Pope Francis I officially wrapped up his monumental visit to the U.S. this week, flying back to Vatican City from Philadelphia International Airport last Sunday evening. The historic appearance made the Bishop of Rome the fourth Pope in the history of the papacy to touch down on American soil while serving as head of the Catholic diocese. His six-day tour of the country’s mid-Atlantic, lasting Tuesday, Sept. 22 to Sunday, Sept. 27, allowed him to stop over in major urban areas including Philadelphia, New York City and the nation’s capital, where he received an official state welcome from President Barack Obama on the morning of Sept. 23.
Pope Francis’ landmark visit has been diplomatic overall, but there have been significant religious and humanitarian highlights along the way. Carolina student group Cocky Catholics say they’ve been following the papal coverage, watching live streams at St. Thomas More Chapel on Greene Street from the welcoming prayer midday Tuesday to the commemorative Mass held at the Cathedral Basilica a day before his departure back to the Vatican.
The Pope ran an air-tight schedule on his six-day tour that hardly allowed for any wiggle room. On Wednesday, Sept. 23, the Pope spent his first day of business leading a prayer session at Saint Matthew’s Cathedral in D.C. among 300 U.S. Bishops. Pope Francis then presided over the first canonization ever held in the United States.
On Thursday, Sept. 24, the Pope addressed the United States Congress in a nationally broadcasted session with the Senate and the House. Third-year history major Nick Doyle of the Cocky Catholics student group called it “a highlight.”
The Pope made major headlines when he spoke before the United Nations General Assembly for its 70th anniversary on Friday, Sept. 25. He finished the day with an appearance at a commemorative ceremony for 9/11 families and survivors and led a papal parade through Central Park.
On Saturday, Sept. 26, the day before the Pope’s departure, he stopped in Philadelphia for his final hours. He visited Independence Hall, popped in for a surprise appearance at the festival of the World Meeting of Families and was the recipient of a special serenade dedicated by singer Aretha Franklin.
Doyle was one of two students from Cocky Catholics who traveled to see the Pope in Philadelphia. He received one of the 10,000 lottery tickets the city of Philadelphia offered at random and waited close to two hours for the special moment.
“On Saturday night, we got to see him drive by in the Pope Mobile,” Doyle said. “It was a really cool sight to see!”
Doyle and Cocky Catholics' student leader and fourth-year criminology and criminal justice major Alex Nguyen agreed that they’d like to see Pope Francis make more visits to southern cities and perhaps the USC campus sometime in the future.
While ambitious, the request certainly wouldn’t be absurd. In fact, on an American tour in 1987, University of South Carolina received a papal visit from Pope John Paul II who met with a cheering crowd on the campus Horseshoe, which included notables such as then-freshman Steve Benjamin, who is now mayor for the City of Columbia.
Since his landing Tuesday last week, tens of thousands have gathered at the Pope’s public appearances in order to get a glimpse of the world’s leading religious figure. Despite there being some Catholics who found some of the Pope’s left-leaning ideas on topics such as abortion, immigration and gay rights displeasing, Cocky Catholics say they are still in favor of the Pope.
“You’re always going to have people who disagree with what he says,” Doyle said. “But personally I think you need to respect everyone’s opinion.”