Catholics throng to Philadelphia for Pope Francis visit

PHILADELPHIA – Hundreds of thousands of Roman Catholics are making the pilgrimage to Philadelphia to see Pope Francis on the last leg of his first-ever visit to the United States, where they hoped to catch a glimpse of the popular pontiff at some point during his packed schedule – or even receive a blessing or healing touch. Some of their stories:

Ex-refugee: Francis helping church ‘rise from the dead’

Juwli Roberts-Karluah ran past dead bodies and burned babies while fleeing with her child from war-torn Liberia in 1997. Now a nursing assistant outside Philadelphia, Roberts-Karluah was in the city Saturday for Pope Francis’ visit.

Francis has urged a more welcoming attitude toward migrants everywhere in the world amid the worst refugee crisis since World War II.

Roberts-Karluah knows that refugees now arriving in Europe have a difficult road ahead, but she believes they can make it through faith and hope. “You can’t give up. I have experienced it,” the mother of two said.

She’s active in her church encouraging Liberian immigrants to return to their Catholic faith.

“The pope’s message resonates so deeply – he is trying to bring us back together,” she said. “I think his coming will help the church to rise from the dead.”

Dreaming of the pope

The dream came to Leslie Herring one night in July: Pope Francis picked her profoundly disabled daughter out of a crowd, hoisted her out of her wheelchair and blessed her.

And she was healed.

“The first thing she did was talk,” recalled Herring, 35, of Pottsville. “And then she got up and walked.”

Herring woke up from her dream in a cold sweat – and decided on the spot to make the trip to Philadelphia, about 75 miles away.

Her daughter, Debianne, who turned 7 on Friday, has suffered from cerebral palsy and epilepsy since infancy. She cannot walk or communicate except to blink her eyes yes and shake her head no.

Herring, who was raised Roman Catholic but does not attend church regularly, is praying her dream will become reality, knowing it would be nothing short of miraculous.

“That’s how I felt when I woke up – that this is the miracle he will perform,” she said.

Divorced, remarried and back in church

Kate Maloney-West said her heart swelled when she heard of Pope Francis’ outreach to divorced Roman Catholics.

Maloney-West didn’t go to church for three years after her own divorce. She got the marriage annulled so she could remarry in the church.

“I’ve never been angry with the church. We’re all sinners. I just keep trying to find my way back,” said Maloney-West, 50, of Aldan. The legal secretary was volunteering at Independence Hall for the papal visit Saturday.

When Francis called for a more merciful approach to divorce, “my heart swelled,” she said. “This pope is going to bring the church along where it needs to be.”

Associated Press