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Pope Francis in America: Pope's Motorcade En Route to Airport. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired September 27, 2015 - 18:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


[18:00:00] FATHER THOMAS ROSICA, MEDIA ATTACHE OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS AT THE VATICAN: First of all, we would not have of Pope Francis today unless we had Pope Benedict, who opened the door to such a phenomenon and such a gift. Secondly, the resignation of Benedict really broke new history and started a whole new trajectory for the church.

When the cardinals gathered together for those days before the conclave, I was there, I was the spokesperson, I was in the midst of it all. And something that I noticed that was absolutely essential which cause this Pope Francis to be elected was there was no funeral.

People were not in mourning, they were not comparing to a deceased pope, they were not caught up in all the Italian grief that normally takes place. They look forward to the future and said, what are the greatest challenges that are needed?

And I remember those days of those cardinals meetings when they got up in the upper room, the meetings were supposed to be secret but there were still some leaks coming out.

It was the Friday, I think it was March 7th, when the archbishop of Buenos Aires got up to speak. Very simply and he said, there are four or five things that are needed in the church right now -- spoke with his normal, humble small voice. And he said, "The first thing is we need a church that proclaims joy. We're in the midst of a lot of sadness and crises, and the gospel is ultimately joy."

And he talked about, "We need a church that's not afraid to go out." He said, "When the church is stuck inside herself, she's like a smelly room, a woman that's bent over in the scriptures and she can't get up." And he said, Cardinal Bergoglio says, "You know, a lot of times, we Catholics think that we see Jesus at the door knocking and trying to get in and we're the ones who are supposed to open it. But really, the problem is, Jesus is inside and we won't let him out and we need to go out and let him out. And the last thing is evangelization is joy, the new hope should be a minister and bringer of joy."

I can tell you when many cardinals came out of that Friday session, I saw them later in the evening. How did the meetings go?

Whoa. A voice was sounded in that room which didn't speak of scandal and crisis, although the person was very aware of it. Didn't speak of all the messes and financial and sex scandals and whatever, it was pointed to the future and it spoke about joy, it spoke about selflessness, it spoke about connecting with the world, and it spoke about a new path forward.

All of that together with the Holy Spirit and the intelligence of the cardinals gave us the man who presided at today's mass.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And, Father, as a lapsed Catholic, which I was for a very long time, that message of joy resonated with me, because for the first time in a very long time, I looked upon my religion as a beautiful religion that meant beautiful things instead of, always, you know, I always felt so guilt-laden about everything.

And it just seemed that the priest and the bishops were talking about everything I was doing wrong but nothing about what I was doing right. And I think Pope Francis points to that and it's so meaningful.

ROSICA: You know, when he speaks about joy, he's not denying all of the realities of sin and darkness and sadness, but what he's saying is God made us to love and this morning when he addressed the bishops at St. Charles ceremony, another truly magnificent address. What he's doing with these addresses to priests and bishops is giving us a new whole way to be priests and shepherds and pastors.

This morning, there were two points. Bishops, your first job is to pray, your second job is to preach. And he said the language you use, you can't be speaking about the past all the time and shoving the past in young people's faces. Oh, it was really good back then.

Look at people where they are. See the seeds of goodness and invite them to be something more.

This is a pope who is buoyed up by hope, realism and he loves human beings.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: If you are just joining us, we're so glad you're with us. I'm Poppy Harlow here with my friend Carol Costello as we cap off a momentous trip for Pope Francis to America with a beautiful mass on a beautiful evening here in Philadelphia. It is just past 6:00 in the evening and there's just one of about a million smiles that we have been watching.

We want to hear from you. So, we want to know the three words that you would use to describe the pope, #PopeIn3Words. Go to Twitter. Let us know so far.

The top three most popular terms: humble, compassionate and inspiring.

On that note, I think we want to go to Miguel Marquez. Is Miguel with us?

All right. We don't have Miguel yet. But, Carol, to you --

COSTELLO: He's lost in the crowd.

HARLOW: He's lost in the crowd. COSTELLO: Truly almost a million people did show up for this mass.

In fact, the lines were so long at security throughout the city, some people gave up and walked away.

It's like, oh, no, don't do that. Because actually the pope, when he was in his Popemobile today, right, he was there in a long time. He took his time along the parade route.

[18:05:02] So, a lot of people got to see him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, yes, and he's got to stop at the church and see the little prayer flags that were hanging down that they'd been preparing for quite some time on little slips of cloth, the white slips of cloth, a kind of spear of prayer. That was nice he was able to stop there because that's something the people of Philadelphia had been working on.

HARLOW: Do you have -- I still don't have my three words. I've been mulling them over. Do you have your pope in three words, Carol?

COSTELLO: Oh, gosh, I would just say love because there's so much hate in the world today. There's so much hate speech. And Pope Francis speaks in a way that -- you know, Jesus had a simple message and I'm sorry, Father, I'm just going to say it. Jesus just want us to love one another.

ROSICA: You're right.

COSTELLO: And it's is simple, right? And we don't think of it that way.

Pope Francis brought that to the forefront. So, I would say my word would be love.

HARLOW: Carol was talking about -- you were talking about, Carol, feeling that as a lapsed Catholic, you could come back to the fold because for the first time in a long time you didn't feel like everything you were doing was wrong, you felt like there was so much you were doing that was right and so encouraging.

COSTELLO: I just thought there were so many rules, right? And if I broke one rule, no matter how small I would be kicked out of the church. I interviewed Cardinal Lacroix, the archbishop of Quebec, and I talked to him about what Pope Francis, you know, what his words meant. And I must say, Cardinal Lacroix opened my eyes.

So, you know, I'm lucky to be able to interview such wonderful people, right?

ROSICA: He's from Canada. He's a great guy.

COSTELLO: He's a great guy. Is it the correct terminology that the pope -- he was one of the pope's first appointees as cardinal?

ROSICA: Not only is he the archbishop of Quebec and the primate of Canada, he's very much like Pope Francis in Canada, born in the United States, French Canadian, speaks English, Spanish, French, and he's -- you look at Cardinal Lacroix, and you think of joy, you think of happiness. You see the scene this morning in St. Charles Chapel of the two of them together. A lot of people wrote in, yes, right, that's our cardinal. And we're blessed in Canada with very good cardinals.

Cardinal Lacroix --

COSTELLO: He's 51 years old. He's very young.

ROSICA: A little older, but he's not 60 yet but he's full of life.

HARLOW: Tell us more about that, Carol, because I know that meeting had a profound effect on you. But you also told me this is the cardinal that Pope Francis wanted and needed and sort of the future of the church.

COSTELLO: Right. I believe that this is the kind of leader that Pope Francis wants in the church, leaders like Cardinal Lacroix who is able to speak optimistically, who is able to -- you know, we're all sinners but he's able to tell us that in a way that we can think to ourselves, well, of course, I'm a sinner but I can be forgiven and there is hope for me. And I think Cardinal Lacroix is a people that has that talent, not many people do.

ROSICA: Cardinal Lacroix embodies what the pope said this morning about the role of bishops. The cardinal has parisia, the pope uses all the time, boldness and courage but all of that with joy. And he's able to recognize and Cardinal Lacroix has every reason to bemoan the sadness or all the difficulties of the church in French Canada, but he chooses not to. He invites people to believe and to hope.

When you give people belief and hope and joy, you would be surprised at the miracles that will come. There's a little story that we have to tell our viewers, that where the pope has visited these different countries, he can't leave the country without visiting the Jesuit institution.

And so, today, there was a little surprise before he came here. He went to St. Joseph's university here, a Jesuit school, visited -- they have a sculpture on the campus that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Nostra Aetate, the famous document of the Second Vatican Council about the church's relationship with other religions, then he went to see his Jesuit brothers in the Jesuit infirmary on the campus.

So, he kind of closed the loop and went among them, a Jesuit among Jesuits, except he comes to them in quite a different form.

COSTELLO: Well, I also think it's important that we went to a Jesuit institution, a Jesuit university, because for them, that represents his embrace of academic freedom and intellectualism. And that's what many university presidents are yearning for these days.

ROSICA: What would the United States Catholic church be without the outstanding Jesuit universities from --

COSTELLO: We're talking about Georgetown, Loyola Marymount University, Loyola Baltimore.

ROSICA: Yes.

HARLOW: Absolutely.

All right. As you see, the camera panning there looking at all of these crowds who are departing, who are now leaving the final mass of the pope's visit to the United States and bringing with them home to their families wherever in the world they're going, his message of love and hope.

We are going to take a quick break. Back on the other side, we'll be joined by Miguel Marquez who is amongst them.

[18:10:01] Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HARLOW: Welcome back. We are live in Philadelphia. I'm Poppy Harlow with my friend Carol Costello.

We are so glad you are with us. What a week it has been.

Pope Francis's first trip to America and, by all accounts, it was a resounding success. He heads now to the airport where he will meet with Vice President Joe Biden, as all of these people, nearly a million of them, go home to their 100 different respective countries and bring back the message that we heard this week from the pontiff.

Let's go to straight to Miguel Marquez. He's live among ht crowds.

Clearly, the best assignment of the day, my friend. What are they saying?

MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it was certainly a lot of people today. When the pope said he wanted people to get close, I didn't realize he meant it literally. It was just -- it was a throng of people. I think some of the frustration out of Philadelphia will be that even once the mass started, there were still tens of thousands of people trying to get through the security barriers in order to get to an area where they could actually watch even on the JumboTrons just the service take place.

I want to introduce you to some friends from Paris -- Paris, Kentucky. This is Jennifer Fry, the mother of this giant family here.

You have been here all week for the festival?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, we just drove in Friday night. Got here about 2:00 a.m. and we were just here for yesterday and today.

MARQUEZ: So, you're pope roadies?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, pope roadies.

MARQUEZ: And how was it? Why, why, why bring all these people up here to see this pope? What is it about this man that moved you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just love the pope.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's our Holy Father.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's our Holy Father. We just wanted to have the opportunity to get to be close to him.

MARQUEZ: But clearly, the Catholic Church has had problems in the past. He's addressed that during his very first mass, talking about the victim of sexual abuse and how those that are responsible will be held responsible.

[18:15:01] Is there something different and more magnetic about this guy?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's just a very holy man. I think he is -- he's trying to bring everyone together, I think. You kind of caught -- he's a people person. You kind of caught me off guard a little bit.

MARQUEZ: That's what I do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we just love Pope Francis and we just love what he's doing to bring everybody together. And you know, it's the year of mercy.

MARQUEZ: You were not able to get into the area to see it today, in the area where you could see the pope today. But you were yesterday. What was it like to lay eyes on that pope?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was awesome!

How was it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Indescribable.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We loved it. We loved it. It was our highlight of the trip, except for you and the mass.

MARQUEZ: And now back to -- and the mass, you had the view from here where you could catch it all?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We did. But we got to see it. We had the translation, when he was speaking in Spanish. And so that was very, very moving to be able to understand and read what he was saying to us.

MARQUEZ: All right, happy travels back to Paris, Kentucky. Back to you guys. A lot of you feel very, very happy. Some

frustration about being able to get through security, though, but overall, a pretty darn good trip by the pope.

Back to you.

COSTELLO: She was so excited she could hardly speak. Thanks, Miguel Marquez.

I want to bring in -- actually, the pope's motorcade just started. As you said, he's en route to the airport. Vice President Joe Biden will be there. I'm sure they'll trade some private words about Joe Biden's loss of his son.

HARLOW: And Joe Biden is a deep believer, a practicing Catholic. I was wondering if he was going to be here. I don't believe so. Too much security concerns.

Can you imagine the pope and the vice president?

COSTELLO: No, I can't imagine. I think we would have noticed, too.

HARLOW: They'll speak about that. You can imagine just a moment for anyone, for any human to be able to meet the pope, what it would like.

COSTELLO: I'm sure very comforting for Vice President Biden.

With us now, Senator Bob Casey. Thank you so much for being here.

SEN. BOB CASEY (D), PENNSYLVANIA: Glad to be with you.

COSTELLO: So, where were you in the crowd?

CASEY: I was actually in the first row. I was pretty lucky.

COSTELLO: Get out.

HARLOW: Wow.

COSTELLO: So what was that like?

CASEY: Well, I usually don't sit in the first row in church.

COSTELLO: You sit in the back?

CASEY: I was about three hours early this time. No, it was a great thrill.

And there were people in the row with us that were not Catholic. So we had Catholics and non-Catholics. And this pope, I think, has inspired people of all faiths. And so, the person from Kentucky just said, brings people together in ways that are extraordinary.

COSTELLO: One of the readings in church, I really liked, came from James and I'm just going to read a bit of it.

HARLOW: Please.

COSTELLO: Because I think it's telling and the pope wanted this particular reading to be read at mass.

"Come now, you rich, weep and wail over your impending miseries. Your wealth has rotted away, your cloth has become moth-eaten, your gold and silver have corroded, and that corrosion will be a testimony against. It will devour your flesh like a fire. You have stored up treasure for the last days."

What this is talking about, right, is the rich not being generous to the poor. If you're lucky enough to have riches in your life, you should give to the poor. And if you don't, there will be consequences. Did that strike you?

CASEY: It did strike me. I think the pope may use words different than that, but his message is unmistakable. I thought his message to me as a member of Congress and the rest of the people in both parties is you've got to work together and, as he said, cooperate for the common good.

And I think for the country, he's urging us to do everything we can for people that don't have what we have. And in so many ways, he kind of bypasses the powerful to get to the powerless and help them.

HARLOW: We saw after his address to Congress, he didn't go to a big fancy lunch.

CASEY: Right.

HARLOW: With members of Congress. He went to eat a sandwich with the homeless, with those who need him most.

Let me ask you this, you, I understand have been to every event pretty much along the way here.

CASEY: Except in New York. Most of the Philadelphia events, most of the Washington events.

HARLOW: You went to a Catholic university. You worked with the Jesuit volunteer corps, to you, what stood out most to you? And what will you bring back to Congress? Because his message of unity is something that could be used certainly a lot right now in Congress.

CASEY: I think the message he gave us was clear and unmistakable. He said, you're a great institution and great country. You've solved big problems before. Now you've got problems again and you've got to cooperate.

And really in one sentence, five words: cooperate for the common good. You can't escape that if you're a member of Congress. You can't argue against that, you can't absolve yourself of responsibility.

So, no matter who you are, you've got --

COSTELLO: You can't argue against it, but actually doing it is another thing.

CASEY: We're going to have to remind each other what he said --

[18:20:00] COSTELLO: How are you going to do that?

CASEY: Well, look, there are times when even in conflict you have to reach a decision. It would be good to remember those words of the Holy Father, Catholic or non-Catholic, Democrat or Republican.

COSTELLO: I hate to bring this up but we have to talk politics a bit because the house speaker John Boehner will step down at the end of October. Part of the reason was with the pope. He thought he could do better things outside of Congress.

But a lot of people think that his replacement will make things worse, that cooperation, what little there is now will fly out the window.

CASEY: Well, even on a day like today when we're inspired and we're serenaded by the Philadelphia Orchestra, as wonderful as that is, I worry about what happened in the House is a more substantial manifestation that an extreme group is in control of one political party. And I worry about that. We hope it doesn't play out that way, but I'm concerned.

COSTELLO: What's your biggest concern? A government shutdown, perhaps?

CASEY: I think it's highly likely we can avert that now, but remains to be seen whether December becomes another cliff-hanger, but let's not talk about that today.

HARLOW: You were there when he addressed Congress. So did you get the sense -- because we -- watching on television, you could sort of see it on members of Congress' face, how impacted they seemed.

I know you're not totally hopeful, but do you think this pope's message whether members of Congress agree with all of it or not, will have a lasting impact an all of you and your colleagues on the other side of the aisle?

CASEY: I think it will not only because of the simple message about cooperating for the common good, but the way that both parties in unison, really unanimity standing up and affirming what he was saying.

Now, we're going to need reminders and we're going to have to figure out ways to sustain that, but I think his impact will be substantial over time, but I don't think anyone expected him to persuade some of to change their position on an issue. But I think it's a very direct message to us that we've got work to do and it reminded us of our obligation as public servants. He's the ultimate servant. And we should draw inspiration from this.

COSTELLO: OK, let's talk about his visit in totality. He still has one more stop to make at the airport. Then give a speech on the plane back to Rome. But what was the most outstanding moment in your mind since you've been to all these events? CASEY: Well, probably the -- and not ones that I was present for

personally. But probably the way he went out of his way to connect with children. That is very powerful, to the point where it's not as if he has a lookout person to say, there's someone I should go minister to or connect with. He tends to do it himself even though he has people helping him.

It's remarkable. And sometimes people bring their children who are facing incredible health challenges, and just that kind of person-to- person touch that he provides is so powerful. And it has an authenticity which no leader in the world I think can manage.

HARLOW: We want to let I know before you go, your three words for the pope. We have a hashtag on Twitter, it was the top trending hashtag last night during his beautiful remarks to people here, #PopeIn3words.

So, for you, Senator, what are they?

CASEY: The message from the pope?

HARLOW: The three words you would use to describe Pope Francis.

CASEY: Well, servant leader is certainly a way to describe his ministry. I'm not sure I have a third word.

COSTELLO: See, I can only think of one. I said love.

HARLOW: Together you have three, so there we go.

CASEY: That works.

HARLOW: The three words, servant, leader and love. I think those are great ways to describe Pope Francis. We thank you, Senator. Thank you for coming on very much.

CASEY: Great to be with you.

HARLOW: So happy for the great city of Philadelphia and your state that they got to experience.

CASEY: We're pretty happy today, thank you.

HARLOW: We are going to get a quick break in because the pope is just moments away from arriving at the airport where he'll meet with the vice president. We will bring you there live. Stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:23:04] HARLOW: Welcome back to our continuing live coverage from Philadelphia. I'm Poppy Harlow, along with Carol Costello, in Philadelphia.

You are looking at the motorcade, the pontiff's motorcade as he heads to the airport. We're told he's just about five or so minutes away from the airport at this point in time where he'll meet with Vice President Joe Biden. As we await that, we have some very special guests to bring you here.

COSTELLO: Very, very special guests.

This is a Syrian family, one of five Syrian families invited by Pope Francis to be here today. I'd like to introduce you to Riad, Ramba (ph), 14-year-old Lila (ph), and 5-year-old twins Elias and Michael, who's birthday it is today.

So, happy birthday guys.

So, Ramba, you're invited by the pope the o be here today. How did you get the invitation? How did the pope invite you?

Let's ask Riad. Yes, it's live.

HARLOW: That's OK. We can have your answer.

COSTELLO: We can. So, Riad, tell me what that was like to have the pope invite you?

RIAD SARGI, TRAVELED FROM SYRIA TO SEE POPE: That experience with the pope?

COSTELLO: Uh-huh.

SARGI: Yes, the pope is an excellent person. I learned from him a lot. He is the Holy Father, the pope, but he's very humble and speaks with everybody, speak with children, speak with poor people. And he makes every day -- a lot of things for poor people, for children, as a father to them.

COSTELLO: And you're a father who is going through -- your country's going through some difficult times right now. So what was being in the presence of the pope, does that make it a little easier? Probably not.

SARGI: I met also the pope two years ago and I asked him to do everything possible to find a solution for the war in Syria, because this is really unbelievable war. We are all in fear. We live under the bombs, under the mortar shells, under the rockets. And some of the families have lost the ability to endure this situation in Syria.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

SERGI: And some of them left Syria by sea and that -- and sea as you know from the news. Really the situation is very terrible. And we ask the Pope today also to do everything possible. And should all the people, all the governments all over the world should find a solution. We have to -- we cannot --

(CROSSTALK)

SERGI: this is enough for us. This is enough.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: And to that point, maybe you could hand the microphone to your daughter, Leila, there in -- Leila, you're 14 years old.

LEILA, DAUGHTER: Yes.

HARLOW: And I wonder as your home country, your beautiful country goes through such a difficult time and as your father brought up the migrant crisis, this Pope has called on all of us, in fact, he has taken in migrant families, I believe, two to the Vatican. What is the message that you are left with as you heard from him today especially considering his call for mercy and help to those most in need from your country?

LEILA: I just want him to pray for Syria. And -- yes, do his best.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And Riad, I just wanted to ask you one more question about those other religions living in Syria and how difficult that is with the terrorists there and I'm talking about ISIS. What's it like?

SERGI: Everybody in Syria that they've literally surrounded the cities and sent rockets over the city every day. And here we are. This situation is very difficult, this situation is very complicated. A lot of countries all over the world interfere in this dirty war. This is really a dirty war. They -- the government send the weapons to everybody and everybody can kill everybody. And had is a big mess. We have to -- I mean, we ask our God, maybe he can find a solution for us.

HARLOW: Yes.

COSTELLO: Thank you all very much for being with us. And I'm glad you got to come here. I'm glad you got to see the Pope. And happy birthday, Elias and Michael.

HARLOW: Happy birthday.

COSTELLO: Fascinated with the lights.

HARLOW: I know. TV studios are kind of fun. We do want to take a quick listen now into this live event. So let's listen in.

ARCHBISHOP CHARLES CHAPUT, ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA: Governor and Mrs. Wolf, Mayor and Mrs. Nutter, and friends. On the Parkway a few minutes ago I mentioned this has been an extraordinary week for the people of Philadelphia. But it's been equally important for those of you who are gathered here this evening from around the world and from the United States.

None of this could have happened without the truly heroic efforts of Bishop John McIntyre, one of my auxiliary bishops. Mr. Bob Ciaruffoli, the president of the World Meeting of Families, Mrs. Donna Crilley Farrell, the executive director of the World Meeting of Families, the leadership of the co-chairs and committees of the World Meeting of Families, Archbishop Paglia and his great and generous staff; and the work of so many others.

Please keep them and all of us in your prayers. We especially ask you, Holy Father, to bless these wonderful people who made the event happened. We want you to know once again that the hearts of the people of the city of brotherly love are with you. We hate to see you leave. We're so grateful that you came to our home, Philadelphia.

(APPLAUSE)

POPE FRANCIS, CATHOLIC CHURCH LEADER: Distinguished authorities, family of bishops, dear friends. My days with you have been brief, but they have been days of great grace for me, and I pray for you, too.

[18:35:09] Please now trust that as I prepare to leave, I do so with a heart full of gratitude and hope. I'm grateful to all of you and to the many others who worked so hard to make my visit possible and to prepare for the World Meeting of Families. In a particular way I thank the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the civil authorities, the organizers, and all the many volunteers and benefactors who assisted in ways large and small.

(APPLAUSE)

I also thank the families who shared the witness during the meeting. It is not so easy to speak openly of one's life journey. But their honesty and humanity before the Lord and each of us showed the beauty of family life in all its richness and diversity. I pray that our days of prayer and reflection on the importance of the family for a healthy society will inspire families to continue to strive for holiness and to see the Church as their constant companion, whatever the challenges they may face.

At the end of my visit, I would also like to thank all those who prepared for my stay in the Archdioceses of Washington and New York. It was particularly moving for me to canonize Saint Junipero Serra, who reminds us all of our call to be missionary disciples, and I was also very moved to stand with my brothers and sisters of other religions at Ground Zero, that place which speaks so powerfully of the mystery of evil. Yet we know with certainty that evil never has the last word.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

And that, in God's merciful plan, love and peace triumph over all.

Mr. Vice President, I ask you to renew my gratitude to President Obama and to the Members of Congress, together with assurance of my prayers for the American people. This land has been blessed with tremendous gifts and opportunities. I pray that you may be all be good and generous stewards of the human and material resources entrusted to you.

I thank the Lord that I was able to witness the faith of God's people in this country as manifest in our moments of prayer together and evidenced in so many works of charity. Jesus says in the scriptures, "Truly I say to you, as you did to one of the least of my brethren, you did it to me." [18:40:19] Your care for me and your generous welcome are a sign of

your love for Jesus and for your faithfulness to him. So too is your care for the poor, the sick, the homeless and the immigrant, your defense of life at every stage, and your concern for family life.

(APPLAUSE)

In all of this, you recognize that Jesus is in your midst and that your care for one another is care for Jesus himself.

As I leave I ask all of you, especially the volunteers and benefactors who assisted with the World Meeting of Families, do not let your enthusiasm for Jesus, his Church, our families, and the broader family of society run dry. May our days together bear fruits that will last, generosity and care for others that will endure. Just as we have received so much from God, gifts freely given us, and not of our own making, so let us freely give to others in return.

Dear friends, I embrace all of you in the Lord, and I entrust you to the maternal care of Mary Magdalene, patroness of the United States. I will pray for you and your families. And I ask you please to pray for me. May God bless you all. God bless America.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

HARLOW: And there you have it, perhaps the final words, Carol Costello, that we will hear from Pope Francis on this first historic visit to the United States. Resounding applause when he said, "God bless America."

COSTELLO: God bless America. I know you saw the Vice President Joe Biden, along with his wife Jill. His son Hunter was standing behind him.

Let's listen to this or watch.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

COSTELLO: He blessed the crowd. A lovely gesture. We're just waiting to see if the vice president will walk on to the stage to say a few remarks. We don't know that he will. It doesn't appear that he will. But after the Pope leaves this -- after he leaves this hangar, we expect him to get on board his plane. It's an American Airlines plane named Shepherd One.

HARLOW: I love that name.

COSTELLO: I love that, too. Rosa Flores, a CNN correspondent, will be on that flight with him as he travels back to Rome. And she'll be off the plane in the morning on "NEW DAY." Bright and early to tell us what happened aboard that plane.

HARLOW: Well, last time she got on the papal plane, she got blessed. So how can you top that on the trip back?

I'm Poppy Harlow in Philadelphia, along with Carol Costello. If you're just joining us, the Pope wrapping up a momentous historic and I would say incredibly successful trip to the United States. Three cities, you know, 20-odd celebrations. And to bring in our guests for some analysis here as we wait for potentially that meeting with the vice president, Bruce Feiler with us, also Father James Martin.

[18:45:05] To you first, Father, your take-away from the week that was.

FATHER JAMES MARTIN SJ, EDITOR AT LARGE, AMERICA MAGAZINE: I think you're right, it's a triumph. I was just -- you know, I'm very grateful that everything went well. My sort of primary emotion is that gratitude over how he was able to connect with each different group of people. He was able to connect with children, with the imprisoned, with Congress, with, you know, the United Nations and there's a line from the "Gospel of Mark" they talk about Jesus. They say he does all things well. And somehow this man is able to connect with all sorts of different people. And that really touched me.

COSTELLO: How do you think this resonated, Bruce, with young Catholics?

BRUCE FEILER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I was -- first of all, it's nice to be here. I think that this feels to me like a very American moment. And by that I mean not just North American but South American and the relationship between South America and North America. And I think if you are a young person and you are a Hispanic of descent or a -- you know, a newcomer to this country, I think that that audience will deeply connect to this. And we know that half of Catholics under 30 today are, in fact, Hispanic. That talks about the change that we have seen.

So I think that this is sort of a turning of the page. And he really has the opportunity from my mind, I think of him as the first Pope of the 21st century. That we had John Paul II getting quite ill in the late 1990s, Benedict to my mind a caretaker and a deeply intelligent man but not loved or charismatic.

He seems to understand. He's the Pope of the 99 percent. He's the Pope of the immigrant. He's the Pope of social media even though he doesn't do it himself. He seems to understand the power of the --

COSTELLO: He does have a Twitter feed.

FEILER: Yes, he does. And he has one in Latin, too, which is actually run by an American named Dan Gallagher. He just understands the power of the gesture and how that echoes in social media.

COSTELLO: Well, Father Martin, I bring up young Catholics because, you know, I've done a lot of stories about young women in the Catholic Church. Only 16 percent of young women, young American women between 18 and 29, consider themselves Catholic. Only 16 percent. And you have to attract women to the church. They're so very important. They raise the children, they teach their children to pray, they bring their children to church. The Pope has to recapture some of those young women, doesn't he? MARTIN: I think he does. And, you know, young people in general as

you're saying, I think there's a great sense that they really do love him. I mean, all the young people that I work with in high schools and college campuses especially love this guy. And that really does bring people back. You know, and as far as women goes, he has spoken about trying to put more and more women in leadership roles.

He's also spoken very clearly, as he did the other day, about the family and the importance of mothers and wives but also fathers and grandparents, and things like that. So he really does -- I think they're struggling with ways to incorporate women and particularly in leadership roles in the church.

HARLOW: So let's talk more about that because, Carol, you did a fascinating report in the weeks leading up to this pontiff's visit, about women in the church and frankly some of the things he said that seemed conflicting and confusing.

Let me read one of the quotes that we've heard from Pope Francis about women. Women in the church are more important than bishops and priests. Just like Mary is more important than the apostles.

COSTELLO: That was a good thing.

HARLOW: However -- that was a good thing. You also pointed out to me, only 17 percent of Vatican employees -- is that right?

COSTELLO: Yes.

HARLOW: Are women.

COSTELLO: Are women. And then he had some conflicting statements. I think he described women theologians as strawberries on the cake. And today's women consider themselves to be the cake.

MARTIN: No, exactly. And you know, I think I have to say, I don't normally say this about, you know, papal statements. But I think that was a mistranslation. What he meant was -- and I talk to some people who understood sort of Argentine Spanish. He meant they were kind of the glory of that sort of dessert, basically, and he was apparently very upset that it was mistranslated as kind of just sort of addendum. I think he's struggling with that, frankly.

I mean, he's your 79-year-old Argentine grandfather and he's struggling. But my sense is that he really does want things to change in terms of women, in terms of everybody. But as he said to a good friend of mine in terms of changing the church, and this is a quote, I can only do one thing at a time so I think he's trying his best to kind of sort of breathe new life in a different area and that scenario. But I think a lot of people would say, he still, you know, has some work to do.

HARLOW: And to be fair, Father Kesicki -- I just want to bring in Father Kesicki as well, from Washington, D.C. To you, yes, he can only do one thing at a time. Is it incumbent upon those who work with him to carry that out, to bring more women into work at the Vatican, to carrying this message forward and perhaps more young people?

FATHER TIMOTHY KESICKI SJ, PRESIDENT, JESUIT CONFERENCE: Well, he's clearly choosing the people he puts into leadership in the Vatican and he's surrounding himself not just in the Vatican but around the world with people who can advise him. One of the signature characteristics of Pope Francis is how he uses the telephone. He calls people around the world for advice. He shares his opinion. And that's how he's trying to build up the team that will help him in leading the church.

[18:50:11] He does have to work with the staff he has. He has to deal with the budgetary constraints in the Vatican. Many of the people who work in the Vatican are priests, and women, religious, because that's all that they can afford. And so he recognizes some of those very practical limitations and he is trying to really build a broad-based group of advisers, and those who can help work with him at bringing his vision to fruition.

COSTELLO: Go ahead.

FEILER: Yes, I just want to echo what 17 percent of women -- in leadership positions is 10 percent of women, and with all due respect to my distinguished pastoral colleagues that I'm on this panel with, I think that this was an enormous missed opportunity because I understand he's made a lot of gestures in this regard. I think this trip was a complete triumph, but I believe that this was a missed opportunity and I think on the issue of women this is a chance where his deeds have in no place -- or nowhere near live up to his words.

COSTELLO: But I will say --

FEILER: And why not do the gesture in America?

COSTELLO: Right. Right. But I will say he recognizes the power of America's nuns because the biggest applause line at St. Patrick's Cathedral was when he congratulates the nuns for their great work within the church.

FEILER: I was going to say that. And that's standing -- there was like a --

COSTELLO: A standing ovation.

FEILER: Standing ovation from them, where were they seated? In the back of the room. It was interesting. I was seated here yesterday with Christiane Amanpour and Anderson Cooper, and Christiane was in your spot, and we were watching this beautiful mass take place just up the parkway.

And, you know, we were talking about the fact that it was for the bishops, it was a leadership mass and it was entirely men in the room. And what is going on in the popular culture? That's what you have to put in the context of. This is the time of lean in. This is the time of sexual assault on college campuses. This is the time of online dating. This is what young women are doing in their daily lives.

COSTELLO: OK, so I will say one thing in support of the Pope, right? So for the first time in its 105-year history, U.S. Catholic Charities has a woman as its president, Sister Donna Markham. She's a powerful woman.

MARTIN: She's fantastic. Let me say one thing, he did not only support women religious, what he did was after several years of investigations which I thought were unreasonable of women religious communities in the Vatican, two investigations, he said three -- on three separate occasions, you know, I love you, move forward, be courageous, go ahead. So he's not only supporting them, he is in a sense ending that investigation and really raising them up.

So that took a lot of guts and that kind of statement I think was really heard by women religious and women in the United States.

HARLOW: Well, to Father Kesicki in Washington, D.C. I'm interested in the moment that surprised you most from this Pope on his -- to the United States. The moment that surprised me most was what I witnessed in person here last night when he didn't -- not read one word, not one word of the prepared remarks in his evening -- you know, after he met all those six families in his evening address, and sermon and blessing to the families. Was that he totally went off script and there were moments that some of my colleagues said that was the most inspiring moment of trip. For you, what was the most inspiring and surprising?

KESICKI: Well, I believe this Pope is what we call a practical theologian and what I saw last night at the festival of families was a classic example of that. A practical theologian has to take 2,000 years of tradition and make sense of it to a child and he told that wonderful story of the child who approached him and said, God created the universe, what did God do before he created the universe? And the Pope even laughed as if to say, that's a tough question. And then he answered, God loved.

And it's that kind of thinking, that kind of teaching, that really draws people in. He tries to help people to realize that, you know, the beauty of the faith isn't rocket science. Anyone can access it. And so seeing him last night share that story, the laughter that accompanied it was for me one of the most powerful moments that we could see right directly into the heart and soul of Pope Francis.

COSTELLO: You know what, there was another moving moment in my mind, is when he went on the balcony of the capitol and he was looking down on tens of thousands of people looking up at him. And he has the most beautiful smile, it's so joyful, and so happy, and the crowd just went absolutely wild. And he didn't even need to say a word. People just needed to see that smile.

FEILER: And that's what was so powerful that we saw, Poppy. I was privileged to be sitting here when that happened. He takes -- it's almost like he's ignited from being -- from a crowd and that was a spectacular moment. I would also like to highlight another moment that was perhaps less gleaming and more somber, but equally exquisite which was underneath Ground Zero.

HARLOW: Yes. [18:55:01] FEILER: In front of that retaining wall that weeps. They

call it the Weeping Wall. When we stood there with Jew and Christian and Hindu, and see and -- what is remarkable, as someone who's been very involved in their faith activities for many years now is the inner faith movement a century old has sputtered in part because religious leaders don't want to share their microphone. When they get the microphone they want to keep it to themselves to promote their own traditions and he shared it, he spent his cloud to assemble the convening power that he has to create that moment. That is the scar on American life in the last 15 years and he put a small balm on that scar. It was beautiful.

COSTELLO: Father Martin, it's your turn.

MARTIN: Well, you know, I would say it's a very strange little moment but when he was in the classroom in Harlem, all I could think of was this man has just addressed the United Nations. Usually you have someone who's very good in public and big speeches but the fact that he could connect with kids so well was so touching. There was a great moment where he was trying to work a smart screen and a little girl said, oh, holy father, you have to double click it here, and he seemed just delighted.

(LAUGHTER)

MARTIN: So just that very human touch that he has.

HARLOW: I had the chance last weekend on our show to interview one of the little boys who was going to meet the Pope, Jeffrey. And he told me -- Justin, I should say. And Justin told me, well, his parents told him to be on the best behavior. And then he said, and the Pope likes soccer a lot, just like I do. I mean, relatable to an 8-year- old, by way.

MARTIN: Well, you know what's great? I mean, it's an analogy to Jesus. Jesus is very accessible. It's God accessible, God is human. And the Pope shows us he's human. All right?

HARLOW: Yes.

MARTIN: And it's a way to appreciate him and sort of connect to him and also connect to God.

HARLOW: All right. We are going to get a quick break in, Father Martin, Bruce Feiler, thank you.

Carol and I will be here when we come back -- quick break. When we come back, we're waiting for the pontiff to meet with the vice president. Stay with us. Live coverage from Philadelphia.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:00:06] COSTELLO: All right. You're looking live at the Philadelphia International Airport. Welcome back. I'm Carol Costello, along with Poppy Harlow. And that Pope is in that motorcade. We believe he's driving --