In spanish, his native language, and largely he will address americas hispanic immigrants. I want to bring in jim sciutto, cnns chief National Security correspondent at Independence Hall where the pope, were hearing, is just about ten minutes away. What are you hearing from the people around you about this message . What do they want him to say . Well, poppy, ill say one thing were hearing now, weve been hearing helicopters circling overhead, thats normally the sign the pope is on the move or about to be on the move. We heard that in washington and new york, as hes taken his motorcade from place to place. The crowd here, 40,000 to possibly 50,000 pressing up against the fences to get as close as possible to this pope. And ill tell you, because of the intense security in the city, really more intense than i saw even in d. C. Or new york, a lot of the crowd is kept well back from the podium where the pope will be speaking. A lot of the crowd here will be watching only on giant screens as opposed to live and in person. What do they want to hear . They want to hear a message of inclusiveness, of this crowd of 50,000, many of them latinos, many of them immigrants themselves. And before the speech we had a series of musical performances here, the tango, were told the pope is a fan of the tango, all part of the message of the mixed cultures that make up this country, but really the people of the continent, north and south america and the pope, of course, from south america. Poppy, you mentioned that podium, which you may be able to see over my right shoulder here before the main door here of Independence Hall. That podium used by Abraham Lincoln to deliver the gettysburg address. Abraham lincoln, of course, a presidency of inclusiveness. This is a pope very aware of the power of symbolism at every stop during his visit here to the u. S. That decision to use Abraham Lincolns podium, im sure no mistake as he delivers a speech that is meant to have a message of inclusiveness, meant to again deliver that message we heard in congress about him being the son of immigrants, our nation, america, being a collection of immigrants, just like north and south america together. Inclusiveness, a message to contrast one that weve heard on the political trail, for instance, from some of the candidates. That is his message. We expect him to deliver it subtly, gently, deftly, the politician that he is, but with deep conviction and the crowd here already rapt with attention and will be the same when he starts speaking in about a half hour. No question about it, he will mark history. Well see what words he uses to do that. He is expected, as jim said, to make remarks on immigration, but also largely on religious freedom. Just as a historical note, hes using the lectern from the gettysburg address, that was a very, very short speech, fewer than 300 words. Were expecting this to go on a little longer than that. Of course, we will have translation for our viewers that dont speak spanish. While were waiting for the pope, lets bring in rachel, a member of the Catholic Association of latino leaders, a National Spokeswoman for the Libra Initiative and maria cardona. Thanks to both of you for being here. Maria, you first, some republican candidates for president say the pope should stay out of political issues when it comes to cuba, iran, immigrati Immigration Reform, what do you think, maria . Well, i think what they need to look at is the history not just of this pope, but of the Catholic Church. This pope is not injecting himself into politics. What hes doing is he is reaffirming what the catholic faith is all about. The catholic faith is all about social justice. It is all about taking care of the least among us. It is all about inclusiveness and showing mercy to those who are at the margins of our society. And all of the issues that he has underscored and on his trip here to the United States and, frankly, all the issues he has underscored since he became pope, i think, focus on that. So i think as somebody whos involved in politics in washington, i hope that we all heed his call. When he leaves, jake, you know, everybody will look at his visit sort of as a political test, right, they will take from it what they want, but i also hope that we all take from it the fact that we can work Better Together to find the solutions that everybody, including American Voters want, and its part of the reason why they are so disappointed in washington. So hopefully we can move forward just like this pope with affirmation as opposed to condemnati condemnation. One of the things, rachel, the pope talked about in his address to congress was the importance of cooperation, of people coming together and then the next day Speaker Boehner announced his resignation. I dont know if there was any relevance to that at all, but whats your reaction to the popes message as he comes to the country and says things that are uncomfortable for politicians on both sides to hear . Absolutely. Can i first just say how touched i was by poppys reporting on the prisoners . And that is so classic pope francis. I really was touched. Pope francis had been telling priests the shepherds need to smell like the sheep, and that is such a perfect example of what he means and the question comes up why he chose to meet with those prisoners. Well, thats smelling like the sheep and i think it was a beautiful reporting. So thank you on that, poppy. Thank you. Listen, Immigration Reform is a hot contentious issue. Its, obviously, being covered by what were seeing in europe, which is a lot of chaos. I think what pope francis is trying to tell catholics in particular in america is to individually, especially, look at the people in our country, especially those on the margins as human beings. Really, as jesus. One of the things he says very often is when you give charity, you need to look the person in the eye, and frankly, that encounter is very difficult when so much of our quote, unquote, charity is being done by governments. And thats partly why in catholic theology we talk so much about subsidiary, the need to do things at the lowest level. Instead of these big centralized government programs, we need to as individuals think about how were handling, how were touching, how were reaching out, how were speaking to and helping people on a very individual basic level. Rachel and maria stand by. I want to go briefly to Carol Costello live among the crowds lining ben franklin parkway, all hoping to get a glimpse of pope francis. Were about to lose her signal because of security reasons. Carol, tell us what youre expecting, who should be passing by your location at any moment. Okay, we dont know for sure what time the popes motorcade will be going down ben franklin parkway, it could be 5 00, thats what everybody is hoping. When you talk about social justice and immigration, that really resinates with this crowd. This is the world catholic families event. There are people from all over the world here. Theyve gotten together to talk about their catholic faith and to reaffirm their faith when they see pope francis. I want to introduce you briefly. Wheres baby tarzan . Right here. You guys are from . Indiana, southern indiana. You have a plan for baby tarzan, what is it . Yes, were going to try to get the baby kissed by the pope. All these people we met today are going to try to help us get the baby kissed by the pope. All these people are from all over the country and all over the world. Lets hope for the best and yes, his name really is baby tarzan. Wheres amelia . Youre from boston and you have a secret plan to get this globe with different spots on the world pointed out to the pope. Whats the significance . Yes. Well, the significance is were from boston and we also represent residents, i lived there years ago, and the resident that could not come, they want to send good wishes to the pope and a message, so what they did is, they put together this globe and they pin each city where they are from, they pin a message for the pope. So were hoping to be able to give it to the pope and send a message of love from boston. I hope so. As you said, it did get through security, and your daughter is pregnant. Right here. Ana, so you are pregnant. Congratulations. So youre hoping the pope goes by because your baby will be blessed . Yeah, hoping for a papal blessing, absolutely. Thank you so much for talking with me. Oh, my goodness, jake, people are so excited. And security is tightening down, so im going to have to go. See you later all right, carol. Well check back with you later. Its already been a very busy day here in philadelphia. Again, in less than half an hour the pope is anticipated to take the stage again at Independence Hall. Lets talk more about what we may hear from him in his overall message on immigration and religious freedom. Joining us again, father thomas reese, jesuit priest with us here in philadelphia, father edward beck, and cnn senior vatican analyst john allen. As we take a look, well be pulling up some of the live pictures for you throughout this discussion. As you can see the popes motorcade coming to Independence Hall. Let me start with you, father beck. Two things striking, this message of having to put a stop to what the pope calls the globalization of indifference, and he talks about that in the context of immigration, whether it is the migrants and the refugees in europe or the immigration fight here. Given the fact the popes first trip outside of rome was the island in the midst of the migrant crisis, what do you expect to hear from him here on immigration . Its so funny you bring that up. I was going to say exactly that, how symbolic his actions speak even louder than his words. He goes to where they are flooding in from africa and says Everybody Needs a homeland to be accepted. But today what happens, he leaves the heliport in manhattan and flying over the statue of liberty and ellis island. Religious freedom and immigration to come here to speak about religious freedom and immigration. I mean, could that be more planned or more blessed or better . He said to cardinal dolan, can you have them do it again. Not once, but twice, three times. So i think his actions speak even more loudly than his words. Youre looking at images of the pope kissing babies et cetera when he was in lampedusa. You, john, your take on how he walked that line. Also a pope thats said a good catholic does meddle in politics. Be involved, be part of the conversation, the debate, but he also walked that line a bit in his remarks ahead of this visit. Sure. Only nonman of the cloth on this panel, let me inject a little bit of political edge to this conversation. Im a little worried were losing what ought to be our main focus. Actually, we are expecting most of his speech tonight is not going to be on immigration policy, its going to be on religious freedom, and that has been a somewhat contentious issue in recent years. In fact, for the last two or three years, the American Catholic bishops have been involved in a tug of war with the Obama Administration over the contraceptive mandates that were imposed as part of health care reform, their defining religious freedom clause. The pope gave a big pat on the back to the bishops in his speech at the white house the other day saying he wanted to endorse their efforts. I would expect to hear something along those lines here tonight. This is one of those instances in which francis blends a concern that plays right to religious freedom, left to immigration, and its another lesson on how catholic social teaching really defies the left right divides in american political life. Were going to take a quick break. At least 1 Million People have flocked to philadelphia. The massive crowd is hoping to catch a glimpse or blessing from the pope. Stay with us, well be right back. Everyone needs protein, every day. 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We were in a german dance group. I wore lederhosen. So i just started poking around on ancestry. Then, i decided to have my dna tested through ancestry dna. It turns out im scottish. So, i traded in my lederhosen for a kilt. Welcome back to cnns continuing coverage of Pope Franciss historic visit to america. Youre looking at live pictures right now of the popes open motorcade as he makes his way from winwood, pennsylvania, outside philadelphia on the main line at st. Charles seminary to Independence Hall. And there he is waving to philadelphians and others who have flocked to this great city of brotherly love to see the pope, to catch a glimpse of them. Miguel marquez is out there, im jake tapper with poppy harlow. Lets go out to miguel right now for a second. Miguel, tell us what youre seeing. This is the moment. This is incredible. Look at the people. The motorcade is just coming around the way here. Im going to get on my tippy toes and you can just see the top of the pope mobile coming down market street. This crowd is about to go wild. How excited are you for the pope . Very, very cool. There are people from el salvador, mexico, mexico, sierra leone, congo, texas, philadelphia, of course. Hannah, im going to talk to you very briefly. Youre a lifelong episcopalian but have come to see the pope, why . I think hes a breath of fresh air, his policies on the environment, hes just speaking to areas that have not been spoken to in the church before. I think its incredibly important. Turn around and go crazy. How excited are you . Very excited, very excited. 17 years old, from kentucky, you are here, why is this pope so attractive to you . Because he is very awesome. Hes a great example for all of us to follow and because hes changed a lot of stuff and made it easy for us to understand. Its amazing, its awesome. Hearts are racing here at fifth and market street. Lets go back over here, ill leave you with that shot. You can just see the pope now reaching out, saying hello to people. Very, very exciting time here. Back to you. Miguel, incredible to see and to be among the people there, as we just saw the pope stop in his, what else, Jeep Wrangler pope mobile. And kiss a baby, weve seen that time and time again. I want to take a moment to listen into this historic moment. [ cheers and applause ] [ cheers and applause ] [ cheers and applause ] all right, we are continuing to follow pope francis as he makes his way down ben franklin parkway to Independence Hall, where he will make those remarks. Youve seen him kissing multiple babies. Its a line his security has to watch, because this is a pope who very much wants to be among the people, with the people, and not so separated from them, so you see them doing that, tightly watching him, as well. Lets go straight to Miguel Marquez, in the middle of it all, thick of it all. Miguel, they could not be more excited next to you. This is absolutely credible. This crowd erupted like ive never seen, and look, hes playing with the crowd. Theres the baby we were talking about, the woman we were just speaking to tried to push to the very front and hand her baby over to the pope. He came around the corner. Something caught his eye and really cracked him up and he stopped there for a bit, then a baby came out. Just amazing. How was that . That was incredible. Thats a once in a lifetime opportunity. You were pretty excited, too. Yes, i was i never have seen a pope before. That was actually pretty thrilling to see one in person. This is sort of like a whole other worldly experience, yes . Yes, definitely. Why do you love this pope so much, why come up from kentucky . Hes one of the most influential people in the world. Hes the leader of our religion. He represents us. And you think hes changing your church for the better . You can feel that . You can feel that . The sense of excitement out here in seeing this man, just that little glimpse, is worth it for all of you, yes . [ cheers and applause ] ive got to say does win the cute baby competition. Jackie from congo, honduras, mexico, el salvador, its incredible. Its an absolute global party here. Its a lot of fun. Total celebration. They love the pope. Back to you. Thanks, Miguel Marquez. If youre just joining us, im jake tapper with poppy harlow watching pope francis historic visit to the city, the birthplace of freedom, cradle of democracy. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. Pope francis in his socalled pope mobile making his way to Independence Hall. He was originally, earlier today, in wynnewood outside philadelphia at st. Charles borromeo seminary. Let me bring in for a second, whats the all these people have come here to catch a glimpse of the pope, a lot of them hoping for blessings for their children, blessings for babies, blessing for their unborn children. Is there a trick if anybody is out there watching, just trying to think for some of the cuter babies if they are wearing a hat, that seems to help get the popes attention. Everyone wants the popes attention. Seems to be some of the security guards are the ones who bring the babies to him. Yeah, even saw a baby with a papal miter on somebody brought up. Yes, i saw that, too. Really interesting. You know, if you really want to get the popes attention, youre in a wheelchair or youre blind or disabled in some way, he has stopped at every venue to personally address a disabled person, and i think that really captures his attention and his heart. There was just an incredibly touching moment earlier today, not sure if we can bring it up on the other side of this screen, but he actually stopped his vehicle earlier today and saw a young boy, a 10yearold boy in a wheelchair with cerebral palsy, stopped, got out of the vehicle, walked over and kissed that boy on the forehead. Again, talking to those, praying for those, blessing those on the margins, those in the most need. Again, one of the Iconic Images of this pope that we all remember is that woman, that man whose face was very deformed, and he kissed put his face right up against that mans face. This is a guy who has a terrible genetic skin disorder, the pope as he was making his swing through st. Peters square caught him out of the corner of the eye and embraced this guy and gave him a big kiss on the forehead and weeping. The guy later said that single act in a way restored the faith. Not just his faith in the church, but his faith in life, his faith in the sense of possibility for himself. It was a magical moment. Getting back to the blessing part, i think people feel holier when they are connected to holiness and these parents certainly feel that with their children. Absolutely. Some are out there amidst the massachuset mass, the teeming masses of the philadelphians that have come to see pope francis at Independence Hall. Jim sciutto, jim, tell us what you see, tell us what the crowds are telling you. Jake, pope francis is right at the steps of the entrance of Independence Hall now in his pope mobile and hes stopped right there in the center to pick up a baby and kiss her, him or her, on her head, and its interesting, so the crowd here, and you can hear them cheering behind me here, theyve been chanting frances kuo, francesco, they are in a pen, whether here, new york, followed, and as he gets close to him, the crowd moves as a wave of humanity towards that corner of the pen to get closer to him and as he moves along, the wave moves along following him. Everybody with their hands in the air holding their iphone or phone to grab an image of him as he goes. Again you can probably hear the chanting behind me. Everybody wants to get as close to him as possible and to see him holding that baby right virtually on the steps of Independence Hall, thats just quite an unforgettable image. Absolutely. Jim sciutto stay with us as we await the remarks from the pope in just moments on immigration, on religious freedom. As we do wait, i want to go to father thomas reese, Senior Analyst at the National Catholic reporter, also author of inside the vatican. Father, i was reading earlier today some of what you wrote ahead of this popes visit and you were sort of lamenting over what journalists kept asking you, how political will this pope be, et cetera, et cetera, but you said the real core message is what effect will this pope have, what long lasting effect will this pope have, not only on the people he greets and meets, but on this nation. Thus far in his trip, what do you think that has been . Well, i think we see from the response to the crowds that people see this pope as a real person, the real deal. I think thats what they find so attractive about him. Hes so transparent, hes so authentic. So many people that, you know, are called celebrities, its all about them. I mean, most of them are egomaniacs. This pope is all about other people. This pope is not selling himself, hes selling jesus. Hes selling the gospel. And when you see him interact with people, its so human, its so real, its about and when he does it, hes reaching out so its about them, not about him. And people just love that. I think they respond to that. And i think hes calling us to be like that, to be like him, to be like jesus. Well, its interesting you point at a time when the Catholic Church for not just now, but for years has been grappling with losing followers in latin america, here in the United States, and also gaining new followers, many of them immigrants to this country. You say this is a pope more interested in how people live their faith than how they articulate their faith. I think thats really true. This pope really is caring about how we treat one another, how we express our love, how we serve one another, how we take care of the poor, the sick, the children, the immigrants, how we care for the environment. This is much more important to him than how we define doctrines, and its a very different. He speaks in very simple language, graphic language, because he wants to motivate people to live like christ, to be more loving and compassionate. And father reese, jake tapper here, i grew up in philadelphia and its interesting, this is a city about a quarter of its residents are catholic, but as i got older, churches were shuttered, schools segregated by gender were forced to merge in order to stay alive, there was a Parochial School a block away from me in philadelphia thats now condos. The flock leaveth has been an issue. I want to get your thoughts on that, but lets take this opportunity to listen in to the pope right now. [ speaking in a Foreign Language ] [ speaking in a Foreign Language ] [ speaking in a Foreign Language ] if you want to give us insight into what were witnessing right now, that would be great. We saw he received the cross near the statue, blessed that fiveinch cross and tapped the bible. They were from representatives from an organization, then you saw him being greeted by the world marriage and family officials there. Hes going to move now towards the entrance of Independence Hall and greeted by superintendent cynthia and archbishop. As he does that for the next ten minutes or so, you wont see live pictures of him as he prepares for these remarks that everyone in the city and this country has been waiting for. You saw him joking a little bit. Were trying to work on the translation, but joking a bit with that little girl who gave him the doll. Its probably worth saying, in a few moments were going to see pope francis stand at the famous lectern from which Abraham Lincoln delivered the gettysburg address, but the truth of it is, although he recognizes how important those things are, these are really his favorite moments on these trips. Ive followed him on all ten of his foreign trips and we can tell his body language is different, his facial expressions are different. In those moments when he has the opportunity to be one on one or in small groups and have those kinds of very personal exchanges, he just lights up. And i think tonight when he goes to bed, thats really what hes going to remember, not looking out at that sea of people from the lectern. Its infectious. In fact, Miguel Marquez is out there with a family that had the good fortune to have been spotted by the pope and blessed by the pope. Miguel, tell us who youre standing with. This is the catholic jackpot. Im standing with colton and Stephanie Palmer from omaha, nebraska. You got here 1 30 on the barricades and this angel just sneezing, how adorable, six weeks old, what happened . The pope kissed her. Its really that simple. Yep. They held their child out [ cheers and applause ] they held her out over the barricade, secret Service Agent took her, so how did it happen . We just held her up and called for the pope and he came over and grabbed her. You have your other son here, whats his name . David. Hes not in the mood is he . Hes sleeping. Oh, hes sleeping. What is that like as a father to see the gods messenger on earth hold your child in his hands and kiss her head . Its a special moment. Im just so grateful. Its a miracle, really, so im thank you, god, yeah, thank you, thank you. Just humble people from omaha, nebraska. This is amazing. It is like hitting the jackpot spiritually. How is this pope changed your life before this, and i take you you are never going back now. I think that it is god who changed our lives, and the pope is so significant because hes unifying so many people. And hes speaking, reaching out to those seeking god, so what a blessing for him to hold our child and kiss her. This little one is going to have a very, very special thats amazing. Very happy to meet you. Congratulations. What now . Back to omaha . We still got a weekend here with the pope, mass. Pope mass tomorrow. Pope mass tomorrow. David, theres hope for you yet, maybe well get one for you tomorrow. All right, amazing story. We saw one other baby get kissed over here, few down there, but literally few along the way, not like other trips where you have people running alongside and handing babies up. Its very, very difficult to do here. Back to you. The catholic jackpot. I like that. I like that. I think youre right about that, miguel. As we continue to wait for remarks from pope francis about religious freedom and immigration, back to father beck and senior vatican correspondent john allen. As we do get ready for this, lets talk about you think the religious freedom part of this has been missed a bit . Well, its been missed, but its so easy because immigration is such a critically important issue to this pope. And also politically divisive in the country. With francis because hes so identified with that issue and repeatedly called himself son of immigrants, and thats true. His grandparents left the piedmont region of italy in the 1920s to settle in argentina, open the construction country, fleeing the rise of black shirts in italy, so hes also in some sense has the opposition to fascism and awe thoobviously th immigration thing is large, but we should not forget hes also standing in the cradle of American Freedom delivering an address devoted to religious freedom and our information is the majority of the text is going to be on that topic. Again, i think what is fascinating about francis is how he utterly defies our expectations of what politicians, which side they are supposed to be on. We can imagine a lot of public figures who might talk about immigration, a lot who might stand there and talk about religious freedom, its difficult to imagine someone who would do both. Lets take a look and listen as the pope comes out of Independence Hall. [ cheers and applause ] your holiness, distinguished guests and friends, the United States is an experiment in freedom ordered by law and ordered two basic truths about the human person. The greatest good in the american character comes from our belief in the merciful god, a god who guarantees the dignity and rights of all his children. Alexander hamilton was one of americas greatest founding fathers. He helped write our constitution here at Independence Hall. He was also one of our greatest immigrants. Born in the west indies, hamilton was a friend of George Washington. He fought in the revolution. Wrote nearly twothirds of the federalist papers, and set the United States on the course to become a world power. The lesson in his life is simple, this is a nation that no single ethnic group or privileged economic class owns. Its a country where a person who comes from nowhere can still make a difference. Its a nation where a man who never knew his own birthday, hamilton was born out of wedlock, can take part in the birth of a new order. He reminds us of immigrants from around the world, renew this country and every generation, they breathe new life into what George Washington called the bosom of america. We live in an odd time in history, when a Church Defends marriage and the family, the unborn child, and the purpose of human sexuality, she is attacked as being too harsh. When she defends immigrant workers and families that are broken by deportation, she is attacked as too soft, and yet the church is neither of these things. Pope john xxiii, now st. John xxiii, described the church as the mother and teacher of humanity, a mother who understands and loves the whole human person from conception to natural death, always, consistently, and everywhere. When it comes to immigration [ applause ] the church reminds us that in the end, all of us are a children of the same loving god. That makes us brothers and sisters, despite the borders that separate us. And in arguing over borders to keep people out, we need to be vigilant against erecting those same borders in our hearts. My dear friends, the person who speaks that truth most powerfully is with us today, and i invite the holy father, the son of immigrants, to share his thoughts with us now. Pope francis. [ cheers and applause ] [ cheers and applause ] translator good afternoon. One of the highlights of my visit is to be here before Independence Hall, the birthplace of the United States of america. Here were defined the freedoms, declared for this country, through the creation of independence stated that all men and women were created equal. That they are given by their [ speaking in a Foreign Language ] translator inspiring us. Peoples throughout the world to fight for freedom, to live according to their dignity. History also shows that these and other truths must be constantly be reaffirmed. Reappropriated and defended. The history of this nation is also the tale of a continuous effort lasting up to these days to embody these high principles in social and political life. We remember the great struggles, which ended the abolition of slavery, the extension of voting rights, the growth of the labor movement, and the gradual efforts to eliminate all kinds of racism and prejudice directed at successive waves of new americans. This shows that when a country is determined to be true to its founding principles, those basic principles based on respect for Human Dignity, it is strengthened and renewed. When one country keeps the memory of its roots, it continues growing, it renews, and it continues assimilating new peoples and new individuals that come to it. It helps a lot to remember our past. People who have memory does not repeat past errors. However, it does look with confidence the challenges of the present and the future. Memories save the peoples soul from whatever, whoever, wants to dominate it or use it for their own interests. When individuals and communities are guaranteed, the effective exercise of their rights, they are not only free to realize their own potential, but they also with that capacity with work contribute to the welfare and enrichment of society at large. In this place, which is a symbol of the american model, i would like to reflect together with you on the right to religious freedom. It is a fundamental right, which gives shape to the way we interact socially and personally with our neighbors, whose religious beliefs may differ from our own. The idea of dialogue, interfaith dialogue, where all men and women from different traditions, religious traditions, make dialogue without fighting, that is given by liberty. Religious freedom without doubts means the right to worship god individually and in togetherness. Following the conscience of each other, but on the other hand, religious freedom also goes together with place of worship and the private sphere of individuals and families. Because the religious fight and the religious dimension is not a subculture, it is part of the culture of any nation and any people. Our different religious traditions are different religious traditions Serve Society mainly by the message they proclaim. They call individuals and communities to worship god, the source of all life, liberty, and happiness. They remind us of the dimension of human existence and our deductible freedom in the face of every claim to absolute power. We need to look at history. Its good for us to look at history, especially the history of the past century to see the atrocities perpetrated by systems which claimed to build one or another earthly paradise dominating peoples, subjecting them to apparently indisputable principles, and denying them any kind of rights. Deep religious freedoms seek to offer meaning and direction. They have an enduring power to open new horizons, to stimulate thought, to expand the mind and the heart. Concern for the future of society to self sacrificing service of the common good and compassion for those in need. In the heart of the Spiritual Mission is the proclamation of the truth and dignity of the human person and all human rights. Our religion and traditions remind us that as human beings, we are called to acknowledge another who reveals a relational identity in the face of every effort to impose a uniformity to which the egotism of the powerful confirmation of the week or the ideology of the utopian would seek to impose on us. In a world where different forms of modern tyranny seek to suppress religious freedom or, as i mentioned before, tried to reduce it to a subculture without right to a voice in the Public Square or to use religion as a pretext for hatred and brutality, it is imperative that the followers of the various religions join their voices, calling for peace. Tolerance, respect for the dignity and the rights of others. We live in a world subject to the globalization of the technocratic paradigm, which consciously aims at a one dimensional uniformity and seeks to eliminate all differences and traditions in a quest, superficial quest, for unity. The religions, therefore, have the right and the duty to make clear that it is possible to build a society where a healthy which respects differences and values as such is a precious ally in the commitment to defending Human Dignity and a path to peace in our troubled world and suffering because of the wars. The quakers who founded philadelphia were inspired by a deep evangelical sense of dignity to each individual, and for the ideal of a community knotted by brotherly love. This conviction took them to find a colony, which would be a haven for religious freedom and tolerance. That sense of fraternal concern for the dignity of all, especially the week and the vulnerable, became an essential part of the american spirit. During Saint John Paul iis visit to the United States in 1997, paid a moving homage to this reminding all americans that the ultimate test of your greatness is the way you treat every human being, but more specifically, the weakest and the most offenseless ones. Whatever religion have tried to serve the god of peace by building cities of brotherly love. By caring for our neighbors in need, by defending the dignity of gods gift of the life in order to stages, defending the cause of the poor and the immigrant immigrants. Much too often those most in need from everywhere are unable to be heard. You are their voice and many of you men and women have made their cry heard. In this
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