More than a hundred parishioners from a mostly-Spanish-speaking parish in New Haven, Connecticut are going to Philadelphia on Sunday. The group from St. Rose of Lima Church is going to observe a Mass with Pope Francis.
“God, through Pope Francis, is here in this country, with us; with all the citizens of United States. Rich, poor," said Gisella Silva, a pastoral worker at St. Rose of Lima who is going on the trip. "Pope Francis represents a good human being.”
Francis is the first pope from Latin America. Silva said families at St. Rose of Lima feel like Francis understands them. Most of the church’s congregation comes from across Latin America, primarily Mexico, Ecuador and Peru. She said she’s glad to see Pope Francis speaking on immigration.
“And this is help people to know each other," she said. "You know, really sit with the immigrants and listen to their stories. Make this problem, this issue, a human problem. That is what Pope Francis wants us to do, to reach the other.”
Father James Manship is the priest of Silva’s parish. He’s said he's concerned about the way politicians have been talking about immigration. He said it’s been divisive, and he hopes the Pope’s visit will help change that.
In his address to President Obama Wednesday, the Pope said he’s the son of an immigrant family, and that the U.S. was “largely built by such families.”
