Today was Pope Francis's last day in the United States. Crowds of people gathered at Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia for an open air Mass. During his six day stay in the US, the pope has spoken on same sex marriage, the inevitable defeat of evil, how America needs to step up as a land of opportunity, and child sex abuse within the church. He has also met with President Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden.
This past week has been the first time a pope has visited the US in the past seven years, so it's been publicized as much as possible in American media. Pope Francis's time here is comparable to the Great Awakening- only a Catholic version. All over the country, people became more aware of the relevance that religion still has in many lives, and thousands of people have gathered in streets and airports to hear the pope speak. The controversial topics he's discussed while here have opened up a nation wide discussion that probably won't die down anytime soon.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/27/443981582/pope-to-celebrate-mass-in-philadelphia-as-his-u-s-visit-nears-end
Glad the pope has a presence in American lives. I'm not Catholic, but I'm glad to see that our freedom of religion is still going strong.
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