council for the festival of families. he's been guiding. you saw mark wahlberg as he was back in the day. but mark wahlberg is here as the mc, and just beautiful performances. celebrating the family that got a lot of different families from around the world speaking. >> a couple of stroll alley. >> in addition to the performances. >> in doubt about that. i'm watching a lot of faces, there's just engaged about what is going on that on this stage here in the ben franklin parkway. it's just unbelievable to see. here's a wide shot of the parkway now, people lining the parkway, for all those not near us, by the stage in the seven how to some seats behind us, up and down the parkway, largeing the large jumbo trons. that are spaced apart strategically enough where everyone has a great seat. not bad seat in the house, we are so glad you're watching with us on cbs3. >> if you chose to stay at home, you're here with us, you got a great seat. we're glad to have you with us. i believe there's 40 jumbo trons so people can watch. you see the holy father there on your right. of course the philadelphia orchestra on stage as well. they are providing a lot of the music for tonight. and up next is supposed to be the frey, we're waiting for performance from the frey as well and the crowd really getting into the performance. >> no question about it. they are on stage right now. people are watching that's all part of the production of this magnitu magnitude. after this is over, it will almost appear as they came out nowhere. >> watching and applauding, watching the dancers. but you talked about show man ship. you talk about putting this together. that stage they are sitting on is spectacular and the people that have spent hours and hours and days and days putting that together over the last. >> different weather, last couple weeks, we saw the beginnings of it and a downpour. there were putting up base down to put the stage on top of that and day by day, we just saw it build. and build and become what it is tonight. it is absolutely beautiful. >> that, of course, will also be the stage for the mass tomorrow. it's got dual purpose this weekend. looks like the frey is there on the stage getting ready. i believe mark wahlberg will be introducing them as well. there we go. >> next guest, major success. selling over 4 million albums and 20 million singles. welcome the frey accompanied by american sign language choir. ♪ . ♪ ♪ . ♪ . ♪ . ♪ . ♪ . ♪ ♪ ♪ . ♪ . ♪ ♪ . ♪ ♪ ♪ . ♪ . ♪ >> sing with me one more time. we are family. we stand up one time sing this out. ♪ . >> where did i go wrong? i lost a friend. alone in the bitterness. i stayed up with you all night. had i known how to save a life. ♪ . ♪ . ♪ . ♪ . ♪ ♪ >> brought me to tears. >> that was remarkable. >> the keystone boys choir. one of the outstanding boys choirs here in our area, now getting a chance to meet pope francis. on our schedule to be announced. >> thank you so much. did you hear him? >> such a pleasant surprise. >> what a talent. >> he's getting a big applause. >> fantastic. >> what a night nor that young man. >> getting a hug from mark wahlberg. that's great. >> really. >> that was beautiful. i can't even speak. >> that right there was truly the voice of an angel. but then he whispered in my ear he loved the movie ted, and i told him that was not appropriate for a boy of his age. holy father, please forgive me. i've always hoped the good lord has a sense of humor when it comes and pertains to many of the movies i've made. in 1977, the philadelphia eagles run back ran 70 yards for on a fourth quarter touchdown. he then gracefully took a knee in the end zone and praised someone no one had done before. he has a senior pass to her with the greatest baptist church since 1982 and he has committed himself to being of service to those affected by poverty. now her be will be reading from luke 15 to share with us the story of the prodical, son. go eagles. >> my brothers and sister, in the lord, listen to the words of the holy gospel according to st. john. and it's a man had two sons. the younger son said to his father, father, give me my share of your estate. that he should come to me. so the father divided the property between them. after a few days, the younger son collected all his belongings and set off for a distant country where he scant erred his inheritance on a life of dispatient. when he had freely spent everything. a severe famon, struck that country and he found himself in dire need, so he hired himself out to one of the local citizens who sent him to his farm to tend the swine. he loaned his full from the parts on which the swine, and no one gave him a thing. coming to his sensus, he thought how many of my father's workers have more than enough food to eat, but here am i dying for from hunker. i will get up and go to my father. i will say to my father. i have sined against heaven and against you. i no longer deserve to be called your son. for the for a minute ordered his servants quickly bring the findist robe and put it on him, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. take the fated calf, slaurt it, then let us celebrate for the feast. because this son of mine was dead and has come to life again. he was lost. and has been found. then the celebration began. (cheers and applause). >> our second family, lacy and her son are here from ukraine. she has a lot to share about the joys and struggles of raising children in various contexts and different ability levels. please welcome. >> family today. my name is list sea, and i have two sons, we came from the city of frank ese, in ukraine, we live here in the united states. we do not have much but we are indeed blessed by god's graces and the protection of the more than likely of god the virgin mary. we enjoy being together as a close knit ukrainian family and i'm happy to have my two boys in my life. i received so many blessings and joys from my son, especially with bore russ who is affected with cerebral pals that i'm not sure where to begin. he has the ability to help others see that rather than being sick, he is happy with the challenges that he faces. his joy even in adversety fills his in happiness. let me give you an example when he was receiving botox injections to leave extremely cbs3s you throughout his body. he acted as a trans literary between me and his medical team. they were amazed at his energy and happiness to help those who were, in turn, helping him, he tries so hard to work and be independent that years and inspiration for all of us. another source of my inspiration and help in raising and understanding him coming from my mother. my father died when i was four years old. it was through my more than likely that i have learned how to be strong by placing my faith in god. she would always take me to church with her, to learn to trust in our lord and savior. it was her faith that inspired me in my own life and to be an active participant in the faith of the ukrainian catholic church. in ukraine, life was not easy. especially having a handicapped son. in spite of this, i continued to place my faith in god and prayed for the grace to percent veer and be strong. we look forward to our sunday worship in church and god continued to bless us despite economic difficulties, later with the tradition when the ukraine became independent. we came to america with great hopes, my husband left the family. it was a struggle every day for us. more than likelyly and financially. swoech feelings of hopelessness weighed on me but i always remembered god has a plan for us. every sunday i prayed in search, every day i prayed i read the bible especially the songs and took vowels to play to the blessed virgin mary. then my mother came to america, and that was a big help for us. i can't even describe how supportive she is. i can only be thankful to god for her. god has really blessed us in many ways. my oldest boy graduated from college and plans to be a priest. i'm very proud of him. my dear is now 17 and is determined as ever not to be limited by his disability. in fact, he strongly desires to create computer programs for children with disabilities so that they may have fun but also be challenged and not let the disabilities limit them. in two years, he will finish high school, he's working very hard applying to college to learn computer coding so he can live an independent life. it brings me much happiness and hope to help them realized their dreams and see the blessings that god has given them. while some people may consider him a burden, i certainly do not. seeing him work so hard in school and everything he does sprayers me and watching him pray to god and be filled with the faith that my mother passed on to me fills me with indescribable joy and hope. i've seen many people ask him to pray for them and this continues to up lift me. i can only say i have nothing but positive hope for his future, knowing that the holy spirit will guide him just as he has guided us as a family. holy father, thank you very much for being with us today. bless and pray for us, and that all parents to discovery their child will be in the world's view disabled may see the joy and love ahead of them. >> pope francis greeting the family now living in america, a special moment for that young man. >> took the words right out of my mouth. special moment for all involved. the family on the stage and everyone watching. . >> we're going to take a brief break. we'll be right back with continuing coverage. hold on we're going to stay here. she was speaking ukrainian, by the way. >> salutations, smiles, tears, blessing. beautiful thing to watch and experienc experience. >> aretha franklin started her career as a child singing gospel in they are father's church. by 1972, album amazing grace became the best selling dmrol album at the time. she is the first female singer tobin deducted into the rock and roll hall of fame and in 2012, joined the gospel hall of fame, welcome legendary aretha franklin to the stage. (cheers and applause) >> ♪ thou, sounds ♪ (singing amazing grace) ♪ . ♪ . ♪ . ♪ . ♪ ♪ ♪ . ♪ . ♪ . ♪ ♪ ♪ . ♪ . one more time for the great aretha franklin. (cheers and applause). >> third family. are here to share their experience as a jordanian christian family. here to share their experience, immigration, religious persecution and more. >> how about aretha franklin. >> that was kind of a mic drop moment. wasn't it? >> no question, 73 years young, we're celebrating the church with jessica. >> i feel like. >> we just went to chuch. we're taking a short break, you're watching live coverage right here on the ben franklin parkway. we'll be back. ♪usic: etta james "at last" (plays throughout) sometimes, at last doesn't happen at first. ♪ ♪ your dad just kissed my mom. ♪ turning two worlds into one takes love. ♪ helping protect that world takes state farm. . welcome back to cbs3 continuing coverage of the historic visit by pope francis to philadelphia. you're looking out over the ben franklin parkway packed with people listening to and enjoying the festival of families along the parkway. it is a beautiful night here in philadelphia. we have really been enjoying all the performances. >> that, we have. >> the crowd has been too. >> and the social media is really blowing up about this event. people sharing things with each other about what they've seen on tv, what they seen here, if they are here live, just a beautiful experience for everyone to see here in philadelphia. history, as you mentioned, this is history. >> in the making, we're glad you're being eyewitnesses with us as we go along. we've been on the air since 9:00 this morning, pope francis touching down about 9:42 this morning on shepherd one and he has been on the go ever since. >> holding up remarkably well. >> all over the city. >> holding up remarkly well. he enjoyed aretha franklin, he applauded her as she left. it's been a wonderful program. much more to come. and a lot of people are waiting for in performance and many more after that. we're a little behind schedule. >> andrea bocelli was sound checking earlier today. you're definitely going to want to stick around for that. beautiful. even just the sound check. you can imagine the full performance. this is, of course, the festival of families. it is the culmination of the world meeting of families that's been going on right here in philadelphia, as you mentioned one of the first or the first us city to host the world meeting of families, which was started by pope john paul second. they had record attendance. this is people from all over the world come here to philadelphia to be together. this is about celebrating the family and the catholic church. that's why the people are here. that is the bulk of the crowd for the world meeting of families, but also to pope francis himself, drawing out people who aren't catholic, or maybe more people catholic who haven't been to church, all faiths who wanted to see pope francis as he has gone you around town, of course, giving speech this afternoon at independence hall on immigration and also to on religious freedom. he's had a lot to say while he's been in philadelphia for just a few hours. >> so have the guests been on stage. we've heard from a signier eagles baptist church and started out saying my brothers in lord, that's the way he started. done a lot of great work in the community. i've been on a number of events with him. he's grown his congregation has grown from 17 members to over 2000 since the mid 80's. he's well-known in the area, and he's a proponent in fighting poverty, the jobless, homeless, hungry, those in prison and their children. he does such a great job. >> what you're looking at families come from all over the world, share a little piece of their life with the world, various concerns and thoughts about what it's like to be a family, get married to have children. these are people who then go and greet the pope. as you can imagine, special, special night for these families who traveled near far to be here tonight and to be there on stage with the holy father who seems to be just taking this all in this evening. >> that's the key word. family. i say it all the time. >> you do. how about that. >> that's what it's all about. families. coming together, being inclusive in the pope is getting his message across. mark wahlberg is about to step back to the stage. >> to laugh. >> patriot saint of memories and the unborn, last sdant to be canonized by pope john paul the second. she will join us now to read an excerpt from a personal letter written by her mother. >> reciprocal land, i can do nothing but thank the lord. it's true that mother is the most beautiful sentiment that god has given to us. and we always love each other as we do now. my dearist, thank you for everything. i want to tell you all that i feel, all that is in my heart. but i can't but you already know what my feelings are. so you must know how to understand me. dearest, i am sure that you will always make me as happy as i am now, and we'll listen to your prayers coming from a heart that is always loved human and to serve the human in ways. how much i have to learn from you. you are such a fine example for me and i thank you for it. we got the helping and blessing. we will do all we can to make our new family a little stronger where jesus would reign. desire and action. p e t r o, our wedding is just two days away now. and i feel very moved to be receiving the sacrament of love. we will be working with god in his creation in this way, we can be his children who will love and serve him. p i e t r o, i will be the wife and mother you have always wanted. i hope so. because you deserve it. and i love you so much. i kiss you and praise you with all my love. (cheers and applause). >> you see there, she's taking pope francis a gift and he's making a point to personally thank and speak to every person to present tonight, whether they speak, perform, share their story, whatever it might be. >> blessing it, kissing it, sharing a few words. quite a moment. >> look at his face. >> a lot to say there. (cheers and applause). >> quite a man. >> the crowd seems to be enjoying themselves. >> here's mark. >> family, she's about to celebrate her 24 and anniversary with her husband, she and her son jeffery are here from nigeria to talk about injury healing and forgiveness in family. >> as this continues we are bringing you live coverage of the festival of families from the ben franklin parkway as we continue on tonight, we're going oh to take a short break and bring more as soon as we come back. >> thank you for joining us, don't go away. see you in a bit. they recently rated their care experience at over 3,500 hospitals nationwide in a survey conducted for the centers for medicare and medicaid services. fewer than 10% received 5 stars. among them was cancer treatment centers of america in philadelphia. learn more at cancercenter.com/eastern. cancer treatment centers of america. care that never quits. appointments available now. . welcome back everyone. you are watching live coverage on cbs3 as we celebrate the world meeting of families. first time ever, an american city has hosted the event it's happening right here in philadelphia. the purpose? families meet to share thoughts, dialogue and prayers all in an effort to grow at family. family unit and better people. hear families discuss plan and plan out family's role. the pilgrims, faithful are watching the program on the large jumbo tron on it ben franklin parkway. >> this is pope francis' last stop before he'll go back to st. charles seminary and rest up for tomorrow. big mass right here where we are. this stage will be transformed where he will do the mass tomorrow. he's had a full day landing here at 9:42 and still, as you can see very much engaged. right now families are telling their stories of both struggles and triumphs and what the catholic faith meant to them and he's listening, making a point to talk to each one of them to celebrate with them. it's quite an interesting program. they've kind of woven those in. got the music performances, waive in some of the families. >> visited the popemobile. that was a special moment when he came and arrived. it was a rock star arriving and the faithful just went wild. a chance to take pictures. a chance to see the pope in the popemobile. there we see him now on stage. listening to other families and soaking in the moment. i think he's enjoying himself. >> that's right. thousands of people come from all over the world to be here tonight. it's a big touch stone moment in the planning for the world meeting of families and for the papal visit. this was always a bright star in all of their planning in terms of the world meeting of families here the city of philadelphia. this is always going to be a marquee event. we've hosted a lot of events here on the ben franklin parkway. no question. to super stars and festivals, and musical acts. this, of course, being a special one here with the holy father being in attendance. >> events happened every three years since 1992, and once again, it is our turn. i said it earlier, philadelphia is on the world stage right now. we are shining. so many people. i've had people around the country watching us. i'm not sure if they're watching on national or cbsphilly.com but they're watching and seeing what's going on when it comes to the 266 leaders of the catholic church. >> we have loved checking out #cbsphillypope it's been a lot of fun to see what everybody been doing, more importantly you have been using it as you've been out or traveling around getting pictures from friends and family, if you put it altogether and take a look at some of the photos, you start to see a picture of what the day has looked like starting there at philadelphia international airport, going to the cathedral basilica where he was there with so many of the faithful. then, you know, traveling to you independence mall and coming to here. you get to see step-by-step. what the crowd looked like and the sheer joy on their faces. >> when you say what the crowd looked like. it has been the rainbow -- we've seen black, white, asian latino. everybody. catholic, on an catholic, christian, not christian. >> that's what this is all about. we are just so honored to have it here in our city. city of brotherly love and sister's affection. >> as you like to say. >> as and as archbishop chaput. >> that's great. given the thumbs up. >> let's listen in. i believe mark is coming back up. >> our fifth family, gonzales are grandparents and great grandparents they're here to discuss the importance of the need for extended family. please welcome them. >> we are the gonzales family. i am leonea my husband rudy, two of our five children are here. two of to our grandchildren representing our grandchildren and great grandchildren. raising our children and now, spending time with the young ones has been a great responsibility though a wonderful just now. rudy and i grew up during a period of trying times, great depression, world war ii and a great social bias that continues on to this day. rudy was born and raised in chicago, a city boy. i, a country girl, was raised on an indian nation. as children, we did not know that we were financially poor. we both had a roof over our heads and the constant love and encouragement of terrific parents. between the two of us, we only knew one grandparent. i wonder in what ways would life have been different if we had the older generation to help us grow up? rudy and i were blessed to become parents, to have the opportunity to guide our children and now our grandchildren and even when it is a challenging as parents, and grandparents, we acquire a great many responsibilities. most welcome. some not. but one aspect we feel very strongly about is as grandparents, we can help support parents by countering some of the destructive influences in society. we can help teach the next generation what truly matters. our children were raised on or near native american reservations in arizona. which is a very different way and form than the way rudy and i grew up. among many native peoples, the word grandfather is often used in starting prayers. grandfather used in a manner, chief, blessed hallowed, supreme. that places him in a position of extreme importance. in the minds of his people who speak his wisdom so they may live in peace and harmny with all who live on mother earth. the wisdom of grandparents can help to minimize in the lives of the young the many struggles they have experienced. parents and grandparents must continuously work hard to instill faith in their young family members. we tried to be a good role model and teach about the importance of faith and how to help consultivate belief in our lord jesus christ, guiding and family members toward the great love of god and how to grow in relationship with him. we tried to help bring peace and harmny within our family. it is not as he does as it may sound but augmenting our attempts with prayer can help ease the stress of responsibilities we face in giving direction. our faith, our beliefs and acceptance to our creator, our god has pulled us through many difficult times together. through the love of god and of god's church, our faith and determination becomes stronger each and every day, we are far from an ideal family, but by the grace of god, through the sacraments and with the help of the st., we continue to care for our family and pass on the wisdom of grandparents. holy father, we thank you for the blessed opportunity and we ask that you pray for all of us that we can give our families plenty of love until the end of our time on earth. help our society to trust as familial help with help to sustain those we care about and that this love will be passed on to our children, grandchildren and their families beyond. thank you. (cheers and applause). >> you saw pope francis taking notes as the family was talking. he's very intently listening to them. this family talking about grandparents and the importance of a full family, and the grandparents, the parents and the grandchildren. >> he also has a translation there in front of him as well, so he can understand even more so's talk to them when they are done their presentation and their stories. >> again, he's trying to also -- he's always said over the years, the importance of family. francis also has a keen eye and a deep