Calkins Media journalists traveled with believers from all parts of Bucks and Montgomery counties and blanketed Philadelphia Sunday to document Pope Francis’ visit to the city. Here are some of their observations.
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A bus carrying 53 people from St. John the Baptist Church sailed down I-76 Sunday morning on the way to the papal mass.
The interstate was open just for tour buses, and the trip took just about an hour from Nockamixon to the stadium complex in South Philadelphia.
The group found little lines waiting at ATT station, where members planned to take a subway to the Parkway.
Crissa Shoemaker DeBree
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The Bilotta family from Wake Forest, North Carolina, have been planning since last year to come to Philadelphia to see Pope Francis. They heard about his visit through the Christian Family Movement. “We’re very excited to be here,” said Carl Bilotta as he sat waiting to board a train to the city at the Woodbourne station.
Peg Quann
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Sunday morning, Cheryl Le Grand, of Middletown, prayed Psalm 121, the traveling prayer.
She traveled with St. Michael the Archangel Church in Tullytown to Sunday’s Mass on the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia.
“I prayed not only for us here, I prayed for everyone traveling from all over the world to be with the pope. For everyone in general.”
Gema Duarte
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Call it divine intervention.
On Wednesday, John Halloran of San Antonio, Texas, learned that friends in Philadelphia had extra tickets to the Festival of Families and papal mass. He just happened to have the week off. And airlines were offering cheap, last-minute fares.
“It’s been great,” he said as he waited on the parkway.
Halloran, a musical director for the Archdiocese of San Antonio, said he was impressed by the hospitality he’s seen in Philadelphia.
“I will definitely be back,” he said.
Crissa Shoemaker DeBree
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As two Dominican nuns approached the long security checkpoint line that had already begun to choke off 21st Street by just after 10 a.m., they stepped aside and took a moment to pray.
The pair came all the way from the St. Cecilia congregation in Nashville, Tennessee.
“We took the train here from Malvern and everyone in the city has been so organized and welcoming,” said Sister Mary Ruth O’Brien.
O’Brien said she made her very first trip to Wawa and is now a big fan.
“We planned this trip over a year ago,” said Sister Mary Johanna Mellody. “So far it has been amazing.”
Christian Menno
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