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SCENES FROM A HISTORIC DAY

From Gary, Ind., came 150 pilgrims of Mexican origin, including Alfredo Flores, 36, who, like his father and uncle before him, is a municipal sanitation worker. His group of Catholic adults and youth is enjoying the hospitality of St. Gabriel's Parish and Our House Ministries in Grays Ferry. Flores woke up early Saturday and hoofed his way, about four miles, to Independence Mall.

DAVID SWANSON / Staff Photographer
DAVID SWANSON / Staff PhotographerRead more

From Gary, Ind., came 150 pilgrims

of Mexican origin, including Alfredo Flores, 36, who, like his father and uncle before him, is a municipal sanitation worker. His group of Catholic adults and youth is enjoying the hospitality of St. Gabriel's Parish and Our House Ministries in Grays Ferry. Flores woke up early Saturday and hoofed his way, about four miles, to Independence Mall.

"I walk behind the truck, picking up the cans," he said. "I am a garbageman from Gary, here to see the pope."

- Michael Matza

56 members of the Diocese of Houston-Galveston, Texas, pulled into Philadelphia at 7 a.m. Saturday on a bus and sang as they walked from 40th and Lancaster toward the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, where Pope Francis said Mass.

"We're staying in a house that provides food to the homeless," said Dario Rincon, 62, a nursing home maintenance supervisor who came with his children, Carlos, 12; and Isabel, 9, and his wife, Maria, 45.

They had bus trouble on the way from Houston but were not going to allow fatigue to dampen their mission.

"We're tired," Dario Rincon said, "but with the love of God, we're walking with all the strength that we have."

Maria Rincon marched with a guitar slung over her back.

"We came to make a mission," she said. "To say that God loves you."

- Maria Panaritis

Yeun Jalee, 68, came to the U.S. from South Korea in 1990. As the crowds left Independence Mall, she stayed behind looking at an empty stage, still processing what she'd seen.

Her daughters are now products of the American dream, she said. One works in medicine, the other in finance in Manhattan.

Jalee was most touched by the pope's comments about holding tight one's culture and family.

"I love him, and he says be proud of your tradition," she said, smiling as the crowds left, her throat catching as she continued. "Be proud. To me, I love him." - Julia Terruso

Patricia Nowlan, a Spanish teacher at Merion Mercy Academy, got an up-close view of the pope's Fiat rolling down City Avenue.

"Papa Francisco ... Papa Francisco!" she yelled while taking video for her class.

She had made a point of telling them to get the article right - el papa is the pope; la papa is a potato.

- Mike Jensen

Around 6:30 a.m. Saturday at the Paoli train station, Marie Petry, 47, of Latham, N.Y., who runs a financial-services firm with her husband, Joe, 38, was pushing her two children, Bella, 4; and J.J., 2, in a double stroller.

Joe Petry had an emotional reason for his warm feelings toward the pontiff.

"His name is Francis. I had a baby who died in June. He lived for 22 hours. His name was Frankie." A short time later, the family received a papal blessing. It came in just three weeks, an unusually short time.

"The only thing I can think of is the name," Marie Petry said. "I had him for 22 hours. If he had lived, he would have been here."

- Kathy Boccella

'Meeting the pope, you can't describe it," said former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett, who greeted Pope Francis outside the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul.

"I thanked him for his leadership in the church," Corbett said. "And he said, 'Pray for me,' " Corbett said.

"And I said, 'Of course I will and please pray for us.' " - Laura McCrystal

Liam Scott, 16, and John Barbera, 16, both St. Joseph's Prep juniors, helped coordinate travel for students from 46 Jesuit schools in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, and Canada.

About 350 students stayed at St. Joe's Prep on Friday night and headed to Independence Mall together Saturday morning, singing fight songs along the way.

They watched on the Jumbotrons as their classmate Matt Hilferty brought gifts up at the Mass at the basilica.

"Yeah, Matt!" his classmates cheered.

"I'm going to cry already, dude," Barbera said to a friend. - Julia Terruso

A Catholic club from Delaware Valley University came prepared with sneakers, backpacks, and one pillow.

"My goal is to be able to see him without the Jumbotron," said Audrey Morgan, 19, of Cherry Hill. "But if not, just to be near him, I'll be happy."

Peter Butler, 20, who goes to Pennsylvania State University and who was "adopted" by the DelVal club, said he had seen Pope Francis in New York's Central Park on Friday.

"You get a blessing, you get a blessing. Everybody gets a blessing. It's like Oprah!" Morgan said.

- Jessica Parks

The security bottleneck at 18th and the Parkway caused distress among those in line who were trying to get to the 5:15 p.m. Saturday Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul.

"I think I'm giving up on Mass for today. I'll go in the morning," said Marisa Simon, 27, who lives at 17th and Walnut but who made the mistake of leaving for church at 4:30.

"I should have known to leave much earlier," she said. - Diane Mastrull

While thousands waited for a glimpse of the Pope Saturday, a New Jersey woman got the phone call she had long awaited: Thomas Jefferson University Hospital had found a donated kidney for her.

But with so many roads closed, hers would not be the usual ride to the hospital. The N.J. Department of Health called the state police, and by noon, Sgt. Chris Modarelli was in Berlin to meet the JeffSTAT ambulance. He escorted the ambulance over the Ben Franklin Bridge - closed to all but emergency traffic - into Philadelphia, where they were met by Pennsylvania state troopers.

The police cars had emergency lights flashing but did not need sirens, and they arrived at the hospital shortly before 1 p.m.

"It was real nice to be part of something like that," N.J. State Police Capt. Stephen Jones said.

- Tom Avril

At the Festival of Families concert on the Parkway Saturday, emcee Mark Wahlberg got the biggest laugh of the night when, after a solo performance from Keystone State Boychoir member Bobby Hill, he compared the teen's singing to that of an angel.

But when Wahlberg embraced him, he said, Hill, 14, whispered that he was a fan of "Ted," Wahlberg's raunchy comedy about a talking bear.

"I told him that was not appropriate for a boy of his age," Wahlberg said. "Holy Father, please forgive me."

Following the solo, Hill presented Francis with a rock from a choir trip to Antarctica. - Allison Steele