Pat Ciarrocchi Looks Back At Papal Visit
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - CBS 3's Pat Ciarrocchi looked back at the Pope Francis' visit to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families and shared some of the occasions that she thought were special while covering the historic event.
Ciarrocchi, talking the Chris Stigall on Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, said hearing Pope Francis speak on the priest abuse scandal were striking and poignant.
"At the Seminary, when he had just met with the victims and survivors of priest sex abuse and talked about sex abuse, right off the top of his remarks, which were not part of his scripted, embargoed remarks, I felt, that especially in Philadelphia, to be a really powerful moment."
Another incident she noted was when Francis met with prisoners and victims of violent crimes.
"Watching him at the prison, I found to be a very moving moment. He met with each individual prisoner. There were 25 women, there were 75 men, there were families of victims of some of these perpetrators who were there. The widows of Curran and Promhold were there, the two guards who were killed a number of years ago. I found that connection of him with them to be very powerful."
Ciarrocchi also noted that security concerns around the city may have been overstated, based on the hype and fear generated in the days leading up to the Pope's visit.
"I felt that it was a little over the top. What actually happened was not so over the top, but what was anticipated, the anxiety created a real concern...There were all these different factors. They tried very, very hard to accommodate us. That worked out okay. In terms of the street closures and the bridge closures and all of that, I don't know whether that was really over the top, but certainly, the anxiety a created about all of that, I thought was over the top.