Crowds gather outside of Independence Hall in Philadelphia on Sept. 27, 2015, to hear Pope Francis speak about religious liberty during his apostolic visit to the United States for the World Meeting of Families. (photo: CNA)
Pope Francis was already a popular figure among Americans before September 2015, when he made his first and so far only apostolic journey to the United States.
His visits to Washington, D.C., New York City and Philadelphia, where he attended the World Meeting of Families, further burnished his reputation among Catholics and non-Catholics alike.
Francis received a standing ovation during his address before the joint session of the U.S. Congress, where he urged America’s political leaders to embrace the high moral standard set by the country’s iconic figures.
“A nation can be considered great,” the Argentinian Pope said in English, “when it defends liberty, as Lincoln did; when it fosters a culture which enables people to dream of full rights for all their brothers and sisters, as Martin Luther King sought to do; when it strives for justice and the cause of the oppressed, as Dorothy Day did by her tireless work; the fruit of a faith which becomes dialogue and sows peace, in the contemplative style of Thomas Merton.”
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