UPPER DARBY >> Pilgrims lined up in the 69th Street Transportation Center on Sunday not to board the Market-Frankford train but to have their photo taken with a cardboard cutout of Pope Francis.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Marybeth Daley, 39, said. “We’re not going to be able to get a picture with the real pope.”
Daley and friends, Madeline Muto, 22, and Ann Marie Muto, 54, all of Drexel Hill, and Barb Rossino, 47, of Havertown, lined up next to the life-sized image for keepsake photographs.
“We have tickets for the Mass and wanted to go because it is the pope,” Ann Marie Muto said. “We went yesterday, and the crowd wasn’t bad. I think it will be different today because of the Mass. Having our picture taken here might be our moment.”
Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood noted he observed larger crowds using public transportation on Sunday compared to Saturday.
“We already surpassed the total numbers from Saturday,” Chitwood said just before noon. “At the Primos station, we had a total of 700 people board all day and that number was surpassed by late morning,” Chitwood said. “But the crowds are manageable.
“The big hit in the terminal is the pope (cutout). Everybody is friendly and everybody is happy. I guess it’s because the pope is here.
Upper Darby police were preparing to have a “strong” law enforcement presence for those headed back to Delaware County when the papal Mass ended at 6:30 p.m.
Patrolman Steven Russo with his K-9 Nick at his side, assisted some people wanting to have their photo taken with the pope in the main lobby of the terminal. So did SEPTA ambassador Denise Smith, of Collingdale.
“I’m having fun taking people’s pictures,” Smith said. “I’m assigned to the terminal for Saturday and Sunday, and it makes the day go faster.”
Four residents from Lansing, Mich., drove 10 hours on Saturday to arrive in time to attend the Mass on Sunday. They stayed locally with family friends in the Havertown section of Haverford, said Tyler Adams, 29.
“We have tickets for the Mass,” Jacob Kanclerz, 25, of Lansing, said.
Martha Duaman, 15, of Upper Darby, but a native of Ecuador, spoke on behalf of her parents who could not speak English, and said they were excited to see the pope.
“We’re going to the Mass because we are Catholic and seeing the pope is a great moment for us,” Duaman said. “We don’t have tickets, but we are just going into the city and trying and get as close as we can.”
Joe and Eileen Dougherty, of Collingdale, had tickets for the train and the Mass.
“We didn’t go on Saturday,” Eileen said. “We just watched on TV.”
Joe Dougherty has never seen a pope in person before and was looking forward to the Mass and seeing the pontiff.
“Pope Francis is amazing,” Joe said. “I like the way he walks up to kids and talks to them. When he talks his face lights up.”
Marcella Kartika, 43, of Upper Darby, and daughter, Dede, 4, were headed downtown for the second consecutive day to see the pope.
“She’s so happy to see the pope again, and I’m happy to take her back,” Kartika said.
Mother and daughter took their turn in front of cardboard Pope Francis for a memento.
Security on Sunday paralleled Saturday’s with police and National Guard visible inside and outside the transit center.
Vehicular traffic had been diverted off West Chester Pike at Copley Road onto Ludlow Street for drop-offs on Ludlow at 69th Street.
Pilgrims were required to enter the station from a side door where they were greeted by SEPTA ambassadors who directed them through the train station and checked for tickets to board the train.
