Pope Francis will not visit the Midwest during his historic first trip to the United States, but that isn’t stopping hundreds of local Catholics from seeing him.
A group of pilgrims from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Gary and three of its parishes are traveling to Philadelphia on Thursday and Friday to convene with other Catholics and the pope during the last leg of his U.S. tour.
“For us it’s a pilgrimage and it’s a great, great special honor to be able to be in the presence of our pope,” said Juanita D’Amico, a parishioner at Nativity of Our Savior in Portage who has helped plan the trip to Philadelphia.
D’Amico said she and others have been planning the trip for a year, including finding hotel accommodations an hour away and researching the U.S. Homeland Security website to find out all the rules they must follow, such as who needs passes to ride public buses and where they’re allowed to be dropped off.
Although the planning has been hard, D’Amico said it’s worth it for the chance to see Pope Francis.
“Not all of us are able to travel to Italy,” D’Amico said. “To have him come to the United States is just a wonderful thing for many of us.”
That’s particularly true for many of the parishioners at St. Mary in East Chicago, the Rev. Stephen Gibson said.
Many of them are undocumented, so they can’t leave the country to see Pope Francis at the Vatican, Gibson said, which is why he and others at the church wanted to make sure church members could take advantage of this opportunity.
“Even if you don’t see the pope personally, just to be on the same block where the pope is physically present is a tremendous grace that inspires people,” Gibson said, adding that it’s also a chance for his parishioners, who often live in fear of discovery, to feel accepted and safe. “It’s a wonderful sense of security when you’re there with millions of people who are there to love you and not ask for your documents.”
The fact that Pope Francis, who is from South America, will speak Spanish during the trip will also prove meaningful for those from St. Mary, who mostly speak only Spanish as well, Gibson said.
More Top Picks Vestibular Migraine Symptoms And How Its Diagnosed
However, other than some chaperones, the church is taking only people in their late teens and early 20s, Gibson said, because he expects the trip to be rather rough at times.
“If they say the pope is going down this particular street, I’ll say, ‘OK, let’s go running,'” he said.
Also, because most members of his church are poor and can’t afford the increased hotel prices that come with the pope’s trip, most of those who are going will sleep on the floors of a classroom in the inner city of Philadelphia, he said.
Overall, the diocese expects a couple hundred people from Northwest Indiana will go to Philadelphia. St. Mary is sending three busloads, Nativity is sending 29 people, the diocese is sending several busloads, and St. Francis Xavier in Lake Station is also sending a group.
Many of those going met Monday night at Our Lady of Consolation in Merrillville for a special Mass, and they’ll come together again in Philadelphia Saturday morning for another special Mass led by Bishop Donald Hying, who is going with the group from the Gary Diocese.
Some of the people from Northwest Indiana will then attend the World Meeting of Families, a Catholic conference on families that’s held every three years.
They should get their first chance to see the pope that evening, when he holds a prayer vigil with the conference.
The pope will meet again with the conference on Sunday, when he offers Mass.
Hying said he’s looking forward to being with millions of other Catholics.
“It will be great to see the pope, even at a distance, but the real highlight is traveling with our people,” he said.
The bishop said the pope’s visit is an important event for all Catholics in America, no matter if they can actually go see him, because of his leadership with the church.
“I think any time the pope comes to visit a particular country, it’s certainly a big event for Catholics and non-Catholics,” he said. “When the pope speaks, people listen.”
Hying noted that this is the first time a pope will speak to the U.S. Congress and said he expects the pope will likely speak to the United States’ role as a world power.
“What he says to them, I think, will be significant for lifting up the values of the gospel and human dignity,” Hying said.
Gibson said he thinks the pope will continue to focus on the plight of immigrants and the poor and issues that affect them, such as climate change and the state of the economy, during his visit.
“I feel a tremendous union of hearts with Pope Francis,” Gibson said.