Are You Excited for the Pope?

The Pope is coming! The Pope is coming! I’m sure you’ve all heard the news. The People of Philadelphia just can’t seem to stop pondering over the Pope’s visit, which will take place in just a couple weeks. The Pope will be in the city for a few days this month, and the people have much to say about it. From their couches in the comfort of their homes, to the classrooms, or the train carts on the subway, the people are talking.

According to Suburbanstats.org there are over 1,500,000 people in the city of Philadelphia, so of course everyone’s point of view can’t be covered in this article. I did get the opportunity to speak with a few natives to the city that had plenty to say about the Pope.

Da’Shai Murphy, who is a Philadelphia native, had no problem voicing her opinion about the Pope’s visit. “The whole thing is being overblown” she says.

“They are taking it out of control. It seems like capitalism is the culprit behind this. People are finding any and every which way they can profit from this major event. It comes as quite a surprise that people would try and succeed at capitalizing for a religious centered event. It’s ridiculous!” Murphy being a worker, herself, sympathizes with other workers in the city. “People can’t get to work, to help their city operate their businesses that help the city thrive on a regular day when the Pope isn’t here, so businesses might suffer.”

Murphy isn’t the only frustrated worker and local to philadelphia that I spoke with. Christal, 21, says she doesn’t know how she will make it to her office job during that busy weekend, because of the change in the transportation routes. Alexis Watson, a mother and worker in the city, isn’t too psyched about the chain of events. Watson says “I don’t care too much about the Pope.” What she does care about though is the Pope interfering with her money and she’s not the only one who’s money will be affected by his visit.

Previously, in my interview with Murphy, she stated how the city will make tons of money from this event and yet will probably contribute very little to their schools. On the topic of schools, the schools will be shutting down across the city. Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) will be closed during the time the Pope will be here. Although the new school year just began they will be closing, not to mention students have off a few other days in the month due to religious holidays. Some students are happy about this while others prefer to be in a classroom rather than the rooms in their homes. For new students Zaire James and Deja Howard, they are fine with the mini vacay, away from their classrooms.

Tevin-Murphy Robinson, a believer in a different faith, disagrees with the Pope’s visit to the city. “I don’t agree with the Pope’s visit here. It is a bunch of gibberish. They are treating this man like some sort of rock star. They are putting more emphasis on the messenger and not the message in this case,” he said.

He isn’t the only one who isn’t stoked about it either. Some people have even laughed when asked their opinion about the Pope’s visit and then simply refused to answer the question. Not everyone feels the same way, though. Ashley, a visiting student at CCP says she has practiced Catholicism all her life, so she is a believer in the Pope and his intentions for our city. Although very few people have chosen to voice their opinions and instead keep quiet, plenty of people on social media sites are talking, from Facebook statuses, to 140 characters on Twitter and of course Instagram, they are uploading, typing and discussing the Pope. Some who claim they aren’t physically going to participate in the Pope festivities claim they are going to speculate from their social media accounts. Najah, who is a CCP student who uses multiple social media outlets, goes as far to say she might feel like she’s amongst all the excitement because of the all the coverage, gossip, photos and discussions.

Through conversations with a several different people, some didn’t know much about, nor care to know much about the Pope and his visit to the city.

Mt.Airy homeowner, Sonya James states, “I will be in the comfort of my home, reading, which is something that I do best. If I want to hear about the Pope, I can just turn on the news.” We sure can count on the news to cover some of the action for those of you who may not choose to partake in the activities.

Whether the people can get on the same page about the Pope or not, it’s obvious that the Pope’s visit will be a major and memorable event for the city of Philadelphia.