Pope to immigrant audience: 'Do not be discouraged'

Pope Francis offered stirring support for a new spirit of tolerance, citing the ideal of Quaker Philadelphia and using the dramatic backdrop of Independence Hall to encourage new immigrants to be brave, remember their heritage, and contribute all they can to their new nation.

The 78-year-old pontiff, smiling at the eruption of applause that greeted him, addressed thousands of people massed on the great green lawn of Independence Mall on Saturday. Many there carried both an abiding love of the pope and a memory of lands left behind.

The pope thanked those who, whatever their religion, defended "the dignity of God's gift of life in all its stages" and "the cause of the poor and the immigrant."

"All too often, those most in need of our help are unable to be heard," he said, speaking in Spanish. "You are their voice, and many of you have faithfully made their cry heard."

Many in the audience had originally come from lands in Asia, Europe, and South America, from nations including Honduras, South Korea, Mexico, and Peru, eager to hear a pontiff who has made migrants and immigrants a central theme of his papacy.

"I love him, and he says be proud of your tradition," said Yeun Jalee, 68, who stood stunned and still after the pontiff finished speaking.

She came to the United States from South Korea in 1990. Her daughters, she said, live the American Dream. One works in medicine, the other in finance.

The pope has spoken forcefully on immigration even as the issue grows ever more divisive in national politics, with Republican presidential candidates demanding the construction of new walls between the U.S. and its neighbors.

On the mall, several immigrants, both legal and undocumented, said the speech had extraordinary impact for two reasons: It was aimed partially at them, and delivered in Spanish.

"It was very powerful," said Andres Velasco, 48, a native of El Salvador who crossed illegally into the United States 12 years ago. The representative at the World Meeting of Families has documents that allow him to stay in the country.

Elfego Contreras, 30, of North Philadelphia, said he felt as if Pope Francis were speaking directly two him.

Jovanna Tapia, 60, a Peruvian immigrant who lives in Boston, said "I've never seen a person capable of saying what was said today. I never, never expected to hear someone say things so clearly and so easy to understand for a child or an elderly person, for anyone. And for any ear who doesn't want to hear."

The pope spoke at length on religious freedom, which he called "a fundamental right which shapes the way we interact socially and personally."

But some of his strongest language came near the end, on a concern shaped by his own life experience. The pope's father emigrated as a child with his family from Italy to Argentina after Mussolini came to power in the 1920s, part of a huge Italian migration to the country. Pope Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires in 1936.

In Washington last week, at a joint meeting of Congress, he challenged lawmakers to show compassion toward refugees trying to reach Europe - and those fleeing north from Mexico.

In the crowd on Independence Mall, the pope noted, were members of America's large Hispanic population as well as many recent immigrants.

"I greet all of you with particular affection!" he said, speaking at the same lectern from which Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address. "Many of you have emigrated to this country at great personal cost, but in the hope of building a new life.

"Do not be discouraged by whatever challenges and hardships you face. I ask you not to forget that, like those who came here before you, you bring many gifts to your new nation.

"You should never be ashamed of your traditions. Do not forget the lessons you learned from your elders, which are something you can bring to enrich the life of this American land."

Interrupted by applause at points, the pope told new immigrants they are "called to be responsible citizens, and to contribute fruitfully to the life of the communities in which you live."

The struggle of immigrants is so central to Pope Francis that he made his first official trip to the tiny Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, Italy, where hundreds have died while trying to cross the sea from North Africa.

On Saturday, he stood at the place where America began, looking out over a sea of people. They had begun arriving early. Entry was by ticket only, and only after crossing through fortresslike security.

Two who made it inside were Liam Scott and John Barbera, both 16 and both juniors at St. Joseph's Preparatory School. They helped coordinate the Philadelphia travel plans of 46 Jesuit schools from the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada.

About 350 students stayed at the school on Friday night, then walked to Independence Hall on Saturday, each group belting out its school fight song on the way.

One West Philadelphia family, originally from Honduras, arrived on the mall at 4 a.m. Marta Romero, 63, came here from Honduras to join her family in seeing the pope.

"It's a great wish of mine to meet him," she said in Spanish.

Even if she didn't get to shake his hand, she said, it would be fabulous "just being in his presence."

Romero is a homemaker in Honduras whose six children made their way to the U.S. - and who likes that the pope speaks out on immigration.

The program began at 12:30 p.m., offering an eclectic mix of salsa music, African drumming, children's choirs, Chinese dancers.

One speaker, who is deaf, recounted hardships in China, where support for the disabled lags behind that in the U.S. A woman from Sudan told of horrors she endured in a prison, where she had been sentenced to death for adultery.

Five people from different parts of the world read aloud the Declaration of Independence, drawing cheers at the line "All men are created equal."

New York City resident Sandra Bernate, a Colombian immigrant who has lived in the U.S. for 13 years, thought she had missed her chance to see Francis. But then her brother in Philadelphia won tickets through a parish lottery.

"God opened the path to Philadelphia," Bernate, 44, said in Spanish.

Mariola Strand of Lambertville and Lisa Chmelko of Philadelphia held prized assigned seats close to the stage - but gave them away, to a Ukrainian singer and her mother.

"We thought someone who is performing here should get a seat," said Chmelko, a first-generation American of Ukrainian parents.

They found a less close, less comfortable seat elsewhere.

Strand, 56, said she came alone to the United States from Poland when she was 19, with $5 in her pocket. She landed in Baltimore, worked in a factory, got married, became a citizen.

"I built a beautiful life," she said.

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215-854-4906 @JeffGammage