditional family.
"God did not want to come into the world other than through a family," he said, referring to Jesus' birth to Mary.
"That is why the family is the living symbol of the loving plan of which the Father once dreamed," he said. "To want to form a family is to resolve to be a part of God's dream, to choose to dream with him, to want to build with him, to join him in this saga of building a world where no one will feel alone, unwanted or homeless."
As in many of his addresses, Francis turned to a plea for social justice -- pointing to the pernicious companions of poverty, such as inadequate health care, as threats to the family.
"We cannot call any society healthy when it does not leave real room for family life," he said. "We cannot think that a society has a future when it fails to pass laws capable of protecting families and ensuring their basic needs, especially those of families just starting out."
Joey Walker, 13, of Morgantown, Pennsylvania, turned down a school dance and paintball for a chance to see the pope at the festival.
"It was life-changing," said Walker, who attends a Catholic school. "It's really cool to be able to say you saw the most holy man in the world and be in his holy presence."
Francis will spend the last day of his nine-day journey through Cuba and the United States at several events here Sunday, culminating in an afternoon Mass at the Benjamin Franklin Parkway that is expected to attract more than a million people. He leaves for Rome Sunday.

LIPOPE27

Pope Francis delivers message of religious tolerance in Philadelphia

Pope Francis kicked off the final leg of his historic trip to the United States on Saturday with a Mass at Philadelphia's most sacred shrine, saluting priests, nuns and other Catholics for going to the "peripheries" of society to help the downtrodden.
He also called for women and young people to play a significant part in strengthening the church.
"This morning I learned something about the history of this beautiful cathedral: the story behind its high walls and windows," the pope said at a packed Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. "I would like to think, though, that the history of the Church in this city and state is really a story not about building walls, but about breaking them down.
"It is a story about generation after generation of committed Catholics going out to the peripheries, and building communities of worship, education, charity and service to the larger society," he said.
The two-day visit to Philadelphia follows memorable stops in New York and Washington, D.C., two cities transfixed by the presence of the first pontiff from Latin America and the first Jesuit pope.
Francis departed from Kennedy Airport shortly after 9 a.m. as priests, nuns and parishioners bid him farewell. Among them was Bishop William Murphy of the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
The U.S. visit is to culminate with a massive outdoor Mass on Sunday on Benjamin Franklin Parkway that is expected to attract 1 million people.
In his homily Saturday morning, Francis praised "the efforts of all those dedicated priests, religious and laity who for over two centuries have ministered to the spiritual needs of the poor, the immigrant, the sick and those in prison.
"And it is seen in the hundreds of schools where religious brothers and sisters trained children to read and write, to love God and neighbor, and to contribute as good citizens to the life of American society."
He singled out Saint Katharine Drexel, a Philadelphia native he described as "one of the great saints raised up by this local Church."
He left followers with the repeated message "y tu" -- "What about you?" -- and asked the faithful how they plan to respond "to the Lord's call to build up his Body, the Church."
Drexel had received that pointed question from Pope Leo XIII as a young laywoman, according to Francis. The words "made her think of the immense work that had to be done, and to realize that she was being called to do her part."
One of the challenges facing the church in this generation, Francis continued, is the need for its followers to develop "a sense of personal responsibility for the church's mission, and to enable them to fulfill that responsibility as missionary disciples."
The pontiff said the rapidly changing society calls for "a much more active engagement on the part of the laity" -- specifically, he said, "valuing the immense contribution which women, lay and [the] religious, have made and continue to make in the life of our communities."
Francis has repeatedly referred to the strengths of religious women during his United States tour, and his vocal appreciation of their hard work was felt personally by Sister Anita Bolton, whose order of nuns, the Sisters of the Holy Redeemer, work in health care.
"It's a thrill to be here. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience to witness the presence of the Holy Father," Bolton said. "His message of love, of kindness, of mercy and of compassion -- he walks the walk."
She said she was especially moved by Francis' recent statement of support for nuns in the United States, who had been under a Vatican investigation for allegedly emphasizing social justice issues over traditional church doctrine on topics such as abortion.
This year, Francis ended the investigation, which started under his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI. Francis has stated he "loves" the nuns.
"It was beautiful," Bolton said. "We love him, too -- it's mutual."
Toward the end of the Mass, Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia welcomed Francis to the City of Brotherly Love -- which, he said, has waited a long time for his arrival.
"This is a city that would change its name to 'Francisville' today if we could do that without inconveniencing the rest of North America," Chaput said. "So we welcome you with all our hearts, and a huge amount of enthusiasm and joy."
As in all his appearances in the United States, many who saw Francis in person were overcome with emotion.
Neilson Carlin, who said he painted the picture of Jesus, Mary and Joseph that adorns the altar, said he was overwhelmed -- especially when the pope stopped before his painting.
"The pope is fantastic. He's a great leader at a crucial time," said Carlin, of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. He attended the Mass with his family. As the pope paused in front of his painting, Carlin's eyes filled with tears.

LIMASS27

Pope Francis salutes Philadelphia Catholics for helping the downtrodden

Matthew Chayes

Pope Francis, who likes to highlight his roots as a son of Italian parents who immigrated to Argentina, flew in a helicopter over Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty Saturday before leaving New York City for Philadelphia, the last stop of a nine-day trip that began in Cuba.
"You could see he was very, very moved," Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who was aboard the helicopter, said after seeing the pope's plane off at Kennedy Airport.
"And he said, 'You know, Buenos Aires was a city of immigrants, too,' and as we circled Ellis Island, as we circled the Statue of Liberty, I could see he was very emotional," Dolan said.
"When we flew over Brooklyn and Queens he said, 'This is where the people live,' " the cardinal said.
The helicopter carrying the pontiff from Manhattan arrived at Kennedy just after 8:40 a.m. He greeted religious leaders and others on the tarmac before walking up the stairs to his plane, stumbling several times as winds whipped his clothing.
About 200 people from Brooklyn and Queens, selected by a church lottery, waved Vatican flags, clapped and cheered for the pope at Kennedy. "We love you, Pope Francis!" one woman shouted.
Bishop William Murphy of the Rockville Centre Diocese and Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of the Brooklyn Diocese were there, along with four auxiliary bishops from Brooklyn and six nuns from the Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará in Borough Park.
The nuns gave the pope a bouquet of white roses in honor of his devotion to St. Thérèse of Lisieux -- who is sometimes called the "Little Flower" -- and a book with images from paintings on the ceiling of the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights.
Frances DeLuca, 60, a Bellmore resident who has been the principal for 19 years at Our Lady of Perpetual Help elementary school in South Ozone Park, Queens, said teachers and students had been praying for weeks.
The Diocese of Brooklyn had sent to the school a Francis doll that was passed from classroom to classroom, she said. "The children got to hold it, got to pray for him," she said.
Five-year-old Riley Galante of Mineola, a student at St. Aidan School in Williston Park, clutched a picture of the pope she had been coloring.
Dolan stopped to admire the coloring. "Wow! What'd you make? Did you do that yourself?" he asked. Riley smiled and nodded.
Retired NYPD Officer Pat Fazio, 50, now a Commack fire commissioner, said he "never felt a connection to a pope the way I do with this guy.
"I think I speak for all the Catholics. . . . He's real. He just speaks well and he's point on. I think he's really brought the church a long way in the short time he's been pope."
With William Murphy

LINYC27

Pope Francis ends Manhattan visit with New York harbor flyover

Dolan: Pope 'very moved' flying over Statue of Liberty

Here is the planned schedule of events for Pope Francis' visit to Philadelphia, as he concludes his trip to Cuba and the United States: 
 SATURDAY, SEPT. 26 
9:30 a.m. -- Arrival at Atlantic Aviation facility at Philadelphia International Airport. 
10:30 a.m -- Mass with bishops, priests and others at Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, the home church of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. 
4:45 p.m. -- Visit to Independence Mall where Francis will give a speech on religious liberty and immigration. 
7:30 p.m. -- Visit to the Festival of Families, an international celebration of family, community and faith. Among the performers are Andrew Bocelli and the Philadephia Symphony Orchestra. 
 SUNDAY, SEPT. 27 
9:15 a.m. -- Meeting with bishops at St. Martin's Chapel at the St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. 
11 a.m. -- Visit to Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, where Francis will visit with prisoners and their families. 
4 p.m. -- Mass for the conclusion of the World Meeting of Families. The event is expected to draw 2 million people. 
7 p.m. -- Meeting with organizers, volunteers and benefactors of the World Meeting of Families at Atlantic Aviation. 
8 p.m. -- Departure for Rome.

NY-Pope Philly schedule

Pope Francis' visit: His Philadelphia schedule

USA POPE FRANCIS VISIT cropped/mk

Pope Francis swept across Manhattan Friday -- at every turn capturing the hearts of thousands of New Yorkers who waited hours for a moment in his presence.
The pontiff visited the "hallowed ground" where the Twin Towers once stood and spoke to everyone from world leaders to schoolchildren on issues central to his papacy: the health of the planet, the plight of the poor, the quest for global peace.
Everywhere he went, Francis displayed his gentle manner, embracing children and giving countless blessings, all while wearing a beatific smile.
More than 80,000 people filled Central Park to watch him pass by in an open-air popemobile; another 20,000 wildly applauded his appearance at an evening Mass at a packed Madison Square Garden.
It was his only full day in New York, part of a nine-day visit to Cuba and the United States that ends this weekend in Philadelphia.
Speaking at the National September 11 Memorial &amp; Museum before a ceremony that included leaders from many faiths, Francis referred to the "palpable" grief he felt.
The pope paused to offer prayers and reflect on the heroism of those who responded to the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
"It is a source of great hope that in this place of sorrow and remembrance I can join with leaders representing the many religious traditions which enrich the life of this great city," he said, speaking in front of a slurry wall that held the Hudson River back from the site after the towers were destroyed in 2001.
"I trust that our presence together will be a powerful sign of our shared desire to be a force for reconciliation, peace and justice in this community and throughout the world," he said.
Recognizing NY's loss
Francis is the first pope to visit the memorial, which opened in May 2014 and honors the memories of the people who lost their lives in the attack.
Shortly before the service, Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan accompanied the pope along the border of one of the memorial pools, where Francis placed a white rose on one of the slabs containing the names of the victims.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo gave Francis a cross of steel forged from the remains of the World Trade Center.
Cuomo said Francis blessed the governor's longtime girlfriend, Sandra Lee, who just recovered from breast cancer, and his father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, who died in January.
"It's really given me a sense of peace I haven't had in months," Cuomo said later.
The event was a portrait of harmony, with a rabbi and an imam alternating voices in a peace prayer, followed by Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Christian and Muslim chants and prayers.
Sean Passananti -- whose father, Horace, 55, grew up in Uniondale and died in the north tower -- said the pope's visit carried special meaning for a site infused with such horror.
"I'm a Catholic, and it's a very special day to have the pope come here and recognize this memorial site," he said. "Almost 3,000 people died here. It was evil, pure evil on this day -- and the pope represents the opposite."
Anna and Dominick Florentino of Malverne, who lost a nephew in the attacks, stood at a barricade in lower Manhattan before the pope arrived, hoping to touch the pope when he arrived at Ground Zero.
Anna Florentino said it was her first visit to the memorial. "I got the courage now that the pope is coming," she said. "I was afraid of my own emotions."
The Florentinos, each 70 years old, said their nephew, electrician Charles Lucania, 34, of East Atlantic Beach was killed when the south tower came down. And their son, Christopher Florentino, 44, has cancer that is in remission, they said.
"I'm just hoping the pope has a blessing for both of them," she said.
World leaders and children
The Argentine pontiff started his day by addressing the 70th annual meeting of the UN General Assembly in a wide-ranging speech connecting the world's ills -- especially poverty and human suffering -- with environmental destruction.
Repeatedly citing his groundbreaking environmental encyclical "Laudato Si," released this year, Francis spoke of the interdependency of humanity and the environment, and said the poor suffer the most from the abuse of the world.
"The ecological crisis, and the large-scale destruction of biodiversity, can threaten the very existence of the human species," he said, calling it the "baneful consequences of an irresponsible mismanagement of the global economy, guided only by ambition for wealth and power."
Francis went on to connect other societal scourges with environmental destruction -- including war, which he defined as the "negation of all rights and a dramatic assault on the environment."
He said there is an "urgent need to work for a world free of nuclear weapons," and referred to the "painful situation" in the Middle East, North Africa and other areas, where Christians and those of different faiths "have been forced to witness the destruction of their places of worship, their cultural and religious heritage, their houses and property."
Although other popes have addressed the 193-member body, Francis is the first to come at its opening, three days before the official start of the General Debate, in which leaders outline their vision for the UN for the year. 
Friday afternoon, Francis visited Our Lady Queen of Angels in East Harlem, where he spent several minutes walking up and down a sidewalk crowded with schoolchildren -- shaking their hands, blessing them and posing for pictures.
Inside the school, children sang "Make Me a Channel of Your Peace" -- quietly at first, but with increasing enthusiasm after Francis joked that their energy seemed to be flagging and pantomimed going to sleep.
When one child told him he also was from Argentina, Francis' eyes widened, and he gave the boy a thumbs-up. Later, he beamed again when a student presented him a blue soccer ball.
Meeting the masses
Leaving the school, Francis next went to Central Park, where he rode in his popemobile -- a white Jeep Wrangler -- while waving to vast crowds lining West Drive, cellphone cameras at the ready.
Norma Duncklee, 46, a teacher from Seaford, had a ticket to get into the park, but the security lines were so long that she gave up and stood at Columbus Circle instead.
"There he is!" she shouted as the popemobile made its way around the southern tip of the park.
"I got a little glimpse -- twice," she said afterward. "It was great. It was amazing. It was all worth it."
Olivia Alaimo, 67, of Syosset took the day off from work so she could get up at 6:30 a.m. to travel to Central Park for a glimpse of Francis.
"He's very kind and humble. Everybody calls him 'the people's pope,' " she said of Francis. "He can give a strong message but make it gentle."
The pope capped his trip to New York with a Mass Friday evening at Madison Square Garden, where celebrities including Gloria Estefan and Harry Connick Jr. sang to the crowd eagerly awaiting Francis' appearance.
In his homily, Francis praised the vibrancy of New York, but cautioned worshippers against falling victim to the impersonal nature of big cities by failing to see the needy among them.
"They are the foreigners, the children who go without schooling, those deprived of medical insurance, the homeless, the forgotten elderly," he said. "These people stand at the edges of our great avenues, in our streets, in deafening anonymity. They become part of an urban landscape which is more and more taken for granted, in our eyes, and especially in our hearts."
He reminded the crowd that Jesus "still walks our streets," and that he urged his disciples to do the same.
"He urges them to go out and meet others where they really are, not where we think they should be," Francis said. "Go out to others and share the good news that God, our Father, walks at our side. He frees us from anonymity, from a life of emptiness and selfishness, and brings us to the school of encounter."
Francis leaves New York Saturday morning, flying to Philadelphia, where a two-day visit includes attending the World Meeting of Families. He returns to Rome Sunday night.

LIPOPE26

Pope Francis captures hearts of thousands of New Yorkers in historic sweep across Manhattan

nyPOPEhs -- cropped / jcm

Pope Francis looked out onto 20,000 faces at Madison Square Garden and asked them to shed selfishness and isolation and reach out to those in the "big city" who exist in "deafening anonymity."
Speaking from a simple plywood pulpit underneath a suspended crucifix, Francis celebrated a Mass in a venue usually reserved for sports events and concerts. 
But Friday night it was transformed into a sacred place, and the pontiff used the arena as a segue into his theme, saying it was a "place synonymous with the city." 
"The big cities are a reminder of the hidden presence in our world," he said, adding that they "conceal the faces of all those who don't appear to belong or are second-class citizens."
"In big cities beneath the roar of traffic, the rapid pace of change, so many faces pass by unnoticed because they have no 'right' to be there, no right to be part of the city."
They exist, he said, "in deafening anonymity."
He asked for "hope which is unafraid of involvement, which acts as a leaven wherever we happen to live and work."
But perhaps the most emotional moment in the Mass came when Cardinal Timothy Dolan rose to say that every day, Catholics pray for their pope and "Now here you are!"
The Garden went wild in a standing ovation that went on for at least a minute.
"It is clear how much we welcome you . . . how much we love you," Dolan said.
"Now you lead us in the most important and powerful act that we can do, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
"You, our Holy Father, thanks for visiting us, your family," he said.
The theme of the Mass, once again, had been the pontiff's appeal to the faithful to be roused into service for those who can't help themselves.
"Knowing that Jesus still walks our streets, that he is part of the lives of his people, that he is involved with us in one vast history of salvation, fills us with hope," Francis said.
He said "God is living in our cities. The church is living in our cities, and she wants to be like yeast in the dough" -- words that drew loud cheers.
He had begun the Mass in English at 6:11 p.m. with the Liturgy of the Word, a series of biblical readings punctuated with psalms. The pope sat in his green vestments, his arms folded, as choral music played. Incense was lit and a Gospel reading from Matthew was chanted.
After the pope's homily, he began the Liturgy of the Eucharist with readings and prayers in Latin, Spanish, English and other languages. He prepared the gifts, chanting alongside several other clergy members, as the congregants sang "Amen."
Minutes later, it was time for communion as 20,000 headed down the aisles to receive the blessed wafers from 400 eucharistic ministers. Francis sat quietly, his head bowed, as the choruses took turns singing.
At the end, Francis blessed the enormous crowd. "Go in peace," he said, adding: "Don't forget to pray for me."
Afterward, Eliana Perez, 29, of Queens, an assistant program director for the nonprofit Corazón Puro, was ecstatic, saying "he could have chosen another city and he chose us. It was one of those moments you get goose bumps."
Jonny Podell, 69, of Manhattan said, "My overriding take-away was just joy. There was just joy in everybody's face, joy and bliss."
Podell, who is Jewish, said: "It was my first Mass; I'll never forget it." 
Elizabeth Lutis, 63, a medical doctor from Sunnyside, Queens, said of the ovation for Francis: "Everybody was up and we the people kept going and going and going. The bishops were already seated because they thought it was going to end and people just kept going."
Several thousand people had filled the Garden hours before and were treated to music by the likes of Gloria Estefan and Jennifer Hudson. Diocese of Rockville Centre Bishop William Murphy spoke about the history of the papacy. 
At 5:49 p.m. Francis rolled through the aisles in a cart atop a white carpet as choral music played. He stopped to touch the head of a disabled child in the arms of his parent. The audience surged toward him, several people grabbing his arm before security whisked him away.
The Mass concluded after about 90 minutes and the mood was ebullient.
Geri Galligan, 77, of Manhattan, who said she strayed from her Catholic faith 10 to 15 years ago, said the Mass, Francis and the message renewed her. "I could return to the church." 
Laura Fenick, a native of Williston Park, got her papal Mass ticket at the last minute from someone at her church. 
She considered it a miracle that she was able to see the pope and said at times during the service she wept.
"It was just a holy joyfulness," said Fenick, 58, now of upstate Wallkill. "It was really miraculous, felling his presence was so powerful, so strong."
Jeanne Borruso, 54, of Franklin Square was glowing afterward. "It was unbelievable," she said. "It was such a wonderful feeling. It was history."
The administrative assistant who won a lottery for tickets at her church, said being in the pope's presence was "very moving. I'll never forget it."

LIGARD26

Pope, in homily before 20,000 at Madison Square Garden, asks faithful to break out of the isolation of the 'big city'

Pope asks faithful to break out of 'Big City' isolation

USA POPE FRANCIS VISIT -- cropped

Sometimes being part of the pope's Vatican press corps has unexpected benefits -- such as getting through security quickly.
Since the press corps landed on Pope Francis' plane Tuesday at Joint Base Andrews, we've had Secret Service agents assigned to travel with us.
Having your own Secret Service escort definitely helps. While long lines of journalists and others stood outside the United Nations early Friday morning waiting -- or even just hoping -- to get in, we slid right past everyone.
We almost look like a team -- most dress in black or dark blue, as the Vatican requests, and we travel in single file when arriving at and leaving events. Photographers and television cameramen lug large cameras, tripods and other equipment.
As we passed some journalists waiting to get into the UN Friday, one said, "That's the Vatican press corps."
When we left the UN before the pope's address had finished so we could get to Ground Zero in time for his next event, we passed by scores of journalists, photographers and television camera crews sprawled out in other rooms because they had never even made it to the General Assembly hall to see the pope.
We had breezed right in and breezed right out, accompanied by Vatican aides and Secret Service guys, who shouted at people to stay where they were so we could pass through.
Inside the UN, we were escorted into a room with a great view of the podium. Some other photographers came in also. Before you knew it, UN security personnel were there, yelling for non-Vatican media people to get out of the room.
One protested that he was the photographer for the king of Spain. He probably was, but that got him nowhere anyway. The pope is the pope, and so is his press corps.
Outside the UN, an NYPD patrol car and a black Secret Service SUV with lights flashing cleared the way for us to quickly get to Ground Zero.
As we neared the site, people on the streets started taking pictures or videotaping our bus. They apparently thought we were celebrities, or someone important, or maybe even the pope himself.
"Wave everybody, they think you're celebrities," one of the Secret Service agents on the bus shouted jokingly.
After that event, on the way back to the hotel, a motorist got in between our bus and the Secret Service SUV. Suddenly the agent in sunglasses and a wire going from his ear into his shirt popped his head out of the window and started waving his arms and yelling at the motorist to get out of the way.
He quickly did.

LISCEN26

Covering the pope even means Secret Service protection

Covering the pope, you get Secret Service protection

Vatican press corps -- cropped

From East Harlem to Central Park Friday evening, spectators awaiting Pope Francis took notice of rainbows that seemed to appear in the sky. 
Photos of short colorful bands began to circulate on Twitter and Instagram, with some users saying they saw the rainbows as a divine recognition of the pope's presence. 
Francis stopped by an East Harlem Catholic school at about 4 p.m. before a procession through Central Park and Mass at Madison Square Garden. 
"Even the rainbow decided to come out to greet the pope," Twitter user @SMB930 wrote from Central Park. 
"God is present. Out of the blue.. a tiny rainbow! Pope Francis is almost here!!!," Twitter user @AngelaCardenas_ added. 
It's more likely the weather brought the colorful light rather than the pope, said Jay Engle, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Upton. 
The metropolitan area saw a group of high-floating wispy cirrus clouds in the upper atmosphere Friday, Engle said. Those clouds contain ice crystals, which bend the sun's light into small bands of color. 
"Probably what you're seeing is refracted light," Engle said. "It's not uncommon when you have cirrus clouds that they can refract sunlight." 
Typical rainbows are created when sunlight passes through water droplets in the atmosphere, such as after a rainstorm, according to National Geographic. 
Weather service data shows clear and sunny to partly sunny skies over Manhattan for the rest of the day. That weather pattern isn't unusual, Engle said. And there's potential for more light refraction to show up. 
"It's nothing unusual in the weather pattern," Engle said. "You might get neat phenomenon like that."

LIRAIN26

Rainbow phenomenon sweeps over Pope Francis spectators

rainbow

Tens of thousands of New Yorkers waited for hours for a chance to glimpse Pope Francis as his motorcade passed through Central Park in a 15-minute procession yesterday. 
As Francis stood and waved to the 80,000 ticket holders admitted to the park, he ignited shrieks and screams of ecstasy and left tears in his wake. 
"The energy was amazing. As soon as we saw him turn the corner, and we got a glimpse of the pope, everybody went berserk," said Vincenzo Fuduli, 48, of Westbury, who came with his wife, Sandra, 49. He said seeing the pope "felt almost like a blessing." For Sandra Fuduli, seeing the pope felt like "euphoria, just joy."
Standing in his popemobile as he entered the park at 5:15 p.m., emotion and joy gripped people as he passed them. Many of those admitted to the park had waited since late morning to secure a choice spot along the procession route. As the popemobile passed her, Lorraine Schiavi, 52, a legal assistant from Glendale, Queens, wiped away tears.
"I can't explain. I can't explain the feeling when I actually saw him," Schiavi said as she struggled to come to grips with her emotions. "It just hit me." 
When his popemobile passed a new group or turned a corner, waves of cheers erupted anew. People screamed and held phones and cameras aloft. Parents thrust babies out over metal barricades, hoping the pope would stop to kiss or bless them.
Security flanked his vehicle as the pontiff greeted the masses. As he leaned and waved left and right, the arms of thousands of people reached out to receive him, waving flags and handkerchiefs and T-shirts toward him. 
After the pope's motorcade left Central Park and headed south for evening Mass at Madison Square Garden, the thousands of spectators flooded the streets of midtown Manhattan. A disabled man being wheeled in a hospital bed and several elderly people with canes dispersed from the park among the throngs of people. Some wore the light blue and white striped soccer jersey of the Argentine national team, a nod to Francis' home country.
Iblyn Moya, 64, of Inwood, got in line at 1 p.m. and was cheered by the strangers she met and chatted with while she waited to get into Central Park.
She used the words so many who saw the pope used last evening -- "It was emotional."
As they all waited, the air around them buzzed with a collective positive energy, she said. "People were so nice. It felt really good," she said.
Though 80,000 tickets were given out in a lottery to those hoping to glimpse the pope, long lines, tight security and just four entrances into the park made getting in an hours-long process. Some of the thousands who were still waiting in line to get into the park not long before the pope's arrival gave up or were turned away.
Patricia Killian, clutching two small Vatican flags, said she arrived at the 66th Street check-in point just to be told she wouldn't be able to get into the park.
Killian, 55, of Park Slope, Brooklyn, a retired administrative supervisor with the NYPD, said she is Catholic and was so eager to see the pope that she awoke at 3 a.m. when the ticket lottery opened. She got to the park at 2:40 p.m., nearly an hour before her ticket said she had to pass through security.
Killian, standing with unticketed spectators in Columbus Circle, said, "They said there were too many people, they were filled to capacity."
Others decided to leave the line. Dina Prendergast of Brooklyn and Ciara Shea of the Bronx decided to ditch the line after waiting three hours to get into Central Park. They moved about seven blocks in that time, they said. "It seems like three days but it's been like three hours," said Prendergast, 33, a commercial litigation attorney, as she and Shea stood at West 64th Street and Central Park West. "I'm just going to hope to feel the pope's touch from this far away."
Prendergast and Shea's spirits were still high, despite the long wait. "He's a cooler pope than we've had in a while," said Prendergast. "I'm a Jew, so this is really a novel experience for me."
The day full of anticipation and waiting paid in emotional dividends for many, even though most spent mere moments in the pope's presence.
"It was all of 20 seconds," said Richard Murasso, 50, of East Rockaway, who arrived at 1 p.m. and was sporting a pope T-shirt under his blazer. "But it was worth the wait."
As a practicing Catholic, Pat Conaty, 47, a homemaker from Massapequa, said seeing the pontiff in person, even just for a few seconds, gave her hope. "It was like renewing," she said. "It was overwhelming to think, 'There he is, the closest person to Christ we have on Earth.' "

LIPARK26

Emotions run high as tens of thousands witness Pope Francis' procession through Central Park

Screams of ecstacy for pope in Central Park

USA POPE FRANCIS VISIT -- cropped / jcm

For Pope Francis, there was an important lesson to be found in looking into the faces of the families of first responders who died in the World Trade Center attack.
"Meeting them made me see once again how acts of destruction are never impersonal, abstract or merely material," he said Friday at the National September 11 Memorial &amp; Museum.
From the United Nations General Assembly to his Mass in Madison Square Garden and in his speech to Congress a day earlier, the pope urged his audiences to see the world's crises through the humanity of the individuals who suffer through them. It's a theme of his papacy, frequently highlighted in his American journey.
It was reflected not only in his speeches but also in the glow on his face when he connected in East Harlem with children at Our Lady Queen of Angels School and car washers who organized a union movement, and in Washington, D.C., with the homeless.
During his morning speech at the United Nations, Francis cautioned diplomats against being content "with the bureaucratic exercise of drawing up long lists of good proposals -- goals, objectives and statistical indicators."
Beyond all the plans and programs "we are dealing with real men and women who live, struggle and suffer, and are often forced to live in great poverty, deprived of all rights," he said.
He asked the delegates to look at warfare in the same way:
"In wars and conflicts there are individual persons, our brothers and sisters, men and women, young and old, boys and girls who weep, suffer and die," he said. "Human beings who are easily discarded when our only response is to draw up lists of problems, strategies and disagreements."
Sister Margaret Mayce, who represents the nongovernmental organization Dominican Leadership Conference at the UN, said there is a danger of focusing on statistics rather than people when problems are being discussed on such a broad scale.
"I think he's done a masterful job of bringing the conversation back where it belongs," said Mayce, a member of the Dominican Sisters of Amityville.
She said that one role for NGOs at the United Nations is to tell delegates -- who might lack a connection to the poor in their home countries -- that marginalized people have a right to participate in decisions that affect them.
"The pope is reminding the UN that what they're about is people, helping the people become 'dignified agents of their own destiny,' " she said. "Those are his words."
Francis brought this outlook both to the United Nations, which is famous for its bureaucracy, and to everyday New Yorkers as well.
In his Mass at Madison Square Garden, Francis spoke of how big-city life, with its "roar of traffic" and rapid change, can "conceal the faces of all those people who don't appear to belong," such as foreigners or the homeless.
"These people stand at the edge of our great avenues, in our streets, in deafening anonymity," he said. "They became part of an urban landscape which is more and more taken for granted, in our eyes, and especially in our hearts."
He also pointed out to members of Congress on Thursday that their own ancestors were immigrants who came to this country seeking a better life -- much as today's newcomers have.
"We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation," he said.
Francis made the Golden Rule a centerpiece of his speech to Congress, a person-to-person approach to public policy. "Let us treat others with the same passion and compassion with which we want to be treated," he said.
The Rev. Daniel P. Horan, author of "The Franciscan Heart of Thomas Merton," said the pope's encyclical "Laudato Si" held up St. Francis of Assisi, his namesake, as someone who refused to look at people as objects.
Horan, a Franciscan, said one reason for the saint's decision to live in poverty was that it moved him closer to the poor.
The pope's efforts to live in simplicity do the same, he said. That is seen even in his choice of a Fiat rather than a limousine for his transportation: "He's so accessible. He doesn't have tinted windows."
For Francis, as he said Friday night in a filled Madison Square Garden, finding Jesus is a matter of "learning to see."

LIFOOT26

Pope Francis: Policy is all about people

USA POPE FRANCIS VISIT / jcm

PHILADELPHIA -- The City of Brotherly Love is in overdrive, bustling with excitement in anticipation of playing host to Pope Francis over the weekend -- the final stop on the pontiff's American tour.
"This city is definitely ready for its close-up," Meryl Levitz, president and chief executive of Visit Philadelphia, said at a news conference Thursday.
Mayor Michael A. Nutter said the city and its people are honored and excited, and added, "We're prepared."
Twenty jumbotrons are up along a mile-long stretch of Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the showcase avenue where Francis is to attend the Festival of Families Saturday and celebrate Mass Sunday before a crowd that could number 1 million people. Another 20 or more of the huge screens are in other areas -- especially in Center City, as the downtown is known.
Some 17,000 delegates from 150 countries have taken Philadelphia by storm for the Vatican-sponsored World Meeting of Families, which officially opened Tuesday and runs through Sunday. It is the first time the global event has been held in the United States.
Among them are a group from the Community of Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal, which has convents in East Harlem and the Bronx.
Sister Clare Matthiass, who is with the East Harlem convent, said the Franciscan sisters are making a point of being a presence at all the cities Francis is visiting. The order does community outreach in East Harlem and works closely with Our Lady Queen of Angels School, where Francis Friday met with schoolchildren and immigrants.
"Because he was coming to the school, some of us were there," Matthiass said. "Some of us are here in Philly to greet the pope here." Some also were in Washington, D.C. -- the pontiff's first stop in the United States, she said. "We love the Holy Father and we want to be where he is."
Matthiass said the sisters would have come to the World Meeting of Families even if Francis had not been slated to attend.
"This is about families and supporting the families, and we very much want to do that," she said. "The family is the central structure of our society, of the world and of the church."
Center City has been transformed to accommodate what Levitz called the "mother of all block parties" -- Saturday's Festival of Families, which will feature both the pontiff and performers including singers Aretha Franklin, Andrea Bocelli and Juanes, actor Mark Wahlberg, comedian Jim Gaffigan and The Philadelphia Orchestra.
All through downtown and the parkway grounds, the delegates were easily recognizable with their green lanyards and nametags. Many were wearing "World Meeting of Families 2015" T-shirts.
Scores of people lined up outside the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul Friday and Thursday to participate in a "Mary Untier of Knots" ribbon ceremony. Hundreds and hundreds of white ribbons -- bearing the written petitions of the faithful -- were affixed to a domed structure next to the cathedral.
That sight will greet Francis, who is to celebrate Mass at the cathedral Saturday morning, his first stop after arriving in Philadelphia. He has a special devotion to the concept and image of the Virgin Mary as an undoer of knots, which he discovered in the 1980s during his years of study in Germany.
"So the idea is our lives are messy because of selfishness, sinfulness," said the Rev. Philip Smith, who was visiting from Toledo, Ohio, and watching the procession of believers. "Things get twisted, they get tangled, and only God can untangle things. So Mary said 'yes' to God's plan in her life, which was reversing the mess we're tangled up in."
Hector D. Ponte of Miami, joined by family and friends, was among those outside the cathedral. As a take-away from the World Meeting of Families, his group wants to report back to their youth group at home on ways to keep God at the center of relationships.
As he surveyed the parkway, Ponte said Philadelphia is a fitting site for the families conference.
"Everybody's very friendly, welcoming. It seems like they do want us here. Philly is one of the places where our country was started: liberty, family and freedom," he said.
As many visitors praised the city's welcome, a group of homeless men wondered what would become of their encampment along the parkway during the pope's visit.
They are the sort of people -- the marginalized of society -- that Francis has repeatedly urged the world to help.
Howard Nichols, 60, said he is homeless and a Vietnam War veteran who still grapples with "guilt" from that experience. His message for the pope was simple: "Please don't forget about me."
By yesterday afternoon, with security precautions being taken, high fencing blocked access to some side streets along the parkway and downtown. The homeless men's blankets and other goods had vanished.

LIPHIL26

Philadelphia's atmosphere electric in anticipation of Pope Francis' arrival

On his whirlwind full day in New York -- a city that offers views of both the world's wealth and its poverty, its powerful and its homeless -- Pope Francis had an agenda of stunning breadth. 
At the United Nations General Assembly and at the 9/11 museum in Lower Manhattan, his concerns were global: peace, better lives for the poor, and environmental protection. In East Harlem, his focus was the local, a poor neighborhood whose parish church, Our Lady Queen of Angels, has closed -- like so many others in this country -- though its school clings bravely to life, serving mostly Latino and black children. 
Typical of Francis, before he strode to the General Assembly rostrum, he spoke with UN staff in a warmly personal way. He remained true to his concern for everyday people, mentioning not only the experts and the translators, but also the cleaners and cooks, maintenance and security workers. He urged them, in addition to their daily duty of worrying about the future of the whole planet, to care for each other. 
&nbsp;"I will pray for your and your families, and I ask each one of you please to remember to pray for me," he said, again making clear his own need for prayer, as he has done since he stepped out on that balcony in Rome in 2013 as the newly elected pope. And to those on the UN staff who might not be believers, he said, to applause and laughter, "I ask you to wish me well." 
The speech to the General Assembly continues a tradition started by Pope Paul VI in 1965 (my first opportunity to write about a pope). In that speech, he minced no words: "No more war, war never again." His successors, John Paul II and Benedict XVI, also addressed the General Assembly (John Paul twice), and both spoke forcefully against war. John Paul opposed the disastrous Anglo-American invasion of Iraq and didn't back down from reminding President George W. Bush of that opposition, when Bush visited the Vatican a year after the invasion. 
This pope's UN speech seemed less gritty, more lofty and even academic, than the one he gave to Congress. Let's not forget, though: He was addressing a room full of highly educated diplomats, as opposed to a legislative chamber brimming with climate change deniers. And, of course, he's a Jesuit -- usually a reliable sign of intellectual rigor, of lofty ideas, of scholarly phrases like "declarationist nominalism." He even mentioned the need for an examination of conscience, a delicate echo of a key element of the Jesuit order's Ignatian spirituality: the daily examen, an evening reflection on the events of the day and God's presence in them. 
But his 45-minute speech offered its share of deeply human touches and some profound remarks on the environment, the arms trade, the need for total nuclear disarmament. In addition to laying down broad philosophical principles, he reminded the diplomats that those who suffer are real people. 
"Not only in cases of religious or cultural persecution, but in every situation of conflict, as in Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Libya, South Sudan and the Great Lakes region, real human beings take precedence over partisan interests, however legitimate the latter may be," Francis said. "In wars and conflicts there are individual persons, our brothers and sisters, men and women, young and old, boys and girls who weep, suffer and die." 
In his long appeal for environmental protection, Francis delivered a pithy description of belief that ought to be on the wall of every member of Congress: "We Christians, together with the other monotheistic religions, believe that the universe is the fruit of a loving decision by the Creator, who permits man respectfully to use creation for the good of his fellow men and for the glory of the Creator; he is not authorized to abuse it, much less to destroy it. In all religions, the environment is a fundamental good." 
Speaking to an organization that has set out elaborate international definitions of human rights, the pope offered a simple formulation of what government leaders must do to make sure that families live in dignity and flourish. "In practical terms, this absolute minimum has three names: lodging, labor, and land; and one spiritual name: spiritual freedom, which includes religious freedom, the right to education and other civil rights." Another candidate for engraving on congressional walls. 
Once again, the pope spoke out against the international arms trade. He didn't have to say, but it is true, that the United States is the largest exporter of conventional arms in the world. And the United States is launching a project to upgrade its nuclear arsenal that could cost nearly $1 trillion over the next three decades. On nuclear weapons, the pope went well beyond what the U.S. Catholic bishops said three decades ago in their war and peace document, "The Challenge of Peace." The dominant theory of nuclear weapons possession has been deterrence, or Mutual Assured Destruction, aptly abbreviated as MAD. The bishops left room for a strictly conditioned acceptance of deterrence -- but only on the way to full disarmament. That, of course, has not come about. 
"An ethics and a law based on the threat of mutual destruction--and possibly the destruction of all mankind--are self-contradictory and an affront to the entire framework of the United Nations, which would end up as 'nations united by fear and distrust,' " Francis said. "There is urgent need to work for a world free of nuclear weapons, in full application of the non-proliferation treaty, in letter and spirit, with the goal of a complete prohibition of these weapons." Yes! 
Within hours after he was greeted, among others, by New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, who voted against the deal to slow Iran's development of a nuclear weapon, the pope spoke out in favor of it: "I express my hope that this agreement will be lasting and efficacious, and bring forth the desired fruits with the cooperation of all the parties involved." 
This pope's visit comes at a crucial moment for the UN: a horrific refugee crisis arising from the Syrian civil war; a vote on sustainable development goals for the next 15 years; and preparation for a climate summit in Paris in December. 
The UN is a flawed institution. Its peacekeeping forces have been accused of rape in Africa, of spreading cholera in Haiti, of failing to stop genocide in Rwanda. But its agencies -- such as UNICEF, UNESCO, and the High Commissioner for Refugees -- do good work around the world. And Francis clearly believes in that work. He ended his speech with a prayer that the UN and its officials "will always render an effective service to mankind, a service respectful of diversity and capable of bringing out, for sake of the common good, the best in each people and in every individual." 
From there, Francis traveled to the National September 11 Memorial Museum for a deeply moving interfaith service, at a place now emblematic of the senseless violence that grows from ideology. Here, the pope was one of many faith leaders to speak. Briefly he spoke in English, and later, before he gave a longer talk, he apologized for his lack of facility in that language. In his native Spanish, Francis spoke movingly of those who died, of those who risked their lives, of tears, of the "pain that leaves us speechless, but screams to heaven." And he concluded with a lovely call for peace, leading to a moment of silence, then an exchange of hugs and handshakes on the stage, much like the kiss of peace at Mass -- a practice that some Vatican liturgists would like to tame. 
"Peace in our homes," Pope Francis said, "in our families, in our schools, in our communities, peace in all the places in which war seems to be endless, peace in the faces of the people who have only seen pain, peace in this wide world that God has given us as a home for all. Only peace." That powerful sentiment should be framed, too -- and lived. 
Bob Keeler is a former member of Newsday's editorial board.

OPKEEL25

Pope Francis's profound message at UN and 9/11 museum

Pope Cropped

A playful Pope Francis laughed, played and took lots and lots of selfies with hundreds of inner-city schoolchildren during a visit to East Harlem Friday.
Spending the afternoon inside Our Lady Queen of Angels School, the 78-year-old pontiff appeared as jubilant and engaged as during any time in his historic mission to the United States.
Brandon Cabaleiro, 17, a senior at Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, was able to address the pope in Spanish. 
"He is so calm," Cabaleiro said. "I wasn't even nervous." 
About two dozen pupils from Our Lady Queen of Angels won a lottery to meet, speak and pray with the pope. The children showed off projects they prepared for him showcasing stewardship, community service and the environment. 
Francis tinkered with a touch-screen application created by the children on a large monitor -- moving items around a digitally rendered river. 
When they serenaded him, Francis teased them for not singing with enough energy -- cupping his hand to his ear and suggesting they were sleepy. 
He beamed when gifted with a soccer ball from one student, and told him about his favorite team, Buenos Aires' San Lorenzo club.
"Thank you for letting me come, and I ask pardon from your teachers for stealing a few minutes of their class time," the pope said in Spanish to an audience of students, faculty and immigrants organized by Catholic Charities. 
Hundreds more students from inner-city Catholic elementary and high schools greeted the pope outside Our Lady Queen of Angels. The students were selected by their school administrators because of their active religious lives and community work. 
"The children were so happy," said Sister Guadalupe of the Community of Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal, who attended the event and realized her "heartfelt wish" to touch the Holy Father's hand. 
"It was so soft," she said. "I couldn't help myself from reaching out to him. We love him so much."
Addressing the students, Francis noted that "very near here" was a street named after "a man who did a lot for other people" -- Martin Luther King Jr.
"One day he said, 'I have a dream.' His dream was that many children like you could get an education," Francis said. "It is beautiful to have dreams and to be able to fight for them . . . Don't stop dreaming."
Before departing, Francis said he had one "homework" assignment for the students. "Please don't forget to pray for me, so that I can share with many people the joy of Jesus."
Outside the school, crowds of mostly black and Hispanic worshippers packed the streets hours before the pope's arrival -- many of them waving U.S., Vatican City and Puerto Rican flags. Others watched from apartment windows.
When a bright rainbow broke through the cloudy haze above, worshippers saw it as a sign that they were where they needed to be.
"We will be seeing el papa," said Juliana DeJesus of the Dominican Republic, who planned the trip to see the pontiff for a year, saving "the little money we have" for visas. She and her small entourage were staying with family and friends in New York and planned to follow the pope to Philadelphia, where they have no lodging. 
"It does not matter," she said, pointing to the rainbow. "We are here right now."

LISKUL26

Pope Francis engages students at Our Lady Queen of Angels in East Harlem

Pope laughs, takes selfies at East Harlem school

USA POPE FRANCIS VISIT/mk -- cropped

Too few people in the pews to support the cost of the church: It's not a problem limited to the Archdiocese of New York, where Pope Francis is visiting. It's happening in a lot of the East and Midwest. That, of course, is no consolation to the people of Our Lady Queen of Angels in East Harlem. Their church closed years ago, though its school struggles gamely onward. 
Before Pope Francis visited the school on Friday, there was a sign on the church door that read: "Welcome to East Harlem Pope Francis. The parishioners of Our Lady Queen of Angels continue on the sidewalk. PLEASE OPEN OUR CHURCH." That's what people have been praying publicly for, on Sundays. But the likelihood is that even this amazing pope can't work that miracle. 
Still, it was uplifting seeing him in a Catholic elementary school, which has been so much a part of my life, as a student -- and my wife's, as a student and as gifted teacher for decades. 
There's still something special about Catholic schools, something beyond the reading and writing and arithmetic. 
My memories of Good Shepherd in Brooklyn are happy ones. I bristle when I hear stories of overly strict nuns. You try running a classroom of 72 kids -- 72 kids! -- as a young nun just out of high school, with no formal education training. That's what we asked of nuns in those days. If a few of them got a little crabby, can you blame them? As for me, I'm still in touch with my first-grade teacher, Sister Marnette Bamberger, of the Amityville Dominicans, who is as sharp as she ever was, even though her adventurous relationship with the law of gravity has caused a few unfortunate falls that limit her mobility. I still look at her for wisdom about the church. 
It would be great if the pope's visit helps keep the East Harlem school going, so that it doesn't go the way of the parish church that closed -- like too many others. The closing of parishes is a complicated matter. It has to do with demography, with history, with aging, with declining numbers of new vocations to the priesthood. 
One piece of history is one that my friend and former Newsday colleague, Paul Moses, has pointed out, after his intense study of the Irish and Italians in New York, for his new book: "An&nbsp;Unlikely Union." As the ethnic mix of&nbsp; the City of New York grew -- and as some groups, such as the Irish and the Italians, didn't always get along -- the church created parishes to serve ethnic groups in their neighborhoods. In later years, that left the archdiocese with churches too close together, serving diminishing numbers of churchgoing parishioners. 
Our Lady Queen of Angels is a case in point. It served a variety of ethnicities that have changed over the years: German, Italian, Dominican. You name it. That's the way it has always been in the city: ethnic identity is an ever-shifting dimension of life in this glorious city of neighborhoods. 
On a national level, there has been a shift westward. "The number of U.S. parishes peaked in 1988 at 19,705," Peter Feuerherd wrote in the National Catholic Reporter. "They have since declined in number by more than 12 percent. The closures largely affected the Northeast and Midwest while the gains in Catholics in other regions has yet to be fully reflected in new parishes." 
In the Archdiocese of New York, there's been a planning process called "Making All Things New." That bright, chirpy appellation must sound a tad off-key to the ears of parishioners in the 30-plus participating churches that have closed. 
I'm actually more familiar with this phenomenon in the Archdiocese of Boston, where a thoughtful process came up with a pastoral plan called "Disciples in Mission," to strengthen parishes. That led to the formation of "collaboratives." This is how "Disciples in Mission" describes it: "In order better to focus our resources on evangelization, Disciples in Mission organizes the 288 Parishes of the Archdiocese of Boston into approximately 135 collaboratives." My daughter Rachel works as associate minister for one of those collaboratives, New Roads Catholic Community, made up of St. Joseph's and St. Luke's, in Belmont. 
Like so many others in today's church, my daughter is intensely focused on making disciples, reaching out to Catholics who for whatever reason have drifted away from the church, and bringing them back into the fold. Pope Benedict XVI seemed content with the notion of a smaller church, so long as the diminishing numbers meant that those who stayed were stout in their beliefs and highly orthodox. Compared to that smaller-is-better idea, the current emphasis on evangelization is heartening. But it will take time. 
Meanwhile, collaboratives, closed churches, and overworked priests will be a reality. The upside of that, of course, will be more lay people involved in the day-to-day leadership of parishes. So it's useful that the pope got to see some of it in person, before heading for a ride through Central Park and Mass in Madison Square Garden, where -- unlike too many parish churches -- there was no problem filling all the seats. 
Bob Keeler is a former member of Newsday's editorial board.

OPKEEL252

Filling parish churches is a challenge even for Pope Francis

Keeler: Pope can pack MSG, but can he fill pews?

Pope Crowd Cropped

Fourteen years ago, the darker impulses of religion unleashed a war on New York City and the Western world.
Friday, a son of Italian immigrants, born in a Buenos Aires barrio, who has ascended to the role of a spiritual global shepherd, stood at the lower Manhattan grounds of so much carnage -- a peace-seeking example of religion's appeal to light.
Silence, punctuated only by cascading water, the occasional click of a camera or a child's cry, fell on Ground Zero as Pope Francis fixed his gaze on an avalanche of names etched in bronze.
It was one of many snapshots of poignancy as Francis joined other spiritual leaders at the National September 11 Memorial &amp; Museum -- a rare moment of sadness and solemnity on the pontiff's otherwise joyous visit to New York City.
On a stage set up inside the memorial museum, the pope talked of a grief one could feel but no words could describe.
"Here grief is palpable," the pope said in his late-morning remarks.
As he spoke, an audience including family members of those lost on Sept. 11, 2001, survivors, and first responders who raced to the rubble after the terror attacks, listened intently. 
Joining the pontiff: clergy representing Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, evangelical Christians, the Greek Orthodox Church and Judaism -- the denomination that gave rise to his own.
"The water we see flowing toward that empty pit reminds us of all those lives which fell prey to those who think that destruction, tearing down, is the only way to settle conflicts," Francis said.
He spoke of the "unspeakable violence" set loose when the planes hit and 2,753 people lost their lives, and of the "hallowed ground" under his feet.
To his right stood the last upright beam from the wreckage of the World Trade Center. It bears the rough lettering designating the units of the FDNY and other first responders.
The pope was there to mourn with the others, but his mission at Ground Zero had a broader goal: an ecumenical prayer of solace and love for a city and a world still recovering from the acts of 19 hijackers more than a decade past.
"It is a source of great hope that in this place of sorrow and remembrance I can join with leaders representing the many religious traditions which enrich the life of this great city," the pope said. "I trust that our presence together will be a powerful sign of our shared desire to be a force for reconciliation, peace and justice in this community and throughout the world."
Before the pope arrived, sidewalks interlocking the black granite pools where the towers stood, filled with onlookers.
Joan Higgins, 82, of Freeport, was among those who came to glimpse the pope and gain something else.
Her son, Timothy Higgins of Farmingville, died in the attacks. An FDNY lieutenant, he was married with three children. 
"I really would like to see the pope and get his blessing," she said. "I'm a very devout Catholic and I believe that he would pray for Tim's soul and give his blessings." 
As at other events on the pope's itinerary in Manhattan, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of New York, stayed close by the pontiff at Ground Zero.
The two leaders, peers as cardinals until Francis' papal election in 2013, walked along the border of one of the pools. The pope stopped and gently rested a rose on a bronze surface covered with names of the dead.
Inside the museum, the pope met victims' families, including some from Long Island.
Among them were relatives of Jonathan Lee Ielpi, 29, of Great Neck, an FDNY firefighter, and Michael Patrick Iken, 37, of the Bronx, who worked at Euro Brokers and grew up in Massapequa.
Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, chairman of the Memorial &amp; Museum, introduced families to the pope. 
Dolan welcomed Francis to the service, entitled "A Witness to Peace." 
The jovial cardinal injected humor into the proceedings by explaining his interfaith outreach -- evidenced by many listening -- as both a confession and a bit of a teasing boast. 
"We in New York are sinners . . . but one of the things we do well is sincere and fruitful interreligious friendship."
Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove of Park Avenue Synagogue and other clergy spoke of the attacks as a mission of terror with the goal of using religion to justify a horrific act.
"In this place, where horrendous violence was committed falsely in the name of God, we, representatives of the world religions in this great City of New York, gather to offer words of comfort and prayer," Cosgrove said.
Iman Khalid Latif, the executive director and chaplain of the Islamic Center at New York University, told the pope and others that "intolerance and ignorance fueled those who attacked this place." 
He said unlike those out to destroy religious freedom, "we stand together as brothers and sisters to condemn their horrific acts of violence and honor each life that was lost unconditionally."
The pope later toured the museum's extensive exhibit. 
A copy of the New Testament recovered from the towers' wreckage caught the pontiff's attention. He found the page containing advice from Jesus to his followers to reject violence as revenge and instead turn the other cheek.
It was all more than enough to move the Rev. Wilfred Tyrrell, a Brentwood native and a member of the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement in upstate Graymoor.
"It was just the collective energy of the spirit at work," Tyrrell said, "a message of peace, shalom and salaam."
With Bart Jones
and William Murphy

LIZERO26

Pope Francis: Presence of religious leaders at Ground Zero sends 'powerful' message

UNITED NATIONS -- Pope Francis, sounding themes he has proclaimed since his arrival in the United States, called on world leaders to protect the environment and the defenseless in his speech Friday morning before the 70th meeting of the General Assembly. 
"In effect, a selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity leads both to the misuse of available natural resources and to the exclusion of the weak and disadvantaged," he said, speaking in Spanish that was simultaneously translated. 
He received applause when he declared that the rights of the "vast ranks of the excluded" and the environment "must be forcefully affirmed." 
And he was applauded when he said that "the poorest are those who suffer most from such offenses for three serious reasons: They are cast off by society, forced to live off what is discarded and suffer unjustly from the abuse of the environment. They are part of today's widespread and quietly growing 'culture of waste.' " 
Before the pope's speech, Mogens Lykketoft of Denmark, president of the UN General Assembly, said the pontiff and the UN were "indeed united by the same concerns," including the environment and the "plight of displaced peoples." 
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon spoke of the pope's "resounding voice of compassion." 
Although other popes have addressed the 193-member body, Francis is the first to come at its opening, three days before the official start of the General Debate in which leaders outline their vision for the UN for the year. 
Though Francis spent the first part of the speech praising the UN's achievements, he said that the international body needed to reform its decision-making procedure. 
All countries, not just a select few, should have a voice in that process, he said. 
"The need for greater equity is especially true in the case of those bodies with effective executive capability," Francis said. " . . . This will help limit every kind of abuse or usury, especially where developing countries are concerned." 
Francis' speech came hours before the opening of a three-day special summit to adopt a sustainable development agenda -- an ambitious set of goals to reduce poverty, inequality and improve the environment. 
In June, the pope issued an encyclical on climate change, the first ever on the environment. 
In his UN speech Friday, he painted the importance of addressing environmental issues in stark terms. 
"The ecological crisis, and the large-scale destruction of biodiversity can threaten the very existence of the human species," he said. And he made a case for the "right of the environment," that "any harm done to the environment . . . is harm done to humanity." 
He touched an array of other global issues -- from the need to educate girls to the pernicious effects of drug trafficking 
He also spoke of the need to rid the world of nuclear weapons and to work "tirelessly to avoid war between nations and between peoples." He also pointed to the painful situation of the Middle East, North Africa and other areas where Christians and others "have been forced to witness the destruction of their places of worship, their cultural and religious heritage, their houses and property." 
And, as he has in the past, he stressed the importance of people over policy: "Not only in cases of religious or cultural persecution but in every situation of conflict as in Ukraine, Syria, Iraq, Libya, South Sudan and the Great Lakes region, real human beings take precedence over partisan interests, however legitimate the latter may be." 
Appealing to the "respect for the sacredness of every human life," he spoke eloquently about "those considered disposable because they are only considered as part of a statistic" and of our contemporary world "so apparently connected . . . experiencing a growing and steady social fragmentation."

LIUN26

Pope Francis at United Nations: Environment, poor 'must be forcefully affirmed'

Pope at UN: Protect the environment, defenseless

pope at un / jcm

In his first address to adoring worshippers in New York City, Pope Francis commended the strength of religious women, acknowledged the blight of the church's sex abuse scandal and spoke of gratitude and hard work following evening prayers at St. Patrick's Cathedral in midtown Manhattan.
"What would the church be without you?" the pope said in translated remarks aimed at "the religious women of the United States," whom he called "Women of strength, fighters, with that spirit of courage which puts you in the front lines in the proclamation of the Gospel."
His grateful remarks in praise of women met with wide applause. But the pontiff also touched on the clergy sex abuse scandal as a point of shame for the church, as he has at other events in the United States.
"I know that, as a presbyterate in the midst of God's people, you suffered greatly in the not distant past by having to bear the shame of some of your brothers who harmed and scandalized the Church in the most vulnerable of her members," Francis said, adding that he stood with those who had "come forth from the great tribulation."
His address -- which delighted admirers used to hearing something fresh and different every time the Francis speaks -- capped a day full of anticipation as thousands of New Yorkers lined up on Fifth Avenue or waited hours with their tickets outside the recently renovated cathedral to be in the presence of the pope.
Before he began his scheduled remarks, Francis offered a prayer for the 700 Muslims killed during an annual pilgrimage to Mecca in a stampede Thursday morning. 
"I unite myself with you all," the pontiff said. 
Earlier, deep and soulful choral music reverberated from the walls of St. Patrick's, the seat of the New York archdiocese, as evening prayers began. The mood was serious and reflective, and the pope sat solemnly observant, presiding over his flock as many in the cathedral sang along with eyes closed.
But the mood when Francis arrived and descended from the popemobile was anything but calm. Francis stepped out of the white, open-air vehicle to the sound of clanging bells and screaming fans at the steps of St. Patrick's about 6:43 p.m., and met the applause and excitement with waves and smiles.
He was welcomed at the cathedral by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), and shook hands warmly with each man. As the screams from admirers overwhelmed even the sound of cathedral bells, the pope exchanged hellos with the three dignitaries, readjusted his white cap, and greeted fans again with a wide smile and an arching wave.
Francis then shook hands with Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, as he proceeded into the cathedral. As the doors shut behind him, choir and organ music took over in place of ringing bells and screaming fans on the street.
He slowly made his way into the grand doors of the cathedral and cellphones were thrust into the air and cameras flashed while Francis took his time greeting his people. He switched from left pew to right pew to bestow greetings -- and occasionally hugs and a kiss -- to worshippers.
As he made his way down the aisle, the pope bent to embrace a girl in a wheelchair wearing a pink shirt, spoke in her ear and patted her on the cheek. After the pontiff left her, the girl wiped her eyes.
He held hands, shook hands, and accepted a heaping colorful bouquet as he made his way to the looming replica of The Pieta, the statue of Christ after he was taken down from the crucifix, held in the arms of the Virgin Mary. Francis made the sign of the cross, solemnly looked up toward the statue, and moved onto the altar, where he bowed his head and prayed, then made the sign of the cross once more. 
The gleaming polish of the floors reflected the soft light of the cathedral as the choir moved to a softer, slower song. Soon, the pontiff reappeared, adorned in his full papal vestments of gold, forest green and cream. In his left hand, he held a crucifix. 
Before Francis' arrival, Bishop William Murphy of the Diocese of Rockville Centre took to the altar shortly before 6 p.m. after he was introduced by "Today" show co-host Matt Lauer.
Murphy, who worked for years in Rome at the Vatican, took the packed cathedral through a brief, erudite history of the Roman Catholic Church. He noted facts including that the church has had 23 popes named John, 16 named Benedict, 13 named Innocent, but only one named Francis.
"Viva el Papa Francisco!" he said in Spanish, prompting applause, then added in English: "Long live Pope Francis!"
"We in New York love you and welcome you today and always. Amen."
Worshippers had begun streaming into St. Patrick's hours earlier, some arriving as early as 2 p.m. to watch the pontiff attend the evening prayers, known to Catholics as vespers. 
Before Francis' eagerly awaited arrival, ushers in formal white gloves led people into St. Patrick's while choral hymns such as "A Prayer of St. Patrick" and "Ave Maria" filtered through the holy space. 
A mix of religious orders and lay people filled the historic church, and many anticipated the blessings that merely being in the presence of the world's most well-known holy figure would bring.
Among them was Bronx resident Vincent DeGregorio, who was given a ticket from Sister Oblates to the Blessed Trinity, where he has been a student, teacher and volunteer librarian. 
It was the first time DeGregorio had been to the cathedral since it had been renovated. 
"That the pope is here with the restoration -- it's magnificent," he said. "I hope to take home my blessing for my family because I have a very sick cousin who has cancer. I hope to take home some of that blessing for him."
Sister Helen Kearney, president of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Brentwood, had made it through heavy security and was waiting just before 3 p.m. with other religious men and women.
"I think there's a certain aura of excitement of being in Pope Francis' presence," she said.
Afternoon sun spilled through stained-glass windows onto the gleaming floors of the hallowed cathedral as they waited. Some worshippers soaked up the spirituality of the day or reflected on Francis' already pronounced legacy.
"I think it's fabulous we have a progressive pope for modern times," Lloyd Harbor resident Gregory G. Galdi said from his seat in the nave of St. Patrick's. "I'm humbled and honored to be here. It's interesting to see so many people here for the same thing. It's not for a sports event or a concert. It's spiritual."
"I think we're all here for one and the same purpose, which is to increase our faith and learn by example," Douglaston, Queens, resident Joseph M. Mattone, 84, said. "We can all improve our lifestyle to help one another."
Francis's comments reflected on what he referred to as the spirit of gratitude and the spirit of hard work. 
"A grateful heart is spontaneously impelled to serve the Lord and to find expression in a life of commitment to our work," Francis said in the official Vatican translation. "Once we come to realize how much God has given us, a life of self-sacrifice, of working for him and for others, becomes a privileged way of responding to his great love."
He cautioned against allowing luxuries and comforts that could blunt the lord's call. And he spoke of finding rest in new places. "Closeness to the poor, the refugee, the immigrant, the sick, the exploited, the elderly living alone, prisoners and all God's other poor, will teach us a different way of resting, one which is more Christian and generous."
Francis also asked worshippers to stand firm and resilient in what he called an evolving pastoral landscape. "Whatever difficulties and trials you face, I ask you, like St. Peter, to be at peace and to respond to them as Christ did: He thanked the Father, took up his cross and looked forward."
After his homily, Dolan took to the pulpit and addressed Francis, and the men exchanged a warm grin and a laugh. Dolan welcomed the pope to the newly renovated St. Patrick's Cathedral: "Once you entered those famous doors on Fifth Avenue, you became an official New Yorker. But you already had a home in our hearts."
After speaking briefly about the elaborate restoration of the ornate and world-famous cathedral, he invited Francis to come back to New York again soon.
"We have seen this repair and restoration as an invitation from Jesus for the spiritual renewal of ourselves," Dolan said. "Your presence this happy evening renews all of us and provides a special blessing to us all."
The men then half-hugged, grinning, and Dolan patted Francis on the back. 
Soon after, the pope headed back down the aisle out of St. Patrick's, stopping to offer his prayers for good health to Cuomo's girlfriend Sandra Lee as she battles cancer, and to Cuomo's father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, who died in January. Slowly, Francis made his way out of the church and back to the throng of fans who had stood, waiting on an electrified Fifth Avenue for his return.

LIPATS25

Pope Francis in St. Patrick's Cathedral praises women, offers prayer for Mecca victims

Pope prays for Muslims killed amid pilgrimage

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A first-of-its-kind address to Congress. 
A meal with some of Washington's homeless. 
Remarks in English and Spanish -- and connections with thousands of people, from the nation's capital to New York City. 
If anything, Pope Francis' U.S. trip became even more intense Thursday -- not least on Fifth Avenue, where throngs of admiring fans and worshippers turned out to watch his motorcade approach St. Patrick's Cathedral. 
Here are five things to know about the pope's Thursday. App users can see the related stories by tapping on the first link above. 
1) Thursday morning the 266th pontiff became the first pope to address a joint session of Congress, in a speech that prodded elected leaders and Americans more broadly to move beyond polarization and work toward "the greatest common good." 
In slow but steady English, he drew attention to "a refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Second World War," returned to his themes of immigrants and the environment, and "focused on the poor and marginalized in society," <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/pope-francis-tells-congress-to-focus-on-needs-of-their-hardworking-constituents-1.10883785" target="_blank">Newsday's Tom Brune and William Murphy report</a>. "He only alluded to what most Republicans hoped to hear: his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage." 
He also evoked Martin Luther King Jr. for a second day in a row, while declaring, "I am happy that America continues to be, for many, a land of dreams." 
2) Newsday's Editorial Board says Francis had them at the first "God bless America." 
When he said the phrase Wednesday at the White House, he made it "a heartfelt compliment," not rote political boilerplate, a <a href="http://www.newsday.com/opinion/editorial/the-pope-rightly-prods-america-to-do-better-1.10887162" target="_blank">Newsday editorial says</a>. When he said it Thursday in Congress, "it was a short prayer for a great nation that needs to repair its badly damaged political discourse." 
3) After leaving the pomp and power of the U.S. Capitol, Pope Francis immediately went to spend time with some of the least powerful, the homeless, <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/nation/pope-francis-to-meet-some-of-washington-s-homeless-1.10885337" target="_blank">Newsday's Bart Jones reports</a>. 
He writes that the homeless people gathered at St. Patrick's Catholic Church almost could not believe that a pope was coming to see them -- and ask them to pray for him. Francis denounced homelessness -- and pointed out that Jesus "came into this world as a homeless person." 
4) On a lighter note, the pope had a varied day of transportation. He flew aboard "Shepherd One" from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland to Kennedy Airport in Queens -- this time on an American Airlines plane instead of an Alitalia one. 
A Marine helicopter took him to Manhattan, and he arrived in midtown in a Fiat -- before getting in the popemobile for the last part of his ride to St. Patrick's Cathedral. The crowd screamed and jumped up and down to see him on Fifth Avenue, with many chanting his name, <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/pope-francis-lands-in-new-york-city-1.10886421" target="_blank">Newsday reports</a>. 
It happened so fast, said Camilo Trujillo of Fort Lee, New Jersey, that it was "a once-in-a-lifetime experience that happened in seven seconds." 
5) The evening prayers service reflected the wide scope of the day, and of the man who is the global leader of the Roman Catholic Church. 
Pope Francis offered a prayer for the more than 700 Muslims who were killed in a stampede during a pilgrimage to Mecca at the start of the day, saying, "I unite myself with you all." 
He "touched on the clergy sex abuse scandal as a point of shame for the church, as he has at other events in the United States," <a href="http://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/pope-francis-greeted-at-st-patrick-s-cathedral-with-music-dignitaries-1.10887327" target="_blank">Newsday's Bart Jones, Emily C. Dooley and Candice Ruud report</a>. 
And he praised the strength of religious women, asking in Spanish, "What would the church be without you?" 
On deck for Friday: Another big speech -- this time at the United Nations.

Pope Francis visit: 5 highlights from Thursday

Catch up: 5 things to know about the pope's day

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As church bells clanged, Pope Francis smiled and waved to thousands of rapturous fans Thursday in lower Manhattan as his motorcade slowly made its way up Fifth Avenue.
Minutes later, the pope stepped through the massive bronze doors of St. Patrick's Cathedral to a roar from the congregation of about 2,500.
Just hours earlier, Frances had been the first pope to address a joint session of Congress -- giving a wide-ranging address that included a strong call to action on behalf of immigrants and refugees.
The Argentine pope, making his first visit to New York, entered midtown in his modest black Fiat, but moved to his open-air popemobile for the last few blocks to the cathedral.
Throngs of supporters -- some of whom came from across the United States and from other countries -- lined the streets, cheering and waving miniature Vatican flags.
Francis ended the day with a homily in Spanish during an evening service at the newly renovated St. Patrick's. He began by acknowledging the 700 Muslims killed in a stampede during the annual hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia.
"In this moment I give assurances of my prayer," he said. "I unite myself with you all."
The pope went on to reflect on what he referred to as the spirit of gratitude and the spirit of hard work. 
"A grateful heart is spontaneously impelled to serve the Lord and to find expression in a life of commitment to our work," Francis said. "Once we come to realize how much God has given us, a life of self-sacrifice, of working for him and for others, becomes a privileged way of responding to his great love."
In the morning at the U.S. Capitol, lawmakers from both parties listened -- and rose to their feet dozens of times to applaud -- as the 78-year-old pontiff admonished them to use their political strength for "restoring hope, righting wrongs."
He touched on themes he has emphasized throughout his papacy: human rights, equality and service to the poor, and drew on American figures from Abraham Lincoln to Catholic charity worker Dorothy Day to underscore his points.
The first Latin American pope began his 50-minute speech -- delivered slowly in English -- relating Congress' role to that of Moses, the biblical leader of the Israelites, before urging a rejection of fundamentalism in all its forms.
"We know that in the attempt to be freed of the enemy without, we can be tempted to feed the enemy within," Francis said. "To imitate the hatred and violence of tyrants and murderers is the best way to take their place. That is something which you, as a people, reject."
The pope segued into an appeal for the United States to face with compassion the world's "refugee crisis of a magnitude not seen since the Second World War."
"We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners, because most of us were once foreigners," he said. "I say this to you as the son of immigrants, knowing that so many of you are also descended from immigrants."
He spoke of people traveling north in an apparent reference to immigrants from Latin America seeking opportunity here.
"We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation," Francis said.
Francis also urged the defense of "human life at every stage of its development" -- words often used in relation to opposition to abortion -- and repeated his call for "the global abolition of the death penalty."
And he referenced "Laudato Si," his encyclical on the environment issued this year, in which he urged global action to halt climate change.
"I call for a courageous and responsible effort 'to redirect our steps,' and to avert the most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity," he said. "I have no doubt that the United States -- and this Congress -- have an important role to play."
The messages resonated with the thousands of people who listened on the Capitol's West Lawn.
Among them was María Hernández, who trekked from Los Angeles to the site of an immigrant detention center in York, Pennsylvania, where she joined a group of 100 women marching to Washington to call attention to the plight of immigrants who are in the country illegally.
"We want dignity, respect and opportunity for immigrants, and he has spoken about that," Hernández said in Spanish. "He is the maximum authority of the church, and yet he's put himself in our place as immigrants."
After his address to political leaders, Francis visited St. Patrick's Catholic Church -- Washington's oldest parish -- where he spoke at a prayer service before dining on a lunch of chicken and pasta with charity workers and people who are homeless.
"We can find no social or moral justification, no justification whatsoever, for lack of housing," Francis said. "There are many unjust situations, but we know that God is suffering with us, experiencing them at our side. He does not abandon us."
Francis arrived in New York to a welcoming party of 200, including Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan and children from area Catholic schools.
A band from Xaverian High School, a Catholic school in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, played "New York, New York" as the pope emerged from a special American Airlines flight onto a red carpet placed on the tarmac.
Francis spent several minutes greeting and blessing the children, accepting a gift of a "spiritual bouquet" made up of children's written prayers, before departing for Manhattan in a helicopter.
On Fifth Avenue, he stepped into his popemobile -- a white Jeep -- for a short journey to St. Patrick's to the evening service of vespers.
George Ezike, 55, of New Rochelle, called the experience "truly exciting."
"It was inspiring. You could feel his vibe," he said. "But it happened too quickly."
At the cathedral -- the seat of the Archdiocese of New York -- Francis was greeted by New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Inside, he took his time greeting those who spent most of the day waiting for him. As he made his way down the center aisle, Francis bent to embrace a girl in a wheelchair wearing a pink shirt, spoke in her ear and patted her on the cheek.
During his homily, Francis again mentioned the clergy sex-abuse scandal, saying he stood with those who had "come forth from the great tribulation."
Francis spoke of gratitude and hard work as ways to fulfill a spiritual life, and cautioned against reveling in luxuries and comforts that could blunt God's call. And he thanked the women of the Catholic Church, which was met with sustained applause.
"What would the church be without you?" Francis said. "Women of strength, fighters, with that spirit of courage which puts you in the front lines in the proclamation of the Gospel."
Bishop William Murphy of the Diocese of Rockville Centre took to the altar shortly before the service.
Murphy, who worked for years in Rome at the Vatican, took the packed cathedral through a brief history of the Roman Catholic Church. He noted that the church has had 23 popes named John, 16 named Benedict, 13 named Innocent, but only one named Francis.
"Viva el Papa Francisco!" he said in Spanish, prompting applause, then added in English: "Long live Pope Francis!"
"We in New York love you and welcome you today and always. Amen."
Francis continues his three-city, six-day U.S. visit Friday with a morning address to the United Nations General Assembly. He is scheduled to leave for Philadelphia tomorrow morning.

LIPOPE25

Pope Francis arrives in New York to thousands of adoring fans, delivers homily

Pope NYC cropped

Here is the planned schedule of events for Pope Francis' visit to New York City: 
THURSDAY, SEPT. 24: 
5 p.m. -- Arrives at Kennedy Airport. 
Early evening -- Starting on Fifth Avenue somewhere south of 59th Street, Pope Francis will travel south for a few blocks to St. Patrick's Cathedral. 
6:45 p.m. -- Evening prayer at St. Patrick's Cathedral, the seat of the Archdiocese of New York. 
FRIDAY, SEPT. 25: 
8:30 a.m. -- Visit to the United Nations and address to the United Nations General Assembly. 
11:30 a.m. -- Visit to the National September 11 Memorial &amp; Museum, then participates in a multireligious service inside the facility. 
4 p.m. -- Visit to Our Lady Queen of Angels School in East Harlem for a look at inner-city Catholic education and to meet with children and immigrant families. 
5:15 p.m. -- Pope Francis will ride in a motorcade along Central Park West, from 72nd Street to 60th Street. 
6 p.m. -- Mass at Madison Square Garden. SATURDAY, SEPT. 26: 
8:40 a.m. -- Departs Kennedy Airport for Philadelphia.

NY-Pope schedule

Pope Francis visit: His NYC schedule

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Pope Francis has come to the United States to both applaud the American experience and to challenge us to continue every day to aspire to our ideals.
He had us at the first "God Bless America." 
When the pope spoke the phrase Wednesday at the White House, it was a heartfelt compliment, refreshingly not the rote boilerplate of our political events. And repeating the invocation again at the conclusion of his remarks to a joint session of Congress Thursday, it was a short prayer for a great nation that needs to repair its badly damaged political discourse. 
The pope addresses the United Nations in New York City Friday and a World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia this weekend before returning to Rome. Midway through his journey, however, it's clear that Francis is uniquely gifted to bring these messages of healing for our individual families, our national family and our world family directly to our hearts.
The pope's highly anticipated speech to Congress began with a message that each member had the responsibility to work "in the tireless and demanding pursuit of the common good." This legislature certainly needed the reminder.
The pope's well-crafted and comprehensive address was inherently political, yet not in the scoreboard split of red and blue that inhibits the divining of common ground. Instead, he provided a moral framework to respond to the issues, a way for us to rise above conflict and division to find a hopeful path. And he kept it simple. He reminded us of the Golden Rule of how to get along, or in his words, "to respond in a way which is always humane, just and fraternal." It was pastoral advice that we can't hear enough. 
Francis mostly avoided advocating for direct political action, with these exceptions -- calling for an end to the death penalty and an end to the trading of arms, of which the United States is a major exporter. He only indirectly referred to more controversial topics of abortion and end-of-life measures. "The Golden Rule," he said, "also reminds us of our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development." The pope may not change minds in Congress or on Long Island, but surely there can be agreement on his call for a "spirit of cooperation." 
Francis did not propose any specific remedy for our immigration controversies, but counseled that "the stranger in our midst" be viewed with compassion. "We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation," he said. And the pope, who has been very outspoken on how climate change will have the greatest impact on the world's poor, said capitalism can lead the way. He said the "proper application of technology and the harnessing of the spirit of enterprise are essential elements of an economy which seeks to be modern, inclusive and sustainable." Conversations that start with those approaches may lead to results.
When Pope Francis leaves, our challenges and struggles will remain. 
Yet, his message of hope and courage can inspire us to confront them honestly and compassionately.

VPPOPE25

The pope rightly prods America to do better

Editorial: The pope rightly prods U.S. to do better

18.amny pope /hj

In a polite way, Pope Francis debunked months of overheated claims that he is "anti-capitalist" by repeating to Congress Thursday an overlooked passage in "Laudato Si," his encyclical on the environment. 
"Business is a noble vocation, directed to producing wealth and improving the world," he said. "It can be a fruitful source of prosperity for the area in which it operates, especially if it sees the creation of jobs as an essential part of its service to the common good." 
Those who expected a Marxist-like scolding were wrong. Instead, Francis offered Congress a simple but challenging morality in his historic appearance on Capitol Hill: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." 
Underscoring that, Francis made time during his busy day to meet with 300 homeless people. It was a powerful symbolic moment before his departure for New York, where claims of more homeless people in the streets have in recent weeks stirred outcries of alarm from politicians and pundits. 
Francis was kind enough not to say that his words of appreciation for business can be readily found in the encyclical that some critics have scorned as socialist. His prepared text did cite the passage, paragraph 129. 
Interestingly, Francis dropped a more pointed passage about the economy that was in his prepared text: "If politics must truly be at the service of the human person, it follows that it cannot be a slave to the economy and finance." 
His economic prescription was the Golden Rule. "If we want opportunities, let us provide opportunities. The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us," he said, pointing a finger at himself. 
"He wants to give ethical principles for discussion and dialogue over economic policy and he doesn't want to give specific injunctions," said Stephen Pope, professor of theology at Boston College. "This is very much a bridge-building speech." 
It is the flip side of a speech Francis gave to grassroots movements in Bolivia in July. That included the line that money is "the dung of the devil" -- an indictment of the "unfettered pursuit of money." 
Stephen Pope said that Francis wanted to recognize the advantages of the free market in his Washington speech while at the same time showing the need to see the economy from the viewpoint of the most vulnerable in society. 
"He doesn't say it in this way, but the danger of our culture is that we interpret economic activity in a very individualistic way," Pope said. "I think he wants to address the culture of individualism and prod us to do more to understand the concept of global solidarity." 
The two speeches converge in themes of compassion and justice, Pope said. "He speaks to the Congress of the United States as a priest. He speaks to the people of Bolivia as a prophet." 
Before arriving in Washington, Francis indicated he was aware of the "anti-capitalist" claims when he told reporters, "Maybe there's an impression I'm a little bit more lefty, but I haven't said a single thing that's not in the social doctrine of the church." 
Modern Catholic social teaching dates to an encyclical Pope Leo XIII issued in 1891 on labor and capital. Later popes built on it, creating a body of thought that is to the left of standard American debate on the economy. 
In his speech, Francis placed himself within the tradition by making a balanced use of its terms: "solidarity" -- which emphasizes the importance of the common good -- and "subsidiarity," which holds that decisions should be made as locally as possible. 
Catholic Republicans such as Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin like to highlight "subsidiarity" because it limits the role of the federal government (although it does not exclude it if a locality needs more help). "Solidarity" is the term Democrats like. 
Francis praised Dorothy Day, New York's great apostle of the rights of workers and the poor, as someone who exemplifies a Gospel-inspired passion to bring justice to the oppressed. 
Day, who founded the Catholic Worker Movement and died in 1980, was not a fan of big government aid programs and instead advocated working closely with the poor, person to person. 
It's the kind of "reciprocal subsidiarity" Francis prizes. As Fordham University theologian Maureen A. Tilley put it: "She lived with the people she served."

LIFOOT25

Polite pope answers critics on economy

pope cropped

They began gathering in the morning for a moment that would not come until sunset: a brief, frenzied, and, in most cases, obstructed glimpse of Pope Francis.
Suddenly, he was there. The crowd screamed. They reached out their hands, jumping up and down and straining to see him, their cellphones clicking away. Many chanted the Holy Father's name: "Francis. Francis."
The pontiff took it all in with a smile as he rolled down Fifth Avenue, waving to his fans from his popemobile -- a white Jeep Wrangler fitted with a bulletproof glass.
And then he was gone.
Camilo Trujillo of Fort Lee, New Jersey, called it "a once-in-a-lifetime experience that happened in seven seconds."
"He gave us his blessing. He looked right at us," Trujillo said. "It was amazing."
Different from his procession through the streets of Washington, D.C., Tuesday, there were no babies brought over to be blessed or little girls to be hugged during his short Manhattan parade.
But through a thick shield of security, the "people's pope" sent his blessings, and the occasional thumbs up, to the tens of thousands of excited followers.
"I can feel the chills running through my body. His presence is invigorating," said Belinda Ramos, 45, of lower Manhattan. "It was complete enlightenment"
Francis' followers began lining up in the pre-dawn hours along 51st Street between Sixth and Fifth avenues to be checked by Secret Service and Transportation Security Administration personnel ahead of the parade.
The event all but shut down Manhattan, with numerous streets closed and worshippers gathering by the thousands behind steel barricades hoping for a view of the beloved Catholic leader, and maybe a photo.
"Midtown is electric today," said Marc Silag, 62, of Norwalk, Connecticut, who had been following Francis' messages.
"I think he's got some great thoughts in his head," Silag said. "Maybe he is the one person that can help change the world, because we need somebody who can do that."
Upon arriving at St. Patrick's, Francis was greeted by Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio. He spent several moments with each, shaking hands, chatting, and laughing. 
Inside he walked up the aisle as choral music soared and clergy and politicians surrounded him. Francis appeared to say, "Precioso" -- or "precious" -- as he took it all in.
The pope was able to connect more personally with New York faithful at Kennedy Airport, where he arrived from Washington, D.C.. 
He stepped off the Boeing 777 dubbed "Shepherd One" to a red carpet ceremony and the Xavierian High School Band's rendition of Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York." 
The pontiff was greeted by New York Catholic leaders and a group of schoolchildren who gifted him with a book. Francis immediately began flipping through it.
Enveloped by followers waving Vatican City flags, the pontiff took the time to personally greet as many of them as possible. He accepted their gifts, including flowers and a doll with his likeness, which he held up. 
Then, he was whisked away in a Marine helicopter bound for lower Manhattan.
Theresa Kempf, 52, of Nesconset, likened the meeting to a "prayer circle."
"He said, 'Pray for me,' " Kempf said. "He's so humble. He just connects with everyone." 
Anna Ambrosino, 89, who lives in the Ozanam Hall Nursing Home in Bayside, Queens, and has seen four popes in person, but was no less excited about her tarmac encounter.
"He was standing right there," Ambrosino said excitedly. "I kissed his hand, his ring, and uttered 'His holiness, God bless you . . . He said that we should pray for him."
Other Catholic worshippers from various parishes, nursing home residents, and various other followers -- including those who are disabled and homeless -- were among the estimated 200-member welcoming party, according to a Brooklyn Diocese spokeswoman.
Among those who waited anxiously at the JFK tarmac was Sister Bernadette Izzo, of the Sisters of St. Dominic Motherhouse Complex in Amityville. She was "just thrilled."
"It's a blessing from God," Sister Izzo said. "I love our Holy Father. I love our church. I'm very honored to be here."

LINYC25

Pontiff arrives at St. Patrick's cathedral after motorcade in lower Manhattan

Pontiff arrives at St. Patrick's Cathedral 

2.nyPOPE -- cropped /ts

Pope Francis arrived at the residence of the papal nuncio on 72nd Street and Madison Avenue about 8:30 Thursday night, capping off a day when he brought even jaded members of Congress to their feet and throngs of people into pews at St. Patrick's Cathedral and onto the streets of Manhattan.
Hours earlier, area residents and tourists mingled near the residence of the papal nuncio on 72nd Street and Madison Avenue, hoping to get a glimpse of Pope Francis on Thursday as media outlets staked positions and a police dog sniffed the grounds -- as well as journalists' bags of equipment -- in search of bombs.
But their hopes were dashed as police cleared onlookers from the street before the pope arrived to retire for the night.
The five-story townhouse that will host Pope Francis until Saturday sits on the south side of East 72nd Street, close to Madison Avenue. A white and yellow flag with the Vatican seal hangs in front of the structure whose second- and third-floor bay windows are mirrored. 
The pontiff was whisked onto the fortified street -- packed with concrete barriers and a phalanx of officers -- hours after admirers had gathered to see the spot where he would walk, and the place where he would rest and refresh on the second full day of his first visit to the United States.
Lourdes Benavides of Astoria, Queens, was one of many onlookers who stopped by to take pictures Thursday afternoon.
"I wish I could stay here, but I can't," she said hours before the pope was due to arrive. "I'm just glad to be taking pictures."
Francis left Washington just after 4 p.m. after dazzling a full house of legislators and Supreme Court justices at a joint meeting of Congress -- the first such address by a pope.
His speech tackled issues on which lawmakers in the 114th Congress have hardened their positions along party lines: income equality, forms of discrimination, immigration and family life.
The pope's message, though, had a unifying effect that, for a moment, erased the differences on either side of the aisle, as he received thunderous applause from both Republicans and Democrats.
That's the effect that Julie Hamilton, 53, of Sydney, Australia, said the pope has had since he stepped on U.S. soil.
"This is amazing," Hamilton said, standing outside the residence in Manhattan. "We've been talking about what's going to be the legacy of the pope during this visit. We conclude it is a sense of hope."
Hamilton said that as outsiders, she and her husband see Americans as being polarized. 
"For example, they are either Republicans or Democrats. Where is the gray area? The pope is the gray area," she said. "It's about tolerance and being prepared to consider other people's point of view. I think he does that."
For some Catholics like Brooklyn native Diana Rinaldo of Westport, Connecticut, the pope's arrival was a jolt of energy for a believer whose attendance at Mass has lapsed.
"The excitement is overwhelming," she said, adding that she and her daughter will see the pope during his address at Central Park. "I just think it's all good will. I can't really express how I feel because I'm overwhelmed."
The pope's first visit to the United States inspired Joan Agag of New Jersey, too.
"It's so fabulous to have a pope come to the city and share his views of the Catholic Church and the world," she said. "A lot of excitement."

LIMISS25

Hours before Francis' arrival, people gather outside residence where he will spend the night

It isn't easy keeping up with the pope.
He's 78 with one damaged lung, but his schedule is grueling.
Sometimes the Vatican press corps accompanying him on his Cuba and U.S. trip have to scramble to keep up with him.
Thursday, in order to catch all three of his events, some of us had to take a train to New York from Washington, D.C., instead of going on the pope's plane. It was the only way to make the evening prayers he attended at St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan.
The day started, as always, early. Between 5:30 and 5:40 a.m., the press corps picked up embargoed copies of the pope's speeches for the day in the hotel room of one of his press aides.
Then, in the hotel lobby at precisely 6:45 a.m., there was roll call: The aide called out the names of each person scheduled to attend the pope's historic address to Congress. The roll call is militarylike in nature -- the aide calls out last names, and if you don't show up and answer quickly, you may not be going.
Then we headed outside and left our bags on the sidewalk for the Secret Service to check for weapons or explosives. We lined up single file, most dressed in dark, formal clothing -- as the Vatican prefers -- and boarded a bus.
By 8 a.m. we were at Congress, and two hours later watched from the press gallery as Pope Francis walked into the chamber to thunderous applause.
Those of us also attending his event with the homeless at St. Patrick's Church a mile or so away had to leave the speech early to get to the church -- and past all the security checkpoints -- on time. Our bus had a police escort. 
It turned out the pope was a little late for the church himself, so we had to leave that event a little early to make the train for New York.
We could not go on his plane because there would not be enough helicopters to ferry us into Manhattan once he got to Kennedy Airport. So a small number of reporters who went on the train made it to the vespers at the cathedral. The rest who went on the plane did not -- they got stuck in rush-hour traffic after leaving Kennedy.
One thing that helped us: The airplane took our suitcases to New York and, as they do during all papal trips, Vatican workers delivered the bags right to our hotel rooms.
Now that the pope is traveling in the United States, he has switched airlines: no more Alitalia, the Italian airline. Now he is flying American Airlines and will take it for the rest of the trip all the way back to Rome on Sunday night.

LISCEN25

To get to St. Patrick's on time, the train is faster than the plane

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To a legislative chamber that has become a House of Horrors, Pope Francis managed to bring something miraculous: quiet, decorum, soaring eloquence, political savvy and historical acumen. If his visit to America accomplishes nothing else, he has brought momentary peace to this unruly, dysfunctional institution. 
In recent times, in this same chamber, a member of the House has interrupted a speech by President Barack Obama by calling him a liar; the Republican majority has voted countless times to repeal the Affordable Care Act; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken to a joint session, largely to torpedo the Iran nuclear agreement. 
In sharp contrast, Pope Francis spoke gently, but forcefully. And he masterfully wove into his speech the lives and lessons of four great Americans -- only one of them a politician. He cited President Abraham Lincoln, whose emancipation proclamation went a long way toward freeing the slaves, for liberty. He lifted up the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., for his dream of equality and inclusivity. He praised Dorothy Day, the founder of the Catholic Worker movement -- a woman who had an abortion and is now on the road to canonization -- for her tireless pursuit of social justice. And he quoted at length from the work of Thomas Merton, the hedonist-turned-Trappist-monk who became one of the greatest spiritual writers of the 20th century, endorsing Merton's passion for dialogue with other religions. 
For me, the highlight of the speech was the pope's brilliant evocation of the lives of personal heroes like King, Day, Merton. Many conservative Catholics have been instinctively suspicious of Merton, precisely because of his friendships in and openness to other traditions, especially Buddhism. To hear Francis cite Merton as an avatar of dialogue, one of the pope's most important principles, was deeply satisfying. It was equally uplifting to hear him praise King's dream and to embrace Day--dwelling not on her abortion, but on her work for the poor, another of the pope's consistent themes. 
"He's the pope that does not condemn," said Sister Rosalie Carven, at the Hauppauge gathering where I watched the speech. "He's the pope that supports." 
Beyond the slyly gentle effectiveness of the pope's many quotable phrases, one of the fascinating elements of the event was John Boehner's tears. The speaker of the House is well known for his low threshold for weeping. So when people I sat with at the Long Island Federation of Labor noticed that he appeared to be crying, we wondered: Was it just another example of his hard-to-control waterworks? Or was it something else? 
Was Boehner, a Catholic, weeping because he had been trying for so long and so unsuccessfully to get a pope on that rostrum, only to find himself now stuck with a social justice pope who doesn't much like savage capitalism? Was he thinking of challenges to his speakership? Or was he reacting to&nbsp; something the pope said, maybe about all of us being immigrants? Did Boehner tearfully recall that, among the Indians who occupied this continent for thousands of years, there was no one named Boehner? 
The answer I liked best came from one of the people sitting in the federation's conference room, in one of three gatherings arranged by Long Island Jobs with Justice, an organization deeply concerned with the poor. The room was filled with people concerned with social justice, including union people. One of them, who described himself as a devout Catholic, was Timothy Dembek, of the Retail, Wholesale &amp; Department Store Union. As he heard it, Francis offered an opportunity for those who speak harshly about immigration to reflect on the speech and to broaden their thinking. 
"Maybe they weren't crocodile tears," Dembek said. "Maybe they were real tears. He opened the door for a lot of politicians to walk through and change their position." 
Whether those doors open or not, the pope did give a deeply thoughtful, powerful, and conversational speech. It didn't please everyone, of course. One Republican congressman, 
Paul Gosar of Arizona, said he was boycotting the proceedings, because, on issues such as climate change, Francis had begun to "act and talk like a leftist politician." But if he'd been there, he might have been apoplectic when the pope didn't actually utter the word abortion, but praised a woman who had one. (Francis spoke eloquently about the sanctity of all human life, which he clearly meant to include unborn life. No one doubts his position on abortion, but the life issue he emphasized was a call for global abolition of the death penalty.) 
But apoplexy -- or euphoria, for that matter -- was not supposed to be the order of the day. In a rare act of bipartisanship, leaders of both houses wrote a letter telling members not to act like selfie-seeking groupies as the pope proceeded up the aisle. There was also agreement in advance on a major ovation as he arrived, followed by genteel silence. None of the behavior customary at State of the Union speeches: stony silence to raucous applause, depending on party. 
And it worked, briefly. The members restrained themselves as he walked up the aisle, after the odd announcement: "Mr. Speaker, the pope of the Holy See." 
But when Francis used the phrase "the land of the free and the home of the brave," that drew laughter and a bit of a standing ovation -- a bipartisan one. 
Throughout his speech, there were many outbursts of applause. The pope spoke movingly of immigration, of climate change, of the centrality of the family, of the need for dialogue. For someone who had never set foot in the United States, he seemed to have acquired a real feel for the nation and its people. 
Before the speech, Richard Koubek, the community outreach coordinator of Jobs with Justice, had held up a copy of a compendium of Catholic social teaching and pointed out that journalists are wrongly reacting to Francis as if he's pioneering when he talks about social justice. "He's not inventing anything," Koubek said. "What he's doing, I think, is presenting it in a very clear and dramatic way, so that it resonates." 
"Common good" came up often in the speech. Francis even called it "the chief aim of all politics." And his remarks were full of thought-provoking phrases and sentences. He spoke, for example, of "the simplistic reductionism which sees only good or evil; or, if you will, the righteous and sinners." I thought I heard a faint rumble of oohs in the chamber, and I couldn't help but think of President George W. Bush dividing the world between freedom-lovers and evildoers. 
There was so much to digest. His concern for the vast Syrian refugee influx in Europe was just one example.He also cited the flow of immigrants into America from south of the border. "We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation," he said. "To respond in a way which is always humane, just and fraternal." 
The rhetoric was often soaring, but sometimes kindly biting. "A good political leader always opts to initiate processes rather than possessing spaces." In a chamber where too many politicians for too long have occupied space, but produced little, those are words that should be engraved on the walls. 
Finally, one of the elements of his speech we should not forget was the Spanish accent. There were a couple of rough moments, when the accent became difficult to grasp, but we managed to understand the vast majority of it. In a nation where the cry of "learn English" often comes from people with a shaky grasp of our difficult language, we have to remember: Spanish is here to stay. In any language, his was a brilliantly moving speech, and it will grow even better with repeated readings. 
Bob Keeler is a former member of Newsday's editorial board.

OPKEEL23

Pope Francis' speech - words to live by

Keeler: The pope's speech -- words to live by

48. US Pope Francis Congress -- cropped

John Asbury

Two Long Island families facing dire health conditions will get a chance to see Pope Francis in Central Park Friday.
The tickets came from Assemb. Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach), who was offered the tickets because he was a member of the state legislature.
He donated tickets to Joanne Jackson and her son Johnny of Oceanside after Kaminsky learned about a lemonade stand to benefit Johnny's fight with a cancerous brain tumor.
Kaminsky also donated three tickets to Denise Lobascio, who was told she has a prognosis of about three years while battling lung cancer. Lobascio, of East Rockaway, said she wanted to ask the pope for his blessing for her 19-year-old daughter Sammi, who has Down syndrome. 
"I would love to get his blessing so I know that whatever happens to me, she'll be OK," Lobascio said. "It was a huge surprise. It's something I wanted to do, but never thought I'd have the opportunity."
Lobascio works in the East Rockaway school district superintendent's office. She is undergoing chemotherapy. She plans to bring her daughter and her twin son Vincent to Central Park. 
"Even to lock eyes with him would be worth the experience," Lobascio said of the pope. "I know God's watching. He knows what I'm trying to do for my children. This came from such a higher place."
Kaminsky said, "Witnessing the joy on the Jackson and Lobascio families' faces when I gave them the tickets was priceless. I am thrilled that I was able to provide these families with the chance to have this unforgettable experience."

Long Island

Nassau

LITIX25

Families from Oceanside, East Rockaway among those to see pope in Central Park

litix25 -- cropped

WASHINGTON -- Right after Pope Francis addressed some of the most powerful people in the country -- members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, the vice president -- he immediately went to visit some of the least powerful.
Francis rode a mile or so from the U.S. Capitol to St. Patrick's Catholic Church, where homeless people were gathered inside and outside, ready to share a meal with the pontiff under a tent.
For them, it was almost unbelievable -- a pope coming to visit them and ask them to pray for him. Patricia Davis Cooper, 71, who was homeless for 2 1/2 years in Washington, D.C., had to grab the hand of a Catholic Charities worker at St. Patrick's Church when the pontiff walked in because she was so overcome with emotion. "I can't believe it," she shouted.
In his address at the church, Francis denounced homelessness. "We can find no social or moral justification, no justification whatsoever, for lack of housing," the pope said.
He struck a similar theme in his address to Congress, citing as a role model Dorothy Day, the co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement who espoused a different option for the poor by living like one of them in houses she established that offered impoverished people food, shelter and clothing.
"Her social activism, her passion for justice and for the cause of the oppressed, were inspired by the Gospel, her faith and the example of the saints," Francis told Congress.
For some analysts, it was shocking that a pope would hold up Dorothy Day as a role model, something church leaders in the past would never have done, they said. New York's Cardinal Francis Spellman, for example, once told Day to take the word "Catholic" out of her group's name.
But Day is exactly the type of Catholic Pope Francis wants the faithful to emulate, said Gerard O'Connell, Rome correspondent for the Jesuit-run magazine America. "The pope himself is radical" in the sense he wants to go to the root of Gospel teachings about social justice, O'Connell said. "He feels like these two are kindred spirits."
Catholic Worker houses have sprouted up around the country and the world since Day co-founded the movement in 1933.
In Manhattan, home to two Catholic Worker houses, including one where Day used to live, the pope's mention of her elicited surprise and elation Thursday. "I could have fallen off my seat," said Kate Hennessy, Day's granddaughter, who'd stopped by Maryhouse on the Lower East Side. "She's been forgotten for a while -- obviously not here -- but you always hope for recognition. It's been really wonderful to hear that others know she's heroic, because we've always known that growing up."
In denouncing homelessness, Francis cited the story of Jesus' birth in a manger. "The son of God came into this world as a homeless person," the pope said at St. Patrick's. "The son of God knew what it was to start life without a roof over his head."With Emily Ngo

LIHOME25

Pope highlights work of New York homeless advocate

Francis speaks of need for charity, compassion 

francis

WASHINGTON -- Pope Francis Thursday challenged Congress and the American people to move beyond polarization to welcome immigrants and refugees, work for peace and inclusion, and protect the environment and the traditional family.
As the first pope to address a joint meeting of the House and Senate, the charismatic leader of the Roman Catholic Church called for a renewal of the "spirit of cooperation" that transformed the country into an inspirational "dream," and highlighted American icons Abraham Lincoln and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
"Politics . . . is an expression of our compelling need to live as one, in order to build as one the greatest common good," Pope Francis said in the 50-minute speech he read in English to a receptive audience.
Yet the pope urged America to act on issues largely favored by Democrats and focused on the poor and marginalized in society. He only alluded to what most Republicans hoped to hear: his opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage.
He stressed the need to respond to the Syrian "refugee crisis" and the thousands coming across the U.S. southern border, though opposition to those requests are fueling most GOP presidential campaigns.
The pope also attacked the excesses of capitalism, saying it must create jobs, and added that politics "cannot be a slave to the economy and finance."
Afterward, politicians from both sides of the aisle praised Pope Francis as an inspiring moral figure, despite what they hinted were policy differences.
"The Holy Father's visit is surely a blessing for all of us. With great blessings, of course, come great responsibility," House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement.
Boehner, a Catholic who succeeded in inviting a pope to address Congress after 20 years of trying, teared up in some appearances with the pontiff.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), also Catholic, called the address "thrilling" on MSNBC. "The pope was very diplomatic and philosophical in what he said."
All five House members from Long Island and both New York senators attended and credited the pope with inspiring unity and compassion.
"My main take-away is that you have to apply a moral dimension to everything you do," said Rep. Peter King (R-Seaford), a Catholic. But King added, "The tone of that pope's speech is much more liberal than I would be."
Stephen Schneck, director of Catholic University of America's Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies, said despite those who saw politics in the speech, "he was appealing to our American soul."
Pope Francis drew cheers as he entered the House chamber, which paused from a battle that could shut the federal government next week as some Republicans push to defund Planned Parenthood over abortion.
The chamber was packed with senators and representatives, Vice President Joe Biden, diplomats, cabinet members and four Supreme Court justices. The court's three most conservative members -- all Catholics -- didn't show.
The speech had the feel of a State of the Union address, interrupted 40 times by applause. Nearly a dozen times, lawmakers stood to clap, led by Democrats, on mentions of immigration and refugees, and Republicans on the role of business in creating jobs, the sanctity of life and traditional families.
Rep. Nydia Velázquez (D-Brooklyn) let out a whoop of support when Francis called for an end to the death penalty.
Pope Francis framed his speech with the Golden Rule -- "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" -- and the lives of four Americans, Lincoln, King, social activist Dorothy Day and religious mystic Thomas Merton.
Lincoln defended liberty; King enabled dreams of full rights; Day strove for justice for the oppressed, and Merton sowed peace with his contemplative style, the pope said.
Francis connected King's dream to the dream of immigrants, saying, "We, the people of this continent, are not fearful of foreigners, because most of us were once foreigners."
The pope spoke of "the right use of natural resources" and economic development that takes into account "all those people around us who are trapped in a cycle of poverty."
And he called for an end to the arms trade and praised diplomatic efforts, like the one he helped broker that led to restoring U.S.-Cuba relations.
Pope Francis said he would have more to say about abortion and same-sex marriage in Philadelphia this weekend.
It's "our responsibility to protect and defend human life at every stage of its development," he said. And he cautioned the family is "threatened, perhaps as never before, from within and without."
After the speech, Boehner, Biden and other officials joined Pope Francis on the Capitol balcony facing 50,000 people who had stood outside to hear his address on large screens.
"I am so grateful for your presence here," he said in Spanish. "The most important ones here, children, I ask God to bless them. . . . And I ask you all please to pray for me. And if there are among you any who do not believe or cannot pray, I ask you please to send good wishes my way."

LICONG25

Pope Francis tells Congress to focus on needs of their hardworking constituents, speaks of 'land of dreams'

Pope addresses immigration, gridlock

Winnie Mele, 57, is a devout Catholic who believes in a life of service.
She's also not someone to turn down a chance to see Pope Francis Friday at the Mass at Madison Square Garden -- her second time seeing a pontiff, actually.
"I kind of feel bad, like I've already been there," said the assistant executive director of perioperative services at Plainview Hospital. "But I don't feel that bad." 
In 1995, Mele, of Westbury, one of six raised in a fervently Catholic family in Flushing, met Pope John Paul II at St. Patrick's Cathedral and was given a set of rosary beads by the pontiff. At the time, her sister, Eileen Dillon, was chief of staff and lawyer for John Cardinal O'Connor, archbishop of New York. 
The cardinal was also involved with the family in another way: Mele's father, Jim White, had Huntington's disease, a fatal genetic disorder that causes the breakdown of nerve cells in the brain. Children of those with the disease have a 50-50 chance of inheriting the mutant gene. Mele's sister, Liz Regan, also had it -- although Mele and Dillon were spared.
As a family friend, the cardinal was instrumental in opening up a Huntington's disease unit in 1985 at the Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center in Manhattan, Mele said, which has now expanded to 50 beds and is named The Mary and Jim White unit, after her parents. 
Her father lived there for about 10 years, her sister for about two years, until they both died.
Every year since its opening, the family has held a fundraiser around Christmas, raising about $100,000 annually that goes for care at the unit.
The mission remains personal. Mele's nephew, Bob Regan, 28, son of Liz, also has the disease.
The chance to see this pope came from another sister, Mary Moore, who serves on the board of Huntington's unit at Cooke. When Moore sent out the email to siblings saying she had gotten two tickets through the archdiocese for the Mass at Madison Square Garden, Mele leaped at the chance.
"I am one of those people who doesn't want to meet anybody but the pope," she said.
She said she feels drawn to this pope's sense of service and humility -- which she said appeals to a younger generation.
Bob Regan, who had just finished a visit to his neurologist at North Shore-LIJ Medical Group in Great Neck, accompanied by Mele, agreed. 
"I think this pope is less about the rules and more about the spiritual," he said. "The rules are where religion gets bogged down -- then it's less about Jesus. That's where this pope hits it on the head."
For Mele, attending the Mass will be about sharing an intense sense of community.
"There's so much hurt and sadness," she said. "There you are, surrounded by people all with the same sense of communion. You think, if we could all just take this spirit of goodness and fellowship and keep it alive somehow. My wish is that we all go back and have the sense that it's about helping the other guy."

LINURS25

Westbury woman jumps at another chance to see pope in New York City

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Pope Francis kicked of an historic six-day U.S. tour in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, with stops at the White House and Congress, Madison Square Garden and the United Nations in New York City and the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. 
In a nation of 70 million Catholics, the pontiff's visit was not without controversy. Conservatives have attacked Francis's criticism of capitalism and his support for greater government intervention on global climate change. Meantime, liberals have expressed displeasure with the church's unwavering stance on divorce, same-sex marriage and abortion. 
Should Americans heed the pope's message on the environment, the economy and the family? Joel Mathis and Ben Boychuk, the RedBlueAmerica columnists, weigh in. 
JOEL MATHIS: Who's more Catholic than the pope? American conservatives, apparently. 
The growing, naked hostility of some American conservatives - including many Catholics - toward Pope Francis has been astonishing to behold. And it suggests that for many of those conservatives, the highest powers they must serve and worship are not a deity or their own faith, but the markets and climate change denialism. 
Religious faith, at least, often admits the possibility of doubt, and its priests are often patient and gentle with people struggling to believe. Market fundamentalists, though, demand far more slavish devotion: It's not enough to agree that capitalism has lifted many people out of poverty or that it has, in fact, helped create many goods. You must cast away any thoughts about its imperfections, cease to point out that the "creative destruction" of the markets can often destroy a few lives on the way to making a greater good. 
To believe in climate change is one of the worst heresies of this faith: It is to admit that the markets can sometimes make mistakes, that there are values which can be distorted by the profit motive if unchecked, that sometimes maybe the restraining hand of government is needed in order to preserve the common good. 
Pope Francis has proved himself a heretic on these questions. This is not a surprise: His predecessors - Benedict and John Paul - held similar views about the limits of the markets. Conservatives in those days tended to ignore the pontiffs, or to (metaphorically) pet them on the head and muse about how bishops don't really understand economics. 
With Pope Francis, however, we're treated to talks of a boycott in Congress, to snarling from usually gentle pundits like George Will, and to overall shows of hostility that would've been unthinkable just a few years ago. 
"I don't need to be lectured by the Pope about climate change," Rep. Paul Gosar, a Catholic Republican from Arizona, huffed recently. "When he wants to take a political position, I will tell you: He is free and clear to be criticized like the rest of us." The scriptures say you can't serve both God and mammon. Republicans, it seems, are proving it. 
BEN BOYCHUK: Pope Francis isn't a politician, an economist or a climatologist. He is first and foremost a priest and a pastor of some 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide. Americans, Catholic and Protestant alike, forget that too easily. 
True, Pope Francis discusses politics, economics and the climate in confounding ways. He really doesn't understand the way free markets work. He's listening to some highly misguided people about global warming. And as his visit with Fidel Castro showed, Francis isn't as outspoken in the face of tyranny as was his predecessor, Saint Pope John Paul II. 
But Francis is neither anti-American nor a Marxist. Some conservatives sound like fools when they accuse the pontiff of being something he's not. 
I say this as a Catholic and a conservative myself. Until recently, however, I was among the 75 percent of self-identifying U.S. Catholics who don't attend mass any given Sunday. I returned to the Church not despite Francis but partly because of him. 
Turns out, leftists and environmentalists aren't the only ones susceptible to making a religion of politics. 
In a new book exploring the pope's views of capitalism and social justice, veteran Vatican reporters Andrea Tornielli and Giacomo Galeazzi ask Francis about his outspoken American conservative critics. 
"I do not speak as an economical expert, but according to the social doctrine of the church," the pope replied. "And this does not mean I am a Marxist. Perhaps whoever has made this comment does not know the social doctrine of the church and, apparently, does not even know Marxism all that well, either." He's right. When the pope talks about the environment and the economy, he is not speaking infallibly. He's using his moral authority to advance a discussion, not to demand obedience or assent. 
This is a point many mainstream American media outlets downplay or miss altogether. Fact is, only a small portion of pope's recent controversial encyclical, Laudato Si', concerned global climate change. Most of it had to do the moral and ethical climate in which we live - one that tends to devalue human life and exalts material things. 
"Any technical solution which science claims to offer will be powerless to solve the serious problems of our world if humanity loses its compass," he writes. Americans would do well to ask if we've already lost ours - and what we might do to get it back. 
Ben Boychuk (bboychuk@city-journal.org) is associate editor of the Manhattan Institute's City Journal. Joel Mathis (joelmmathis@gmail.com) is associate editor for Philadelphia Magazine. Visit them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/benandjoel.

OPDEBPOPE24

What can Americans learn from Pope Francis?

Debate: What can U.S. learn from the pope?

Pope Francis to Congress -- cropped

WASHINGTON -- When Pope Francis walked onto the balcony of the U.S. Capitol and said "Buenos días" Thursday morning, the thousands crowded on the West Lawn cheered in adulation, clapping and shouting "¡Que viva el papa!" -- "Long live the pope!"
Then the throng went completely quiet and listened as the pope asked God to give the crowd a blessing. A smiling Francis, his eyes alight, ended with "God bless America."
Long Islanders Yanira Chacón, Milena Morales and Matilde Parada were moved to tears.
On the lawn since before sunrise, they had watched on one of three Jumbotrons as the pope addressed the U.S. Congress and members of the Supreme Court, speaking of compassion and the need for a more merciful world for children, immigrants, the poor and refugees from strife.
"We are leaving here feeling spiritually richer," said Chacón, 54, of Uniondale. "His message was as we expected -- beautiful, real, compassionate."
Parada, who like her friends is involved in immigrant advocacy through her church, said she was especially impressed by the pope's call "on good politicians to give people opportunity."
"We just want honest, decent people to not have to live in the shadows, and have opportunity and pay taxes and become part of this society," said Parada, 54, of Mineola.
Morales, 44, of Hicksville, was moved by Francis' attention to children and youth, to whom he dedicated his first words upon emerging onto the balcony.
For Patrick Young, 57, a lifelong Catholic from Westbury, the pope struck the right balance with a serious speech that rose above the political fray, but urged people to act.
"It wasn't a political message, but a message based on ethics and values" that, he said, reminded people of the humanity of "people who are marginalized."
Sister Mary Ellen Lacy of St. Louis, Missouri, and Sister Jan Cebula of Kansas City, Missouri, journeyed to see Francis on a ride across seven states as part of the "Nuns On The Bus" movement.
"I hope he stirs their hearts in Congress, so that they can look deeply into what's happening and set aside their deep divide and partisanship, so they can establish support systems for people falling through the cracks," said Lacy, who recently lived in Brooklyn and is part of the Daughters of Charity order.
On Long Island, high school and college students watched the event. At St. Anthony's High School, Brother Gary Cregan pointed to the directness of the pope's message. About 300 students watched the speech in the South Huntington school's auditorium.
"He is not afraid to speak his mind," said Cregan, the school's principal. "He made some members of the Congress, Supreme Court and Senate uncomfortable at some points. But then again, so did Christ."
Rick Fatscher, 17, a senior from West Islip, noted that his mother -- like the pope -- is from Argentina. "I think the pope wanted to remind Americans that we need to uphold a tradition of charity," he said.
At Hofstra University, the Cultural Center Theater was the spot for viewing and discussing the address.
Student Sean Grealy, 21, an exercise science major from Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey, said the pope touches such a wide swath of people because he speaks to their hearts "rather than trying to convince them of doctrine."
Julia Barry, 17, a freshman from East Meadow, was impressed by the pope's mention of the Golden Rule from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
It's simple, universally known and easy to understand, she said.
"Instead of coming up with something really complex, he brought that up," said Barry, a Catholic and a computer science and mathematics major. "That really stood out to me that he would talk about such a basic rule."
The Rev. Gregory T. Rannazzisi, the Catholic chaplain at Hofstra, said Francis is calling on all people to be their best selves.
While the speech touched on such lightning-rod issues as abortion, immigration and environmental degradation, the pope cannot be defined politically, the chaplain said.
"You can't box him in," Rannazzisi said.
With Jo Napolitano
and Stacey Altherr

Pope Francis I: Complete coverage

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