Seeing Pope Francis for 10 seconds outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception was worth the commitment of an entire day for Jimmy Carroll, a Marymount University junior from Alexandria.
“It was incredible,” said Carroll, who was in a group of 45 Marymount students with tickets to the Mass on Wednesday, Sept. 23, attended by more than 20,000 people on the grounds of the basilica, located at the Catholic University of America.
“We couldn’t see anything from our seats but the Jumbotron and that’s all we expected to see of the Holy Father,” said Carroll, a communications major. “But when he arrived, his entrance was right next to us. He walked by – maybe 10 feet away. We were yelling, ‘Papa! Papa! I yelled out, ‘I love you, Papa!” and he looked right at me and waved. It was incredible!”
Francis, the 266th pope, is only the fourth to visit the United States and the third to visit Washington. His six-day trip also included stops in New York and Philadelphia. The following day he addressed a joint session of Congress, and then said a prayer blessing for the homeless clients of St. Maria’s Meals in Washington.
The whirlwind Wednesday began early for the Marymount group, which left the university at 6:30 a.m. They didn’t get home until after 9 p.m.