Huge crowds greet Pope Francis in Philadelphia

Isabel Lopez, a member of the Brockton Interfaith Community who traveled to Philadelphia, called the pope’s speech in front of Independence Hall an “emotional moment”. “Do not be discouraged by whatever challenges and hardships you face”, he said, speaking in Spanish.

The “ringing words” of the US Declaration of Independence proclaiming the equality of all men and women and their being endowed by their creator with “inalienable rights” continue to inspire people in the United States and around the world, the Argentina-born Pope said.

“By contributing your gifts you will not only find your place here, you will help to renew society from within”, the first pope from Latin America said. “I repeat, do not be ashamed of what is part of you”.

In his address, the pope also denounced “a selfish and boundless thirst for power and material prosperity” in the world that causes the misuse of natural resources and the exclusion of “the weak and disadvantaged”.

“Remembrance saves a people’s soul from whatever or whoever would attempt to dominate it or use it for their interests”, he said. Immigration reform has become a central issue in the 2016 presidential nomination race.

“He spoke about lifting up the many millions of immigrants who are undocumented in this country”, Lopez said.

At such a symbolically important site, the pope reminded the American audience of their history when it came to immigrants.

“We want them to live their faith every day, with their friends, with things they do in sports and this was a way to show them and to bring them that there’s so many people around the world that share that same faith”, David Dellacca said.

Francis made his remarks from the same lectern Abraham Lincoln used to give the Gettysburg Address, a fitting setting for a speech stressing freedom.

The pope known for his simple tastes and devotion to the poor and downtrodden arrived to the strains of Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man”. In a moving speech, Obama said, “We thank you and welcome you with joy and gratitude to the United States”.

The pope also promoted religious freedom. America declared its independence from Britain in order to preserve the rights of its residents, including the right to religious freedom.

Francis’s unequivocal support for immigrants came precisely in Philadelphia, one of the “sanctuary cities” that U.S. Republicans criticize for protecting the undocumented from deportation.

Aretha Franklin leads an all-star lineup at the Festival of Families in Philadelphia, one of the events organized by the Vatican-sponsored World Meeting of Families, which brought Francis to the city after visits in Washington and New York.

“You could see he was very, very moved”, New York’s Cardinal Timothy Dolan told reporters.