Crowds gather on the west side of the U.S. Capitol to catch a glimpse of Pope Francis as he prepared to address a joint meeting of Congress in Washington, Sept. 24. (CNS photo/Mary F. Calvert, Reuters)
Seeing the pope is probably on the bucket list of every Catholic. So when Pope Francis finally made it to D.C., the city was buzzing with excitement. But while his visit was for official business, the address to Congress and the canonization of Junipero Serra, the younger generations that live beyond the political Washington felt the impact of his presence.
Social media captured our generation’s experience with having the pope in our city. Snapchat, the video app, was on top of their pope coverage with Geofilters (a sticker that only shows up within a certain area) depicting the Holy Father in the popemobile with the caption “they see me rolling.” Each day the app updated its Washington story, connecting those who were stuck at work or school to the frenzy of excitement when he drove past in his Fiat. My school even assigned a hashtag — #hoyaswithfrancis — that they encouraged students to use when posting photos from any of the papal events.
For me, the best way to describe having the pope in D.C. is this: a whirlwind.
The winds started stirring before the pope even made it to U.S. soil. Talk of the big visit was everywhere. People back home asked if I’d be going to Philadelphia. Someone called just with advice to stay out of crowds. At school there were rumors going around about whether or not the pope would surprise us on campus. People started plotting how to get the best pope selfie. My friends even got a cardboard cutout of the pope.
Those winds picked up big time when I realized school doesn’t stop for the pope. One of the emails from the school about the big pope week was a reminder: Yes, classes are still going on as planned. Attending a papal event wasn’t an excuse not to finish the readings for class. Fortunately, most professors understood the incredible opportunity this was, and let people leave class without impacting their grades.
The most hectic part was realizing I could go to the pope’s congressional address. Getting the ticket was as spontaneous as Pope Francis is known to be, but I guess that’s just how God likes to mix things up. I was walking back from class, when my friend offered me a ticket to watch the address on the big screen on the Capitol’s west lawn with thousands of others. I thought the event had already been filled. I had two choices: skip class and be a little tired the next day or miss out on seeing the Holy Father speak. Skipping class is a headache for the Georgetown overachiever — What will I miss? Will my professor hate me forever? Where will I get my notes? — but when it really came down to it, it wasn’t a hard choice to make.
Then came the eye of the storm: waking up early to see Pope Francis speak. Five a.m. looks and feels just like midnight, except it’s harder to get ready without worrying about waking up your roommates. The September chill had decided to make an early appearance that week as well. But that didn’t deter my two friends and me from talking non-stop about all the things that Pope Francis could say in the upcoming historical address. I’m pretty sure our Uber driver heard “I AM SO EXCITED!” about 10 times in the 15-minute car ride.
My little Catholic heart swelled when we made it to Capitol Hill. The dome glittered in the distance. On each lamp post hung three flags: the flag of the District of Columbia on the right, the flag of the United States on the left, and the Vatican flag right in the middle. The lawn stretched down the hill, with the screens projecting a very happy pope back to the waiting crowd.
It’s hard to describe seeing the pope finally arrive at Congress. See the church’s leader walk through the historic hallways of our legislative body was thrilling. Hearing the crowd cheer as he was introduced to Congress was exhilarating. But hearing him say, “I am most grateful for the invitation to address this joint session of Congress in the land of the free and the home of the brave,” moved me to tears. Here was my Papa Francis, in heart of D.C., reminding everyone of how good our country is and how great it could be if we would only act on our democratic principles. Here he was lifting up the men and women whom others in America degrade for being corrupt, challenging them to fulfill their roles with morality and honor. Here he was bringing idealism and faith back to our great nation with solutions to put into action.
Pope Francis, the leader of the Vatican, made me proud to be an American.
Gabriella Muñoz is a sophomore at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. She is from Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Pearl City and was valedictorian for Mililani High School’s class of 2014.
