Pope Francis to visit Philly prison with violent history, talk to DREAMers on U.S. tour
Pope Francis will visit a Philadelphia prison and an East Harlem elementary school with a large student population of immigrants during his visit to the U.S. in September, suggesting that he plans to continue focusing on social issues during his high-profile trip.
According to an itinerary first reported by the Washington Post and confirmed by the Vatican yesterday, the Pope will hit the typical circuit of presidential meetings and huge public masses. But it’s the smaller events that stand out: a visit to Our Lady Queen of Angels School, a Catholic school in East Harlem where he will meet with immigrants, refugees and DREAMers; the Philadelphia’s Curran-Fromhold Corrections Facility, where he will meet with prisoners and their families. He will also meet with homeless people at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.
The Argentinian-born Pope will speak Spanish during his trip, the Post reported. Latinos are making up a larger proportion of Catholics in the U.S. and more than half of Latinos in the U.S. are currently Catholic, according to a 2014 Pew Research study. (The proportion of Latinos that are Catholic, however, has declined over the past few years.)
The Curran-Fromhold prison will likely give Francis a good taste of U.S. criminal justice. An investigation by the Philadelphia City Paper last year found video evidence of a number of violent beatings by guards. In a separate incident, a prison guard was charged with battery last year after beating a prisoner in the head and spraying him with mace.