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Vatican visit over, now comes the hard part

Philly’s delegation to Pope Francis must now raise money and prepare security for hisvisit next year.

    by BY SEAN COLLINS WALSH, Daily News Staff Writer <a href="mailto:walshSE@phillynews.com">walshSE@phillynews.com</a>, 215-854-4172 VATICAN CITY - Its work at the Vatican complete, the delegation of local political and business leaders flies home today confident that Pope Francis will decide to come to Philadelphia next year. Now comes the hard part: getting ready to host the pope. Donna Crilley Farrell, executive director of the nonprofit organizing the World Meeting of Families gathering in Philly, said the two tasks at hand now are fundraising and security preparations. &quot;We've raised about $5 million so far,&quot; she said. A specific fundraising goal has not been set, she said, but Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput previously said $10 million to $15 million could be needed. Accounting executive Bob Ciaruffoli, president of the nonprofit, said the group will employ three strategies for fundraising: working with corporate sponsors, reaching out to Catholic philanthropists and soliciting donations through social media. On the security side, he said, there will be three main players that will need to coordinate the event, which could draw up to 2 million people: the federal Department of Homeland Security, the city of Philadelphia and Gendarmerie, the Vatican security agency. At his weekly general audiences, Pope Francis speaks in Italian, and his remarks are translated into seven languages to the crowd. Yesterday, with Mayor Nutter a few yards away, the English translation was read by a fellow Philadelphian: the Rev. Brian Hennessy. Hennessy, who often serves in that role, is not the only Philly connection the group found in the Vatican. As director of the Fabbrica di San Pietro, Chestnut Hill College graduate Maria Cristina Carlo-Stella manages St. Peter's Basilica. She gave the group a private tour of the basilica on Tuesday. Additionally, the Rev. Greg Fairbanks works on interfaith relations at the Vatican, and the Rev. Anthony DiGuglielmo is studying canon law there. Both are Philly natives. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia's liaison to the Vatican is the Rev. Bill Donovan, of Havertown. There are five members of the group's Executive Leadership Cabinet, which will spearhead the effort to bring the leader of the Roman Catholic Church to Philadelphia - and three of them are Jewish. An interfaith composition is a point of pride for the group and for Chaput, who recruited them, who described it as a sign that the entire Philadelphia community is behind the monumental effort. &quot;The religious consequence is not that important to me obviously, but what is important to me is the civic consequence,&quot; said Comcast executive David L. Cohen, who serves in the cabinet. &quot;We'll be on the front page of every newspaper and television broadcast in the world. You don't get many opportunities like this.&quot; The other Jewish members are Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and Aramark CEO Joseph Neubauer. Of those three, only Neubauer attended this week's trip to Rome.
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