St. John Paul II In The City Of Freedom

Declaration of Independence, by John Trumbull, 1819

The schedule is set for the Holy Father’s visit to the United States. Pope Francis will visit both Washington, D.C. and New York City in September, followed by a stop at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia.

Pope Francis won't be the first pontiff to step foot in Philadelphia. Saint John Paul II actually visited the city twice—once before he was Pope, and once at the beginning of his pontificate. He was sent to the International Eucharistic Congress there in 1976, and he stopped in the “city of brotherly love” during his pastoral visit to the United States in 1979.

During his pastoral visit, John Paul II said Mass at Logan Circle. In his homily, he named Philadelphia as the city of the Declaration of Independence and the Liberty Bell. He said:

Your attachment to liberty, to freedom, is part of your heritage. When the Liberty Bell rang for the first time in 1776, it was to announce the freedom of your nation, the beginning of the pursuit of a common destiny independent of any outside coercion. This principle of freedom is paramount in the political and social order, in relationships between the government and the people, and between individual and individual. However, man's life is also lived in another order of reality: in the order of his relationship to what is objectively true and morally good. Freedom thus acquires a deeper meaning when it is referred to the human person. It concerns in the first place the relation of man to himself. Every human person, endowed with reason, is free when he is the master of his own actions, when he is capable of choosing that good which is in conformity with reason, and therefore with his own human dignity.

Our beloved Holy Father reminded Philadelphians of the gift of their freedom, and what that freedom really means for the human person. May we be reminded of that again as we prepare for the World Meeting of Families and Pope Francis’s visit.

Saint John Paul II, Pray for Us!

The Popes In The City Of Brotherly Love

Coverage from Saint John Paul II's 1979 visit to the
United States is featured in our permanent exhibit.

Last week, Pope Francis officially announced his intention to visit the United States! The Holy Father will join the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia next fall. Details for his trip will not be released until spring or summer of 2015, but the Pope will most likely participate in the meeting’s closing events.

Saint John Paul II started the World Meetings of Families, and he was also the last pope to visit Philadelphia. More than a million people came out to see him during his visit in 1979. In his homily at Logan Circle, the late Holy Father said:

How then can a Christian, inspired and guided by the mystery of the Incarnation and Redemption of Christ, strengthen his or her own values and those that are embodied in the heritage of this nation? ...These values are strengthened: when power and authority are exercised in full respect for all the fundamental rights of the human person, whose dignity is the dignity of one created in the image and likeness of God; when freedom is accepted, not as an absolute end in itself, but as a gift that enables self-giving and service; when the family is protected and strengthened, when its unity is preserved, and when its role as the basic cell of society is recognized and honored.

During his time in Philadelphia, St. John Paul II spoke of the importance of the family. Next fall, Pope Francis will do the same.

Please join us in saying this prayer as we prepare for the eighth World Meeting of Families. Let us also ask the meeting’s co-patron, St. John Paul II, and Blesseds Luigi and Maria Quattrocchi on this day of their feast, to pray for us.

Love Is Our Mission

God and Father of us all,

in Jesus, your Son and our Savior,

you have made us your sons and daughters

in the family of the Church.

May your grace and love

help our families

in every part of the world


be united to one another

in fidelity to the Gospel.

May the example of the Holy Family,

with the aid of your Holy Spirit,


guide all families, especially those most troubled,


to be homes of communion and prayer

and to always seek your truth and live in your love.


Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, pray for us!

In the spirit of St. John Paul II, the “Pope of the Family,” we say this prayer in preparation for the eighth World Meeting of Families, which is to be held in Philadelphia next September 22-27.

St. John Paul II Co-Patron Of World Meeting Of Families

This past weekend, as Saint John Paul II’s relic made its stop in Philadelphia, Archbishop Charles Chaput announced that Saints John Paul II and Gianna Beretta Molla will be the patron saints of the 2015 World Meeting of Families. He said:

Saints John Paul II and Gianna had a deep and abiding commitment to strengthening the family and sustaining it with love. This historic event will give thousands from around the globe the opportunity to share in the same commitment of our Patron Saints.

The theme of the Meeting is “Love is our mission: the family fully alive,” and many from across the globe are expected to travel to Philadelphia for the event next September, including Pope Francis himself! Let us continue to pray as preparations are being made, that “every family may generously make its own contribution to the coming of his kingdom in the world.”

Pope Benedict XVI addresses the importance of families

Thousands of families from throughout the world came together for the seventh World Meeting of Families in Milan last week. Pope Benedict XVI delivered a beautiful homily at the closing Mass yesterday—it’s definitely worth checking out. The Holy Father said:

Your vocation is not easy to live, especially today, but the vocation to love is a wonderful thing, it is the only force that can truly transform the world.

The family is the foundation of the Christian culture, Pope Benedict said, and the self-giving love between husbands, wives, and their children emanates throughout our broken society. The healing, transformative power of the Christian family is an important part of the New Evangelization.

One of the most exciting pieces of news from the World Meeting of Families is that the next meeting will take place in Philadelphia. Mark your calendars for 2015!