Pope Francis Back On His Feet.

Upon returning to his plane in New York's John F Kennedy airport en route to Philadelphia, Pope Francis appeared to have a small amount of difficulty with either his vestments or sciatica/and a bad knee. During a day of high wind, hestumbled twice when going up the steps after having descended the plane without a hitch in order to greet supporters and local officials.Pope Francis Back On His Feet
Was it the cold which made Pope Francis more susceptible to stumbling? The airline staircase railing appeared to be metal, and it is known that knee troubles and sciatica can be exacerbated by cold conditions. Whatever the reason, at 78 Pope Francis cut a slim and powerful figure as he walked among the crowds greeting colleagues and statesmen alikePope Francis recently visited several parts of the United States. He was in New York for a day and a half, where he performed the Evening Prayer (Vespers) at St. Patrick's Cathedral on September 24, followed by an 8:30am visit to the United Nations where he gave an address to the United Nations General Assembly. There he talked about a number of widespread issues such as the current Immigrant/Refugee struggles, inequality, climate change, and issues of the poor.Pope Francis Back On His Feet
Next he took part in a Multi-religious service at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum located near the World Trade Centre. After a 4PM visit to Our Lady Queen of Angels School in East Harlem, Pope Francis was off to perform a mass at the huge Madison Square Garden.
We would also probably stumble after such a busy schedule! In Philadelphia, Pope Francis went to a World Meeting of Families which was the final stage in his visit to the United States. Part of his accompanying delegation in Philadelphia included Monsignor Charles J. Chaput. After a Eucharistic celebration dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul at Basilica Cathedral, Pope Francis and some of the bishops, priests, and other religious clergy of Pennsylvania attended festivities at Independence Historical Park.On the Sunday of his tour, Pope Francis met with prisoners from the local penitentiary before returning to Italy. He mentioned to a Vatican Radio Monsignor named Vincenzo Straw that his Meeting of the Families part of the tour may be how he begins the synod which opens 4 October at the Vatican. He was also heard to give praise to the enthusiasm of the people of Philadelphia, calling it overwhelming to the synod of Rome and the world. Pope Francis Back On His Feet
The pope travels by plane, chartering flights for longer travel because the Vatican does not own any private airplanes. For the US/Cuba tour, he flew on a private AirItalia Airbus A330-200. AirItalia is the official flag carrier for the country Italy. On this aircraft, the pope has one row in Business Class for himself, and the various heads of secretariats sit behind him in some of the 20 business-class seats. Economy class has 263 coach seats, and over 200 of the journalists accommodated there have paid for their own tickets.Unlike what you might imagine, the plane is a standard aircraft that commercial travelers would use. No office, conference room, special features, couches, or other extras. Part of what Pope Francis enjoys is the interaction with the journalists on the plane. He likes to walk down to the coach cabin to do a blessing, shake hands, and answer questions.Pope Francis Back On His Feet
Journalists on board a plane with the pope may be able to ask from 3 to 12 questions at a time. The Pope's message is the important news story about his visit to the US and his return to Rome. Anyone can stumble; Pope Francis shows us how to get back up again.
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