Girl gets past security, delivers message to Pope Francis

A 5-year-old girl breached security for the opportunity to personally deliver Pope Francis an important message about immigration.

The Pope, who is on a visit to the USA, was parading down Washington DC’s National Mall when five-year-old Sophie Cruz slipped inside the barriers.

Pope Francis motioned to the security team to let her through, where she handed him an envelope containing her letter.

Gutierrez said Sophie crafted her own letter to the pope and wasn’t prompted what to tell reporters who caught up with her later. I want to tell you that my heart is sad because of the hate and discrimination towards immigrants in this country.

“I believe I have the right to live with my parents”, Sophie said later in the day.

Sophie Cruz’s encounter with the pontiff was planned by a coalition of immigrant rights groups based in Downtown Los Angeles. Too many Americans just don’t view illegal immigrants as deserving equal respect to everyone else, and so they won’t grant them a pathway to citizenship. She hopes one day she won’t live in fear that her father could be forced out of the country they call home. The same day he met Sophie Cruz, he spoke to the country’s bishops, praising them for their welcome of immigrants, “who continue to look to America, like so many others before them, in the hope of enjoying its blessings of freedom and prosperity”.

Pope Francis gave Sophie a hug, but his reaction to the letter was not captured on camera. The letter is a picture of children holding hands with the pope that reads, “My friends and I love each other regardless of the color of our skin”, in Spanish. While the pontiff’s motorcade made its way past cheering crowds, one young girl chose to break away from the pack.

Sofi went with her 30-year-old father, Raul, who like her mother, came to the USA from Mexico’s southern state of Oaxaca about 10 years ago. Rep. Julia Brownley invited Sophie to listen to the pope’s address to Congress on Thursday.

She came with a whole host of politics and messages she wanted to share with the pope. While meeting the pope might be a daunting task for the average person, Cruz didn’t have any problem approaching the leader of the Catholic Church. A federal district court in Texas issued an order to have the program blocked-an example of public rejection of immigration reform that Cruz and the L.A. group La Hermandad are fighting to overcome.