On Thursday and Friday, Pope Francis blessed our city with a visit. Contrary to popular belief, Olivia Pope does not have a long lost brother. Pope Francis is the actual Pope, as in Bishop of Rome, and leader of the Catholic Church. He actually hails from Argentina, not Europe, and he is the first Pope ever from Latin America, which is just one of the reasons why he’s different than previous Popes.
Ordained in 1969, he became a cardinal in 2001, and then the 266th Pope in 2015. For comparison, Obama is only the 44th president of the United States. Before landing at JFK, Pope Francis actually chilled with Obama for a bit in D.C. where they shared some laughs. But on a more important note, in a historic move, Pope Francis became the first Pope to adress Congress. He spoke to Congress about his longtime passion for helping the poor, immigration policy, abolishing the death penalty, reducing pollution, and many other lofty issues.
Although he caused a ton of annoying traffic, and I myself was unexpectedly trapped on East 72nd for twenty minutes while he Pope-mobiled from Harlem to Central Park (thank G-d for Ladurée), New Yorkers were truly lucky that Pope Francis made a pit stop in NYC before flying to Philly for the World Meeting of Families. Some NYC Pope highlights include his evening prayer at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on 5th Avenue, his address to the United Nations General Assembly, his service at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum at the World Trade Center, and his visit to the Our Lady Queen of Angels School in East Harlem. He also lead the first annual Pope 5K through the park (just kidding, it was just a stroll) and played 1 on 1 with Carmelo at MSG. Kidding again, but he did give a giant Mass there which allowed thousands of guests to be present to hear him speak.
If you’re like me, you wondered where the Pope slept during his visit. The Plaza? The Mandarin Oriental? Is he trendy? Did he choose the Gansevoort? Well, the Pope actually always chooses to stay in church residences for his travels. In this case, he bunked in a five-story brownstone on the Upper East Side.
Essentially, people really like this Pope. And it’s not just because of his adorable Snapchat geotag or because of his Twitter account. People admire Pope Francis for his views on social justice, the LGBTQ community, immigration, helping the poor, and many other issues. And, he is modest; he doesn’t even live in a palace. You will never see Pope Francis’ religious garb bearing a Prada logo, and he definitely will not demand that his Fiat turn into a Rolls anytime soon. Thanks for your visit and all you’ve done for the city, Pope Francis! As Chris Martin from Coldplay said Saturday, “Thank you to the Pope for getting to the most wonderful city on earth just in time for the Global Citizen Festival.” We agree! Hope to catch ya next time, Pope Francis!
Here are some more pictures of the Pope’s visit to NYC, taken by Barnard’s very own, very talented Kiera Wood! You can see more of her photography on her website!