‘PEOPLE’S POPE’ TAKES NEW YORK BY STORM
Jubilant crowds greet Francis during whirlwind visit
• Sweeping through the landmarks of America’s biggest and brashest city, Pope Francis Friday offered comfort to families of the 9/11 victims at ground zero, warnings to world leaders at the United Nations, and encouragement to children — many of them immigrants — at a Roman Catholic school in East Harlem.
In the evening, he led a jubilant parade through Central Park, smiling as he rode slowly in his open-sided Jeep past a cheering, shrieking crowd estimated at 80,000, many of them holding cellphones aloft.
The visit posed huge logistical and security challenges, and many streets were closed off. At the UN, hundreds of police officers and Secret Service agents were on duty, backed by bombsniffing dogs and police boats. For the procession in Central Park, ticket holders were barred from bringing backpacks and other items.
In his speech at the UN, the Pope decried the destruction of the environment through a “selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity.”
The environment itself has rights, and mankind has no authority to abuse them, said Francis, who hopes to spur concrete commitments at the upcoming climate-change negotiations in Paris.
He also demanded immediate access for the world’s poor to adequate food, water and housing, saying they have the right to lodging, labour and land.
Francis’s speech, delivered in his native Spanish, received repeated rounds of applause from an audience that included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Bill and Melinda Gates, and Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai.
The ovations contrasted sharply with the moment of silent prayer during the Pope’s visit later in the day to ground zero for an interfaith tribute to the 9/11 victims.
After praying before the waterfall pools that mark the spot where the twin towers stood, Francis met relatives of the 3,000 victims whose names are inscribed on the waters’ edge.
Moving into the underground memorial museum, he joined a rabbi, an imam and other religious leaders to pray for peace, standing in front of the floodwall that became a symbol of New York’s resilience when it held fast after the attacks.
Among those present was Monica Iken-Murphy, whose husband, bond trader Michael Patrick Iken, died in one of the towers.
“This is where loved ones lost their lives ... and this is the way we are going to honour them by having someone who is holy, closest to God, Pope Francis, come here and bless this site,” she said. “I couldn’t be prouder to share this memorial and museum with him.”
Francis’s afternoon schedule reflected the penchant of the “people’s pope” for engaging with the public, starting with a visit to Our Lady Queen of Angels School, set amid public housing in the heavily Hispanic neighbourhood of East Harlem.
A line of children shrieked and chanted, “Holy Father, we love you!” as he made his way along a barricade outside the school. The beaming pontiff blessed them, shaking hands and posing for a few selfies. Some children embraced him, but a security guard intervened when one girl gave him a big hug.
After the morning’s deadly serious activities, the 78-year-old Pope clearly perked up when he got to Harlem. He joked around with the children and chatted happily with them in Spanish.
The Pope, who says he hasn’t watched TV in decades and doesn’t know how to work a computer, even got a lesson in how to use a touchscreen from fourth-grader Kayla Osborne.
The eight-year-old guided his hand to show him how it worked, then clicked to a screen that read: “We also thank God for the gift of having you as our pope.”
The crowd included about 150 immigrants and refugees, some of them in the U.S. illegally.
The papal visit to the United Nations included a historic moment — the Vatican flag was raised there for the first time. The General Assembly recently agreed to allow the UN’s two observer states, the Holy See and Palestine, to fly their flags alongside those of the 193 member states.