Pope’s Philadelphia Schedule Unveiled
When the pope visits Independence Mall, maybe he can drop in on the nearby beer garden?
If you want to meet Pope Francis when he visits Philadelphia, your best bet may be to get arrested.
Pope Francis will make a visit to Northeast Philadelphia’s Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility during his visit to the city for the World Meeting of Families this September, officials revealed this morning. The Vatican has released the pope’s itinerary for his two days in Philadelphia on September 26th and 27th.
The pope’s itinerary is in Italian, so we took the liberty of doing a rough translation of it (into English, even!) for you here.
Saturday, September 26th
8:40am: The Pope departs New York for Philadelphia
9:30am: The Pope arrives at Philadelphia International Airport. Nice job by Francis to pad in extra time for what should be about a 28-minute flight. JFK, LaGuardia and PHL are all busy airports known for delays. (Or maybe the Pope will fly out of Newark.) Sure, they’ll probably shut down the airports briefly so the Pope can go in and out, but he’ll probably have to wait to collect his mitre at baggage claim.
10:30am: The Pope celebrates with bishops, priests and other religious men and women at the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul on the Parkway. He will be the second pope, after John Paul in 1979, to celebrate mass at the Cathedral. Neat!
4:45pm: The Pope meets with Hispanic and other immigrants to Philadelphia at Independence Mall. Perhaps he can bless the new La Colombe coffee shop or grab a beer at the nearby Independence Beer Garden while he’s there. The pope is expected to speak on immigration and religious freedom at this stop.
7:30pm: The Pope will visit the Festival of Families, part of the World Meeting, on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway.
Sunday, September 27th
9:15am: The Pope meets with bishops at St. Charles Borromeo in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. The Pope will be visiting St. Martin’s Chapel on the campus. The Pope in Montco! (Hopefully he’ll take a short detour to visit Delco as well.) He really is getting a tour of the area on his two days here.
11am: The Pope visits Curran-Fromhold Correction Facility in Holmesburg. The Pope in Northeast Philly! If he takes I-95 and gets off at Cottman, maybe they will rename the exit after Pope Francis. If he doesn’t get a donut at Holmesburg Bakery while he’s in the area, the holy father is missing out.
4pm: The Pope holds mass on the Parkway to close out the World Meeting of Families. Millions are expected to attend.
7pm: The Pope meets with organizers, volunteers and benefactors of the World Meeting of Families at PHL Airport.
8pm: The Pope flies back to Rome. You only get an hour to schmooze with the pope at the airport, dignitaries!
All in all, Pope Francis is hitting more of the city than you’d expect for his time here. He’s also visiting a prison!
Bishop: The Holy Father will "do a loop" in the Popemobile at Independence Mall and the Parkway. Cc @the_popemobile #PopeinPhilly
— Stephanie Farr (@FarFarrAway) June 30, 2015
Plus, a loop in the Popemobile! “Pope Francis’ plans for his visit to Philadelphia seamlessly integrate powerful public moments with more intimate gatherings that are deeply grace filled,” Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput said in a statement. “It is an itinerary that says, ‘I walk with you – and so does the Lord.’ It says, ‘Embrace your faith and embrace one another as children of God.’ It says, ‘God forgives.’ And it says ‘Come together in celebration.’… The many pilgrims present in September will experience a moment unlike any in the history of our city.”
And it’s only a few months away.