For the first time, one of the most influential world leaders, Pope Francis, came to America. Over a million people traveled not just around the country, but around the world, to see Pope Francis in DC, New York, and then in Philadelphia. Touching the hearts of millions, Pope Francis gave masses and speeches, to the theme of Religious Freedom and Immigration.

I went to see Pope Francis in Philadelphia, when he traveled to Independence Hall, to see him give a rousing, but inspirational speech about freedom of religion and immigration. I was surrounded by millions of people, different races, beliefs, opinions, cultures, and even different religions. I had arrived at Independence Hall around eight in the morning. I had to leave my condo an hour early to begin walking to Independence Hall, and since all of the roads were closed I could not drive there. As I was walking, even miles away from where the Pope would be going, I saw two military soldiers sitting at every street corner throughout the city. It was rather intimidating to say the least, walking past them every block, to get to my destination, for they were dressed in uniform with bulletproof vests, and guns in their belts. As I arrived, just outside the gates, where you would enter to reach Independence Hall, I bought a flag to represent my admiration and fondness of the Pope in spirit of the event.
When I arrived to the security check, the Secret Service checked my bag and patted me down, not once, not twice, but three times they patted me down. This made me realize how serious they are about the safety of not only the Pope, but the people as well, to rapidly search for weapons or anything dangerous on a fifteen year old girl wearing a Pope Francis tee shirt and a pair of jeans. (Like I would be suspected of harming the Pope, or any other person for that matter). When they searched my bag, they found the flag I had purchased, and they took it away, broke it, and threw it in a pile, which was to later be thrown away. I couldn’t wrap my mind around why they would take thousands of peoples’ flags, which were all Pope related and throw them away. They later explained, that they had to take every caution possible to make sure that the Pope was safe, therefore removing any possible weapon or danger. The flag had a stick holding it up, which was a dangerous tool, which could be used the wrong way. When I found this out I realized that the importance of the Pope was more than I had realized before.
I had finally reached my destination! I was in, in front of Independence Hall, at eight in the morning waiting for the man who influences my life more than anyone else, Pope Francis. Trying to find a place to stand was like finding a needle in a haystack, it was nearly impossible. When I found a place to settle, I waited for six and a half hours for the Pope to arrive. The wait was excruciating. Of course I forgot chairs, so I was forced to sit on the wet, dewy grass. I later fell asleep, like a majority of people did, and when I had woken, the amount of people had doubled, maybe even tripled. I felt like a grain of sand on the beach. Over 70,000 people attended, all surrounding me on all sides; with the air getting thinner I could feel my claustrophobia kicking in.

After my excruciating six hour wait, from a distance I could hear the roaring of thousands, and car horns honking. As soon as I knew it, the whole crowd started running to the streets, overflowing all the sidewalks, welcoming the Pope, who was riding down the street in what seemed to be a golf cart. Periodically, he would stop to kiss babies, or bless the disabled children of whose parents handed them away to the Secret Service to give to the Pope. When he finally reached Independence Hall, he gave a wonderful speech, although it was all in Spanish, it was adored by everyone. It was amazing to be in the presence of the Pope. It felt as if I was being blessed, like I was special enough to have this opportunity to be surrounded by so many different people, who had all come together for the same reason, under the strong presence of the Pope, but an even stronger presence of God. The feeling was so powerful it can’t be fully explained by writing it down.
While the Pope was giving his speech, the crowd went wild – thousands of people roaring with joy, from in front of the Pope, to the last jumbo screen, to the thousands lining the streets behind metal fences. The thing that really set off the crowd the most, and that really touched my heart the most, is when the Pope said his first words in English, “God bless you all.” He soon departed after that. The feeling of joy made me tear up, as well as many other people in the crowd. Strangers began to hug each other; someone I didn’t even know, came up to me and blessed me, then gave me a hug. For the presence and words of the Pope were so strong, and he created peace and recollection for everyone, to the point we all found comfort in each other.
Right before the Pope got into his Fiat, a rainbow actually appeared in the sky. This was especially interesting because when the Pope was in New York, a woman explained to the reporter that her most favorable memory was that she saw a rainbow while she was saying goodbye to the Pope after greeting him, along with 20,000 others, in Central Park.