PHILADELPHIA — Standing at the birthplace of the United States, Pope Francis extended a warm and affectionate welcome to recent immigrants and extolled America’s founding ideals of liberty and equality Saturday, while warning that religious freedom is under threat around the globe.
Francis arrived in the City of Brotherly Love on the final leg of his six-day U.S. trip, and in a moment rich with historical symbolism, he spoke outside Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed, and he used the lectern from which Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address.
“It was here that the freedoms which define this country were first proclaimed,” Francis told the crowd of about 40,000 after the pope known for his simple tastes and devotion to the poor arrived to the stirring strains of Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.”
“We remember the great struggles which led to the abolition of slavery, the extension of voting rights, the growth of the labor movement, and the gradual effort to eliminate every kind of racism and prejudice directed at successive waves of new Americans,” he said to applause. “This shows that when a country is determined to remain true to its founding principles, based on respect for human dignity, it is strengthened and renewed.”
At the same time, the pope warned that religious freedom is in danger.
“In a world where various forms of modern tyranny seek to suppress religious freedom, or try to reduce it to a subculture without right to a voice in the public square, or to use religion as a pretext for hatred and brutality,” he said, “it is imperative that the followers of various religions join their voices in calling for peace, tolerance and respect for the dignity and rights of others.”
It may not have been the hard-hitting discussion of religious freedom some conservative American bishops may have wanted to hear. Francis did not mention gay marriage, abortion or government-mandated birth control coverage by name, speaking of threats to religious liberty in broader, more global terms.
Later Saturday evening, tens of thousands gathered on the broad Benjamin Franklin Parkway for a music-and-prayer festival featuring Aretha Franklin, Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli, actor Mark Wahlberg and comedian Jim Gaffigan. Francis came to Philadelphia to close out the World Meeting of Families, a Vatican-sponsored conference and festival for more than 18,000 people from around the world.
Earlier in the day, the pontiff arrived from New York at the Philadelphia airport, where a Catholic high school band played the theme song from the Philadelphia-set movie “Rocky” upon Francis’ arrival. Then Francis celebrated a Mass for about 1,600 people at the downtown Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, saying in his homily that the future of the Catholic Church in the U.S. requires a much more active role for lay Catholics, especially women.
“It means valuing the immense contribution which women, lay and religious, have made and continue to make to the life of our communities,” he said.
Francis has repeatedly said women should have a greater role in church leadership, though he has rejected the idea of ordaining women. By calling for more involvement of women and the laity, he seemed intent on healing one of the major rifts in American Catholicism that has alienated many from the church.
