South Jersey Catholics Grateful For Trip To DC To See Pope Francis
By David Madden
SEWELL, N.J., (CBS) -- A group of South Jersey Catholics are chartering a bus to see Pope Francis next week, but they're not traveling to Philadelphia.
Some four dozen people will head south to Washington to join more than 50,000 others on the west lawn of the Capitol to watch the Pope speak to a joint session of Congress. They'll have to settle for jumbotrons, although Francis is expected to step outside to acknowledge the crowd.
Grace Bobby of Sewell, N.J. organized the trip and wasn't quite sure she'd be able to pull it off without a little help.
"I just asked the Lord please guide me and tell me what to do," she told KYW Newsradio. "And while in the shower, I got the idea. Call your U.S. representatives up."
She called it a long shot, not knowing at the time that every member of Congress was allocated 50 tickets for the outdoor event.
Donald Norcross is giving his tickets to that busload of constituents, although he credits "divine intervention" with hooking Bobby up with a member of his staff.
"Somebody just happened to call and somebody just happened to answer. And it just happened to work," he said . "Sometimes that's good enough."
Bobby says her group is going to Washington not just to see the Pope, but to pray for this country. They plan to recite the rosary on the early morning ride down and on the Capitol lawn while waiting for Francis to arrive.
As for the Pope's Philadelphia visit, Bobby plans to be in her church hall attending a pot luck dinner during the Mass along the Ben Franklin Parkway, watching the event on TV.
