Lower Merion >> On the sleepy, tree-lined roads that surround St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Lower Merion, neighbors rode bicycles and pushed baby strollers along roadblocks and police checkpoints as the township prepared for the pope’s arrival Saturday afternoon.
Lower Merion Police were aided by officers from around Montgomery County, with more than 200 members of the police force and National Guard directing traffic and manning barriers near the seminary, according to Montgomery County officials.
As Pope Francis’ motorcade arrived close to 1 p.m., the crowds that had gathered along the barriers on City Avenue and Wynnewood Road cheered and waved. The pope waved back.
Inside the gates the pontiff exited his Fiat to be greeted in song by the seminarians. Pope Francis shook hands with local officials, including Montgomery County Commissioner Josh Shapiro.
“In this case, there was an overwhelming sense of spirituality, purpose, that I had the opportunity to meet him,” Shapiro said later. “There is a whole different level, to feel his greatness when you were in his midst.”
Shapiro was joined by Bishop Timothy C. Senior, rector of St. Charles, and Liz Rogan, president of the Lower Merion Board of Commissioners to welcome the pontiff on his arrival. Shapiro called the meeting “extraordinary.”
“I was honored to be able to shake his hand and speak to him for about 30 seconds. He is truly a warm man, and I was really overcome with emotion,” he said. “I felt there was a sense of stillness in the air when he was around, a real sense of excitement and camaraderie.”
While a lucky few got to see the pope up close, thousands of others lined the roads near the seminary hoping for merely a glimpse. People filed behind the barricades where side streets met Wynnewood Avenue.
On Beacom Lane, which overlooks the entrance to the seminary, neighbors, nuns and children squeezed in together. A group of Carmelite nuns who had traveled from California for the World Meeting of Families, and came to Lower Merion to be close to His Holiness. In the hours before the motorcade passed up Wynnewood, the crowd kept rearranging itself.
The sisters helped draw the smaller children to the front, so that they could see the Pope’s arrival.
People also brought ladders and chairs to stand on.
“It would have been nice if they had put risers in so that we could have all seen him,” said Mike Castro, who was visiting from West Chester. His two-year-old daughter was propped up on his shoulders. “I got a picture, because I had my arm high enough, but she probably got to see him.”
He added, “It was worth it though.”
A group of children held up a sign welcoming the Pope to their neighborhood. Tripp and Owen, both 11 years old, and Finn, 9, all said they were hoping to shake his hand, but they were still excited after the motorcade passed.
“He waved at us,” Owen said excitedly.
Detective Daniel Fox, of the Telford Police, was one of the officers assisting the Lower Merion police, and he was in good cheer as he guarded barriers and spoke with the crowd.
“I think it’s a great opportunity for the community to have him here. Everybody’s been very happy,” Fox said.
Montgomery County officials said that the transport from Philadelphia to Lower Merion was successful.
“It’s been remarkably quiet all day,” said John Corcoran, the deputy director of public safety for Montgomery County.
Shapiro was with public safety officials after he left the seminary Saturday afternoon at the county’s emergency operation center. Pope Francis’ visit promoted unity, he said, and he explained that local, county and federal agencies, along with the National Guard, were all working together well.
With respect to the pope, Shapiro said he has been uniting people of all religious beliefs.
“That really is what I was trying to say to him, the message that he shares is one that is uplifting, one that brings people together,” the commissioner said. “It is inclusive and regardless of your faith. If all of us heard and adopted it, we would still be able to be true to our particular faith and the world be a far better place.”
